DVD Reviews

Batman: Under the Red Hood – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Jul 29, 2010, 16:41 GMT

Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when the Joker falls in the balance between the two, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened. ...more

The caped crusader returns to animation with the direct-to-DVD release of Batman: Under the Red Hood - next title in the DC Universe Animated Original series of PG-13 movies. The film is action-packed, and does a good job matching what the live-action Bats is doing on the big screen.

Under the Red Hood was directed by Brandon Vietti (who directed episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold) with a screenplay by Judd Winick (who adapts his own Under the Red Hood comic storyline). The film also features a great voice-cast with Bruce Greenwood taking on voice duties for Batman/Bruce Wayne, Neil Patrick Harris handling Nightwing, Jensen Ackles voicing Red Hood/Jason Todd, Jason Isaacs voicing Ra's al Ghul, and John Di Maggio taking on the Joker.

Although diehard animated Batman fans will no doubt miss the voice of Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight and Mark Hamill's cackling voice of the Joker, Greenwood and Di Maggio both do excellent in the roles. Greenwood matches the deadly quiet tone that Conroy perfected for Batman, and it was hard to recognize the actor’s voice in the performance.

Di Maggio brings a different sound to Joker (which took a bit to get used to hearing), but works for the film. His performance seems to be more in line with how the Joker was brought to the big screen in The Dark Knight.

Under the Red Hood is a dark film (both in animation style and tone) and sees Batman teaming up with Nightwing (who was the first Robin) to take down the new vigilante Red Hood – who has his own violent ways of dealing with Gotham’s criminal underground and could be as bad as the criminals he brings to justice.

The film might be a tad too violent for the little kids (it does carry a PG-13 rating after all), but is a thrill ride of a movie.

The film kicks off by borrowing story elements from the classic Batman: Death in the Family storyline that sees Jason Todd as Robin getting beat to death by the Joker – who has gone a little happy with a crowbar and some explosives. Batman attempts to save Robin, but is too late and arrives right as the building is about to explode.

The film then jumps ahead several years to find Batman still carrying on his quest to end crime in Gotham and the arrival of a new Red Hood (a character that was once a villain and a moniker that even the Joker went by). The new Red Hood is extremely deadly, and seems to know what to expect from Batman. He fights like the Dark Knight, moves like him, and has some nifty toys like Batman packs.

During a fight sequence, Nightwing shows up and decides to help out his former mentor – along with providing some comedy thanks to his wise-cracking antics and one-liners. Nightwing hangs around for the rest of the film, but never really offers much more to the story. It is great to see him, and hopefully his appearance will get the character a chance to appear in a film of his own.

As Batman continues his investigation into the Red Hood, he starts to believe the vigilante could be Jason Todd. A quick trip to criminal mastermind Ra's al Ghul confirms his fears, and the film shifts into overdrive with Batman trying to stop his former protégé. To make matters worse, the Joker gets thrown into the mix and discovers that Red Hood plans on killing him – not that the threat scares the nutball.

The movie’s tension cranks up toward the end as the Red Hood gives Batman the choice of killing the Joker or ending Hood’s life. It is a line Batman is unwilling to cross, but might not have a choice.

Under the Red Hood is an excellent adaptation of the comic, and another strong release in the DC Universe Animated Original series. Once again, I have to say I wish the folks at Marvel Comics would take a page from DC and start giving their straight-to-DVD films the same quality work. This film could play on the big screen and would rock as a live-action adaption – not that the Batman films need any help lately.

The film does have some clunky parts (such as the hit squad that goes after Red Hood), but the fast pace and 75 minute running time keep it from getting weighed down. The actors are all excellent in their roles, and Ackles really stands out as the Red Hood. The Supernatural star makes the character arrogant, funny, and tragic. The combination is a perfect match for Jason Todd – a character that DC fans literally voted to have killed in the comic.

The animation is solid with a dark feel and look that matches the PG-13 storyline, and helps give the film a different look from past Batman animated releases. It doesn’t have the same look and feel as the classic Batman animated television series, but seems in-line with what that great show accomplished when it set the standard for all animated Batman projects to follow.

The DVD also comes with some decent special features including a first look at the upcoming Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (which I am already counting the days to its release), and a look at some of the other DC animated releases.

If you are a fan of Batman or of the DC Universe Animated Original series DVDs, this is another release to add to the collection. The film is one of the best Batman animated DVDs to come out, and offers something for every Batman fan.