Batman: Under the Red Hood DVD Review

Batman: Under the Red Hood DVD Review

By Jose

Plot:

While a new foe who uses The Joker's old alias wreaks havoc among Gotham City's organized crime, Batman finds him disturbingly familiar.

Review:

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.

Those familiar with the comic books will know enjoy the opening scenes with an animated depiction of Joker killing the second Robin, Jason Todd. Although I had some problems with the movie overall, I still really enjoyed Under the Red Hood. We have great appearances from Amazo, Riddler in a flashback, Black Mask, Nightwing, and Ra’s Al Ghul. The voice actors chosen did a good job especially since they went with non-obvious choices. Like Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil, Batman and Joker respectively. Speaking of Joker, man do we get a great version of him here. Basically he is a shoot first while laughing then crack a joke after everyone is dead. They really made him into a deranged psychopath who spewed and infected with his dark comedy instead of a killer comedian. Again lived seeing Nightwing involved and helping out Batman. Black Mask looked menacing and dangerous. It was top notch. The animation itself was great and reminded me of the old Batman the animated series. So with that said my problem overall was the restraint of blood use and language. Yes it is DC/WB and normally they censor out many things but with such a dark story it really needed it. The Joker beating Jason Todd in the beginning with a crowbar was lacking and looked really off due to not showing proper blood and bruising. After the beating he looked just like he did when they started. The same when a little bit later when the bomb goes off and see that Jason was killed yet looked unharmed. Now I am not asking for gore and cursing every two seconds. Just it needed to be used to help deliver the impact and carry what story you are telling.

Final Thoughts:

Not sure why I waited so long to watch this because I really did enjoy this. If you want to see a great animated Batman film based on the comics then don’t hesitate to watch Batman: Under The Red Hood.

Ratings: 3.5 out of 5