Batman: Under the Red Hood

This is one of the best animated movies from DC Comics that has come along in quite a while.  It’s straight to DVD so you won’t see it at the theatre. It’s dark, gritty, action-packed and really aimed at a more mature audience.  It takes place in the time-line where the original Robin has grown up and left the “nest” to become a crime-fighter called Nightwing.  This movie treats us to a brief reunion of Batman and the original Robin/Nightwing. If you don’t know the Batman mythos after Robin left, Batman later took in a wayward boy named Jason Todd, and trained him to become the next Robin.   And if you followed the comic books, you know that partnership ended with finality thanks to the Joker. 

The wonderful thing about animated movies is they stay true to the source material and don’t add those “creative” (and I use that word loosely) Hollywood-isms that more often than not, ruin the story.   For me watching Batman: Under The Red Hood was like taking a trip down memory lane.  The movie freely used code names such as Nightwing and Amazo.  We are even witness to the restorative abilities of the “Lazarus Pit”.  I’m sorry, I’m just a sucker for code names, and it really bothers me when they’re ignored or used in awkward ways—usually as the punch line of a joke in live-action movies. 

The voice acting was superb.  Casting Jensen Ackles from Supernatural as The Red Hood was brilliant. He’s got the whole angst-ridden self-righteous routine down pat.  I’m sure he was channeling the character of Dean Winchester he plays on Supernatural all the while.  Batman nemesis Ra's al Ghul (Jason Isaacs) is also in the movie along with his daughter Talia who makes the briefest of cameo appearances.  A departure from the normal actors that usually fill these roles, Bruce Greenwood did an excellent job of voice-acting as The Batman and John Di Maggio was the voice of the Joker. 

With all due respect to the late Heath Ledger who portrayed the Joker in the last Batman live-action movie (Batman: The Dark Knight), the Joker in this movie was way better.  Somehow the Hollywood version  missed the boat completely and gave us a Joker that was just sick and twisted without any of the comedy the Joker is known for.  They tried, but most attempts didn’t come off as funny.  The Joker in this animated version was spot on.  Yes, he was sick and twisted, but he was funny.  He cracked jokes and made the most inappropriate quips. He made me laugh, although uncomfortably at times.  He also murdered half a dozen people and joked about it. This is who the Joker is supposed to be.  And that haunting laugh was icing on the cake.

The arch villain (and there are quite a few) is the Red Hood. He becomes the next crime lord of Gotham City and Batman’s most ruthless enemy.  He kills without hesitation. The Red Hood can counter all of Batman’s abilities and tricks making him the toughest adversary Batman has ever faced. I’m not going to reveal who is under the Red Hood, but I have to confess that I figured it out before Batman, and he’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective.  Obvious clues aside, I definitely recommend you watch this DVD and see if you can figure out who is under the Red Hood. Because it is so faithful to the comic book and filled with so much action, I have to give it 5 out of 5 fingers.