Batman: Under the Red Hood Animated Movie
Yesterday on the Dorkadia Podcast, Hannah and I talked about the world of Batman, and some of the recent, and not so recent changes in the universe have rocked the DC and greater comicbook world. While reviewing Death in the Family, Death of the Family and the most recent arc in Batman Inc. I started pining for more Batman animated movies, and I couldn’t think of a better one to start with than Batman: Under The Red Hood. Spoilers ahead!
Check out the trailer, and try not to be excited to watch this:
[youtube http://youtu.be/A2c9MsP3OVs]
When the movie starts, we see Ra’s Al Ghul fairly startled by some news that Batman is going to be too late… they don’t say what for, but the scene changes to the Joker beating the ever loving bejesus out of Robin; In a moment of bravado, Robin spits in Joker’s face – and after smashing Robin’s face into the floor he says “Now that wasn’t very nice – The first boy blunder had some manners” (letting us know that this is not Dick Grayson). Joker demoralizes him with more banter, and leaves the warehouse. Flash back and forth to Robin getting up, crawling to the door finding it locked, Batman rushing to the scene on a motorcycle with Oracle letting him know he wasn’t going to make it in time, Robin seeing the bomb with only seconds left on the timer, Batman takes a great move action to jump off the motorcycle and…. the building explodes. Batman rustles through the rubble to find the body of Jason Todd.
Let me reiterate; within the first 5 minutes of this movie, Jason Todd dies in the arms of Batman. Dude.
Flash forward five years, and we see various scenes of a man dressed in motorcycle gear with a red helmet / mask muscling his way into the drug and crime syndacates in gothom – undercutting Black Mask. Red Hood also harasses Batman and Nightwing (Dick Grayson – the original Robin), and in the ensuing fights, they are both shocked with Hood’s incredibly skilled and obviously practiced moves. It’s worth nothing, Nightwing makes GREAT jokes here, like… You know what I miss running with you? THE TOYS! (Seriously guys, you have to admit, Batman has some pretty awesome gadgets).
Black Mask is so frustrated with this guy cutting in and murdering his crew, that he breaks Joker out of Arkham Asylum to take care of the ‘problem’. I’ll speed this story up for you because we want to get to the good stuff – Red Hood says something in a battle that rattles Batman that takes him time to decipher, which was You haven’t lost your touch Bruce! Freaking Batman out because he can count on both hands the number of people alive who know his name.
Joker in a flashy act of TRYING TO SET BLACK MASK AND HIS CREW ON FIRE, Batman saves the villains from burning to death, but while trying to pull Joker away with a cable from the Batwing, Red Hood cuts the line and escapes with Joker. Batman gets a message to meet Red Hood in Crime Alley, and there he is confronted with Red Hood AKA Jason Todd. Jason laughs at Batman for thinking that this was about him trying to save the city (that Jason knows the city better – you can’t beat the crime, just mold it to a way that makes it work for you), but that ALL of this had nothing to do with crime it had to do with the Joker still being alive.
What a stunning moment… Jason laying his soul bare. Yes, Ra’s Al Ghoul brought him back to life in the Lazarus pit, but he didn’t come back rabid – he came back PISSED OFF that Batman allowed Joker to live after taking Jason away from him. Batman tries to tell him it would be too easy just to murder the Joker- that is a dark road that he wouldn’t be able to come back from. Jason tries to force his hand though and pulls Joker into a human shield, and makes Bruce choose – Shoot the Joker, or shoot Jason – because with Batman and Jason both holding guns, one of them was going to die. Tensions and voices rise, and Batman hits Jason in the shoulder with a Batarang forcing him to drop the gun and the hostage, and Joker cracks up that Batman wins, yet everyone still looses! Jason blows up the room with the C4 that he has lined in the walls, and in the rubble Batman and Joker survive, and Jason is nowhere to be seen.
Alfred later on asks Batman if he would like him to remove the memorial of Jason’s costume out of the cave, and a brooding hurt Batman says that no, this changes nothing. Flash back to the first night young boy Jason is costumed as Robin heading out on his first patrol, saying how this the best night of his life. wooooof.
END OF SPOILERS!
This was an emotional roller coaster for Batman, and lots of fun to watch Black Mask getting bamboozled. Now, the voice acting isn’t the usual crew that we grew accustomed to – Kevin Conroy isn’t Batman and Mark Hamill isn’t Joker, but the voice acting is still very good. Neil Patrick Harris voices Nightwing who isn’t in the movie nearly long enough, and Bruce Greenwood voice acts Batman – whom you’d recognize from Young Justice. The movie isn’t entirely true to the comic, but the spirit is there – and incredibly well executed! (I’ll give my review of Under the Hood for another time)
I could go on for days, but the bottom line is, watch this movie. It will be be emotional, funny, and super well worth it. You can buy on Amazon, or streaming on Netflix.
While this is totally unrelated, this made me laugh and needs to be shared. Cheers!
