Batman: Death in the Family

Bought the digital release on iTunes... kept watching & waiting for the movie to start. Just a recap on past DC animated Batman movies.. with barely a minute or so of new footage. Yeah you get a few additional extra short movies BUT no full movie here to see. I would certainly AVOID THIS. Utter utter Con job.

This is a new low for DC. I never thought they would have treated their loyal fans with such disrespect. Batman: Death in the Family is a shameless and LAZY repackaging of clips from Batman: Under the Red Hood, this time narrated by Bruce Wayne. It's unbelievable. I'm glad I only rented it - but still upset that I wasted five dollars on this shameless cash grab by DC. SHAME ON THEM.

I love interactive stories and I love Batman movies. Coincidentally, I was able to get the best of both worlds when this was announced. Especially considering Under the Red Hood is one of my favorite Batman movies. Sadly though, this was clearly a rushed idea that could've been amazing but ended up just being alright

As the marketing suggests, there's 3 paths the story can go. Robin dies, Robin cheats death, and Batman saves Robin. All 3 options had the foundations for incredible stories, and some even stuck the landing. The ideas worked well and I could see any of them happening in an actual Batman story. It's also pretty entertaining sometimes! It's super interesting to see Batman under the red hood with different outcomes and R rated violence. It's also REALLY cool to see just how dark Jason's life could've been, be it for the better or the worse

That being said, let's talk about its weaknesses. For starters, only one of the options has further choices to make, and the other two are mostly straightforward stories, which isn't really what was promised. One of them was what I watched when I rented on itunes, and was basically just a condensed version of UTRH. Also, a lot of the stories end up lacking in some of the writing or line delivery. It's kinda awkward at times, especially for the intended tone

A big red flag was obviously the absence of Jensen Ackles, but I found Vincent Martella's performance surprisingly strong at times. He did a really good job carrying the story, even if he couldn't do it flawlessly all the time. Which I attribute more to the writing and directing, considering he's proven time and again he's a competent voice actor, especially in Phineas and Ferb

A big problem I also noticed is one I have with Telltale Games, with a lot of the decisions ending up in relatively the same place, just with slightly different details. A lot of the endings are very different to be totally fair, but not devoid of what I'm calling the telltale effect. It would've been much cooler to see something along the lines of Detroit where decisions always have consequences, for better or worse

Overall I'd say it wasn't as good as some of DC's finest work in the animation department, with not a whole lot of rewatchability. However, I definitely thought it was worth checking out and would consider it worth loaning to my friends so they can experience it for themselves

Sadly, with it sitting next to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and not far away from The Dark Knight on my blu ray collection, it won't be my first choice anytime soon.

Batman: Under the Red Hood, one of DC's most successful animated films, finally got something added to that continuity of animation. The trailers were really good, and showcased the variety of stories in this movie very well. The big issue is that the marketing didn't show as much that renting the film means not getting the interactive version. You can find all scenarios if you buy the film digitally, but you need a Blu-Ray for the full experience. Since this is more a collection of shorts, I will review each one separately. (I have done reviews on Adam Strange and Death on those pages, but I'll shorten it here.)

Batman: Death in the Family scenarios

Red Hood Reloaded: This scenario is essentially Under the Red Hood but shortened and narrated. Although it brings some interesting perspective, it can't replace the original. 4/10

Jason Todd's Rebellion: This one is the shortest, and it has some very interesting ideas presented. It's unfortunately too short and abrupt to say it was even complete. It at least doesn't drag like Red Hood Reloaded. 5/10

Red Robin's Revenge: This short was entertaining. It had some solid action scenes, the voice acting was fine, but the ending was a little convenient. 7/10

Red Hood's Reckoning: This short was well-written, intense, and satisfying. It is a little more violent to push that R rating, but it was good. 7/10

DC Showcase shorts:

DC Showcase is an area of DC that makes shorts of obscure characters likely not to get a feature film, to introduce to audiences these new characters.

Sgt. Rock: An entertaining War short with supernatural-horror elements and good action. 7/10

Adam Strange: Overly violent, dull short with unlikeable characters and it doesn't give audiences a good idea of who Adam Strange is. 3/10

The Phantom Stranger: Scooby-Doo meets the occult, tone-wise. There is even a VW Mystery Machine car. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't interesting. 5/10

Death: Adapted from Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Death is a beautiful, bittersweet end to this mediocre animated film. 9/10

I bought this movie the instant it was available, and after the first ten minutes I knew I wasted my money. This movie was so disappointing in that it was nothing but a recap of "Under the Red Hood" and very little else. If you're going to make a Death in the Family movie, make the movie and not some half-assed attempt at it. I really wish I could get my money back. I only gave it five stars because the animation was good and I like the voice actors. Storywise, this was a complete and utter failure.

I want my money back, DC! You tricked me!