Batman: Under the Red Hood

... review please, let me ask you something respectfully!: What do I have to do to get to watch more of these remarkable cartoons?!?! Shall I donate? You need a lucky mug in the studio? Write a permission? Whatever needs to be done consider it done! Because I just love these fantastic stories! The music, the art direction, the characters, the cast, everything was just great! And for a certain level I enjoyed it more than the movies! Don't get me wrong! I love the movies as well! The Burton ones, the Nolan ones are fantastic! (Let's just not talk about the Schumacher ones already!) These titles belong to these directors. It is their vision. This one is very creative as well, but this one is the real BATMAN!

The movie is not flawless though. Of course sometimes they do simple things, and there is no problem, I mean it is a cartoon, so they can get away with it! But one thing is for sure: Warner Bros. has realised that there are two groups of Batman fans out there, and one of these groups is all grown ups now! This cartoon is for them! I definitely wouldn't watch it with my child - there is blood. A lot of blood. - but for us it is like reading a comic book! They both come to life before our eyes.

I was waiting for this one and I was very happy to see it eventually! So if anybody would read this from the fantastic team of creators of this great tale: Please make more! You got one definitive fan! And I'm sure that I'm not alone! :D

One of the best animated movies to come out of the DCAU. Well-written with a lot of focus on the characters but it doesn't skimp on the action in any way. The people making DC's current crop of animated movies should look to this as an example of how to get it right. You don't have to sacrifice quality storytelling for action. Also, I've objected to the use of violence, language, and sexuality in some of the later DC animated films because it seemed mostly superficial and tacked-on just for titillation and posturing. But here the story warrants adult themes. If anything, it soft pedals a bit when it shouldn't (Robin never looks as badly beaten as he should, for one). The animation is excellent. The action scenes are just incredible. Enough good things can't be said about the script, which is well above par for these things. The voice acting is solid, although the BTAS fan in me will probably always yearn for those voices in these movies. All together it's amazing and deserving of all its praise.

I had my hesitations about another DC Animated Universe movie, since Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths wasn't particularly sterling and came across as a mediocre production. However, this title refilled me with faith for Bruce Timm as a producer, and DCAU films in general.

Bruce Greenwood does a phenomenal Batman and Neal Patrick Harris complements him beautifully as Nightwing. However the shocker performance comes out of John Di Maggio, as The Joker, who helps the plot to flow elegantly from drama, to dark comedy. Though at times his voice reminds me more of Bender from Futurama, the performance was nothing short of stellar. I'd love to see him in future DCAU works to reprise his role as the Clown Prince of Crime, especially if Mark Hamill retires his clown suit.

While this is definitely one of my favorite story arcs in the Batman mythos, when I had watched the "First Look" segment for this movie I had my doubts as to whether or not they'd be able to fit such a large amount of content into their usual length animated film. However every bit of the storyline is fleshed out and you feel informed without being overloaded. As I've stated earlier it melds intense action, dark comedy, and tear-jerking drama together so well you'll watch it again and again.

To be honest, the finale for this was done perfectly. However, I won't spoil even a fraction of it.

You'll have to take your own look Under the Red Hood.

P.S. With cover art by Alex Ross, what other reason do you need to have this on your DVD shelf?

I love Batman, and I loved this movie. I did think it is a little too short though, and Joker's voice did take some time to get used to which is more to do with that I felt the voice didn't completely gel with the character design. Minor faults aside, what we do have is one of the better Batman movies (or anything to do with Batman for that matter) in my view, along with Mask of the Phantasm, the original Batman, Return of the Joker and Batman Begins. If we include series too, Batman:The Animated Series is your best bet.

The best asset of Under the Red Hood is the writing. It is just fantastic. Not only is it intelligent and smart but it is very deep and complex and delves into the characters far more effectively than any of the Nolan and Schumacher movies in my opinion. For example, Batman is not only dark, charismatic and brooding as he should be, but the writers brought a certain edge and poignancy to him too. The villains in general are also well developed.

I was also very impressed with the animation. It has a dark, haunting visual style, with smooth backgrounds, well drawn characters and atmospheric colouring, not to mention a beautifully realised Gotham City. The music is great too, very rousing and quite powerful and fits with each scene appropriately. The story is engrossing, with a great idea and well-choreographed sequences. Also the flashbacks actually add to the story in alternative to distracting from it. The voice acting is very well done from pretty much all, Bruce Greenwood does something quite special with Batman while staying true to the character, while Nightwing- wonderfully voiced by Neil Patrick Harris- is fun and witty and his frustration with Batman is done well.

Overall, a very well done animated film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Seriously, I can't listen (or in that case read) to this crap anymore, that the creators of this film were copying or stealing from Nolan. Listen guys, there have been a Batman before TDK and there were some pretty dark and violent stories told about him like "Killing Joke" Millers "Dark Knight returns", "Knightfall" or in this case: "A death in the family", which is pretty much the source material for this incredible satisfying story. There are a lot of characters and story lines packed in this very short film but thanks to a great script and a great pace by the director nothing felt rushed and every character had his moment to shine. The movie was awesome and at least in my opinion much more entertaining and satisfying than Nolan's over-hyped "The dark knight". While Nolan's film was dark and depressing and pretty much a showcase for Heath Ledger's incredible performance, this is dark and somber as well but tells a powerful, engaging story in which you feel for the characters. Especially the last scene showed that Batman is much more than just a "High Tech-Rambo in a leather suit" but a very conflicted, torn human being. For fans of the Batman-comics highly recommended.