Batman: Death in the Family

Too short. I do not like how Batman is narrating the story and we get less character to character dialogue. This was like 30min

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'm annoyed at myself for buying this movie. First, the digital version doesn't allow for making interactive choices as was advertised in all of the previews. Only the physical copy of the movie allows for interactive choices. Second, this movie starts with Batman retelling the story of the movie "Under the Red Hood" for a half hour. Batman just narrates throughout most of a half hour short story. Boring!!! Then credits roll and another short story begins. I'm not sure why they decided to make a movie retelling the story of a previous movie, but it's a dumb move on DC's part, and worse, it's misleading to the consumer who thinks this movie is a coherent original story. I should have read the reviews before I purchased it. Waste of money, in my opinion. I would say this movie isn't even worth renting. Just go ahead and buy "Under the Redhood" instead. With DC movies, sadly, ALWAYS read the reviews first!

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 is one of those comic characters who is not afraid to delve into darker, more mature storylines. A Death In The Family is one of them, and it is infamous because readers actually got to decide the ending, which involved whether or not Jason Todd, who was the holder of the Robin mantle at the time, lived or died. and has gotten its fair share of attention and backlash for the final result. This movie is an adaptation of the story as well as a follow up to 2010's Batman: Under The Red Hood (as the cast from that film reprise their roles in this one).

Keeping with the interactive aspect of the comic, the movie is done to the point where it allows you to make choices that change the story. Before the film starts, the movie gives instructions on how to make choices (but thankfully, it can be skipped for those who watch it again or don't want instructions). The movie for the most part, has new footage mixed in with what looks like scenes taken from Under The Red Hood. Immediatly, this can be seen as bad, as the UTRH scenes are sadly just copy-and-pasted into the film, without any additions to take advantage of the R rating this film got. Basically, when you get to the point where you choose Robin's fate, you get three choices (that is, if you're watching the Blu-Ray. The digital copy does not have the interactive part). If you choose the Robin Dies route, all you get is a repeat of that film (only with Bruce Wayne/Batman narrating). Also, there is not much interactivity in this movie. Two of the paths do not allow you to choose to change the story, while one has most of the interactivity, which sadly hinders this more.

Because of these problems, the movie is too short (the longest being a half-hour), making this an underwhelming film. The only good thing about this is John DiMaggio does a good job voicing The Joker, but this interactive film is a lackluster and a waste of $18 I bought it for at Wal-Mart. Avoid this and look for something better, like Batman: Under The Red Hood (which is way better in its original form).