First off, get this cast: Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Pike in the new Star Trek film) as the voice of Batman; Jensen Ackles (Smallville) as Red Hood; John DiMaggio (Futurama) as the Joker; Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter films) as Ra's Al Ghul; and Neil Patrick Harris (the voice of Spiderman in the newest animated series and video games.... oh, who am I kidding? It's Doogie Houser) as Nightwing.
The movie opens with the brutal murder of Jason Todd, the second Robin, at the hands of the Joker.
In reality, it was the readers of the Batman comics who determined that Jason Todd must die in 1988, via 50 cent per call 900 numbers. Out of ten thousand votes cast, less than a hundred more cast votes for his death than for his continued survival.
It then picks up five years later when a violent new vigilante, calling himself The Red Hood (the name used by the Joker before his chemical bath) appears on the scene, and Batman must solve the mystery of who is “Under the Red Hood”.
Normally, I try to list the good, the bad and the ugly in a film, but I'm abandoning that for this review because this was a genuinely excellent film.
For years, DC devotees like myself have watched as Marvel rolled out one excellent direct-to-DVD animated features, while DC wallowed in crap like Superman: Doomsday. This changed with the outstanding Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Batman: Gotham Knight. Now ALL of the DC Universe animated films are outstanding.
The animation here is probably the best that I've ever seen on a direct-to-DVD release. The story and the voice acting are outstanding.
On the Blu-ray release, which is the one that I watched, there are a TON of special features, including two 25 minute long documentaries dedicated to the histories of the first and second Robins, a sneak peek of the new animated film Batman/Superman: Apocolypse, and four episodes of Batman animated TV series.
If you're a fan of excellent animation, or of Batman, watch this film. You won't regret it.
Peace.
Rev. Randal
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1 comment:
I haven't been into comics in over 15 years... but something like this might lure me back in.
Just for the record, I was a Marvel cat... and I am looking forward to the Thor movie as he was, along with the Surfer and Warlock, among my fave heroes.
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