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I must say, this is right up there with Wonder Woman and both of the Justice League direct-to-DVD films, it could possibly even surpass them. Much like those films, Batman: Under the Red Hood has a script that is equally dramatically engaging and entertaining as an action-adventure film, excellent voice acting and richly detailed animation.
Every great Batman story sees the character engage in something that challenges him – physically, emotionally, mentally – and Under the Red Hood provides us a chance to see Batman struggle in each of those departments. It begins with the dramatic climax of A Death in the Family, the infamous storyline which showed us Batman’s greatest failure – the death of Jason Todd, and doesn’t skirt on the brutal violence. Jason Todd was always a dark, complicated character, one who dangerously balanced on the edge and more often than not swayed closer to falling in than not. When he eventually returns, darker and more violently complicated, it isn’t hard to see what events pushed him towards that eventual decision. Jensen Ackles handles most of the titular role, and he does a great job. The Red Hood takes Batman’s morally ambiguous vigilantism and combines Ra’s Al Ghul’s by-any-means-necessary and a small dose of Joker’s crazy. (Which only makes sense since Batman, Ra’s and the Joker are inevitably the fathers of this new Jason Todd, a tormented and broke psyche that Batman can’t help but feel the tiniest bit of empathy and sympathy for, as does the audience.) There aren’t many surprises in the plot points, but it’s how the character’s react and deal with them that makes it so entertaining.
The animation is sharp, clean and crisp. The flashbacks are handled really ingeniously, and present us with characters that have outfits and body types that change and evolve as they grow older, especially Jason Todd who is seen at every age – young Robin, the doomed teenage Robin and as an adult – and retains many of the same aspects throughout each incarnation, namely the angular facial features and slim build. Nightwing, also briefly seen, is finally presented without a groan-inducing mullet. It’s also nice to see the evolution of the Batmobile, Batcave and Batman’s suit.
The only real drawback are two vocal choices: Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing, not because he’s bad, which he’s not, but because his wiseass quips and vocal tone were already used to perfection as the Flash in Justice League: The New Frontier, and John Di Maggio as the Joker, which is a poor casting decision as his voice is too deep for the character. No one can top the Mark Hamill interpretation, and perhaps every other choice is doomed to comparison. I’ve never been a fan of the Joker with a dark and rumbling voice.
Batman: Under the Red Hood presents a morally questionable villain from the Batman’s past, partly a creation of his own making, and an engaging and emotionally absorbing storyline to accompany it. Here’s hoping other heroes in the DC universe get this same kind of intelligent and absorbing treatment. Superman and Batman have each gotten several of these, why not Aquaman, the Flash or any of the others?
