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Pretty Good

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

Everything was done right in this movie. The characters fit perfectly to the plot. No Batwoman romance, that usually ruins most of the other movies. In this one we see the real Batman as most fans want to see him. The atmosphere is dark and original. The animation and voice acting is also great. I actually would love to see this as a movie with real actors, but I don't think it could come close to this masterpiece.Although it's only 75min you get a deeper and better story than on many 160min movies. There are no boring parts or unnecessary scenes. The ending is also perfect and not as simple as good hero defeating evil bad guy. Under the Red Hood is definitely my favorite Batman movie next to Assault on Arkham. I'd give more stars if it was possible.

The score is haunting, and right on tone with the film. The voice actors do wonderful jobs of sounding just familiar enough, compared to the animated series voices we know so well, while staying true to the fact that is a different continuity than the DCAU we are familiar with. All of them are top notch and true to their characters, so great job (as always) Andrea Romano on casting the right people. The animation is similar to the animated series, but again has it's own take and twist on this otherwise familiar landscape. The fight choreography in this one is UNPARALLELED, more true to life than anything I have seen before in the animated films or series, and watching Batman and Nightwing fight side by side with such ease is thrilling, to say the least. The story is so moving, with one of the saddest endings really that I have ever seen in a Batman film, and the actors do such a great job of imbuing Judd Winick's words in the comics with power and life here. The only reason I am giving this 9 instead of a 10 is because the movie needed to be longer and more emphasis placed on who Jason Todd is near the beginning of the movie so that you get the impact you are supposed to early on. People unfamiliar with his character have been (when I showed them this movie)confused by it, and have asked me, "Why did Batman just call him Jason? I thought his name was Dick Grayson." I'm not sure who made the decision to open on the action sequence as they did; as fun as it to jump right into the action like that, taking 10 extra minutes at the beginning to give some setup would have made more sense. People familiar with the animated series expect to see Tim Drake as Robin II, and people familiar with the comics already know the outcome of this story, even if they have not read the Red Hood books, so all the dramatic surprises are basically ruined. Without the setup at the beginning to tell you who Jason Todd is and how he came into the job, it can confuse the uninitiated. Otherwise, it's a fantastic film.

Brandon Vietti directed the 2010, direct-to-video DC Comics animated feature "Batman: Under the Red Hood," and it is by far one of the best - if not the best - DC Comics animated features that DC has put out over the last decade.The first DC Comics animated movie to really make an impression on me was "Green Lantern: First Flight" (2009), and later "Wonder Woman" (2009); as an aside, the latter film, along with the live-action TV show from the 1970s that starred Lynda Carter, converted me into a fan of the first female superhero of any historical significance.Getting back to "Batman: Under the Red Hood," the film, at the time of its release, was just the latest adaptation of the DC Comics superhero created by Bob Kane. Its masterfully written script by Judd Winick re-uses a central plot element from a key "Batman" comic book story from the 1950s ("Detective Comics #168"), as well as borrowing some elements from the 1988 one-shot graphic novel story "Batman: The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland; as another aside, "Batman: The Killing Joke" is my favorite "Batman" comic book story of all time."Batman: Under the Red Hood" opens with an action sequence that should strike comic book fans as shockingly familiar: the death of Jason Todd (Jensen Ackles), the second Robin, at the hands of The Joker (John DiMaggio). Batman (Bruce Greenwood) is too late to save his young protégé, and five years later the Dark Knight has continued his lone crusade against crime in Gotham City. He is reluctantly aided in his adventures sometimes by Dick Grayson (Neil Patrick Harris), the first Robin, who is now Nightwing.A mysterious vigilante called the Red Hood soon shows up on the scene, and begins flexing his muscle as he kills criminals left & right at will while apparently trying to establish his own criminal empire. The Red Hood becomes a thorn in the side of resident crime boss Black Mask (Wade Williams), who soon breaks The Joker out of Arkham Asylum in a bid to murder the Red Hood. Batman and Nightwing soon get in on the action, too, but Batman quickly realizes that the Red Hood has a shocking connection to his past. And shockingly enough, The Joker is a wild card figure in all this superhero-vs.-vigilante chaos."Batman: Under the Red Hood" was a surprisingly good and gripping animated superhero film. The film's shocking opening sequence will certainly jolt unwary viewers out of any cynicism they may have had going into this picture, and will definitely prove to them that anything can happen in this brisk, 75-minute superhero thriller. Just because this film is rated "PG-13," that does not automatically mean that it's suitable for children. There is some decidedly course language here, as well as some pretty disturbing sights and sounds that should drive home the point that this is exactly how a "Batman" should be told - in any format.I guess that if there is any real fault to be had with "Batman: Under the Red Hood," it's that the true identity of the Red Hood becomes obvious a little too early in the picture. To me, I was thinking that this connection should have come a little bit later. But it's easy to dismiss since after that point, the movie really picks up and doesn't really stop until its shocking conclusion.This is one DC animated film you definitely do not want to miss.P.S.: I've often praised what DC Comics has been able to do with their animated features like this one and their TV shows, like the live-action "Arrow" and "Batman: The Animated Series" from the early 1990s. I honestly don't think they stand much of a chance trying to recreate the DC Universe on the big screen - like what Marvel Comics is doing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I think that DC Comics should try their hand at smaller-scale projects, since that is the one area that Marvel has not really tapped into.10/10