hosted by popgeeks.com | Forum DC Comics Solicitations June 2024 DC Comics Solicitations May 2024


















Reviews - Blu-ray Review
Street Date: July 27th, 2010
Languages: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Run Time: 75
Rating: PG-13
Media Quantity: 1 (BD25)
Packaging Type: Elite Blue
Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78 Widescreen [16:9 Transfer] 1080p

Sound Quality:
DTS-HD MA 5.1
Special Features
• Featurette: Robin’s Requiem: The Tale of Jason Todd - The story of how DC Comics heard the fan outcry and reshaped the Robin character for the new millennium.
• 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm
• Next Upcoming DCU (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) Sneak Peak (10 min)
• DC Showcase: Jonah Hex – animated short. The tough-as-nails bounty hunter Jonah Hex always gets his man – until someone else gets to him first – in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just his bounty from Jonah Hex. Based on a story from the award-winning Jonah Hex comic series.
• Featurette: Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson- Explore the evolution of the character through the years.
• 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm

Review (Zach Demeter)

It seems like it’s been awhile since our last DC Universe outing. Though I suppose that’s because it kind of has been—the gap between the previous film, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and this one was about five months. After the rapid release that we got with Superman/Batman: Public Enemies I got kind of spoiled with watching three of these films in 2009 and we’re only just getting our second of 2010 with Under the Red Hood (though we’ll get another Superman/Batman film in September, rounding out our third of the year for 2010). I realize this is all par for the course, but when you run a website that, for the most part, lives and breathes these films it gets to be a bit much and you expect these things to come out faster than they do. In any case, here we are with Under the Red Hood which is yet another comic book adaptation tweaked for home video. Those familiar with the original story know that it was going to be an interesting adaptation for home video, simply because Superboy punching a hole in whatever wasn’t going to fly for a seventy-five minute film.

From the outset I was pretty opposed to this film. I found the whole rejuvenation of Jason Todd in the comics to be nothing short of a swift kick to the pants of comic book fans everywhere. The Todd story, of fans actually voting to kill the guy via a 1-900 number setup by DC Comics, was something that was such an iconic piece of comic book lore that to play with it just seemed immoral and wrong. By the time they pulled this bit of shenanigans in the comic book world I’d long since stopped reading (kind of lost my reason to go to the comic shop after they cancelled Batman Adventures) though, so I really wasn’t affected by the story they were telling. However once I heard that it was going to filter into the DC Universe series of films, I knew I would eventually have to face facts and deal with this annoyance. Unlike Chewbacca dying in the Star Wars novels, I couldn’t ignore Todd returning by just not reading the story in which it took place—now it would be put into animation.

That was all a bit overdramatic, of course, but it helped drive the point home I think. Basically where I’m starting out with this film is a general feeling of hatred towards the story, so in order to be won over it’d have to be quite a little awesome bit of animation. Now I can only imagine those that either don’t care or love the Todd story as it now stands will take this film as it wraps it up into perhaps one of the most neatly done and self-contained DTV’s yet to grace the series. There’s a real sense of a stride being made even from the start of the film—the mood is set almost immediately and when the opening credits with Christopher Drake’s score kick in, you can’t help but get goosebumps. It’s obvious that the filmmakers here are going for a Christopher Nolan vibe as the film is genuinely and truly dark and Drake’s score even mimics and mirrors it on quite a few occasions, although it still stands up on its own even without that relation being made. The PG-13 rating really feels deserved here and I’m sure I’ve said that before, but this is probably one of the most brutal bits of animated Batman since Return of the Joker. So quite frankly I would avoid showing this one to kids, as severed heads in a duffle bag (along with the requisite scenes of Joker beating up on a teenage Todd with a crowbar) show up within a few minutes of the film’s opening credits.

There’s also the issue of the films dialogue. I shouldn’t say “issue” because it is PG-13—there’s just a lot more “hell” and “damn”’s being thrown around, but it totally works here. It doesn’t feel forced in like it has in past films; in fact it oddly feels right. It’s kind of another element of the DC Universe titles hitting their stride—they’ve finally figured out how to juggle these new PG-13 boundaries and exploit them to their fullest. Of course the dialogue would still sound idiotic if it wasn’t delivered properly and this is a tight little cast we have knitted up for this release. The only real jarring portrayal was John DiMaggio as Joker, but I soon realized while watching the film that the reason it felt odd was because it actually makes you feel uncomfortable and in a creepy child molester kind of way—which I’m not sure how close to a compliment that is to DiMaggio, but it definitely got under your skin. Bruce Greenwood as Batman was a superb portrayal as well, if mildly forced at times (particularly the speech in the batwing as he was flying back from a meeting with Ra’s al Ghul, but that was really the only major moment) and Neil Patrick Harris added a much needed level of levity as Nightwing (oddly enough Black Mask adds some laughs to the thing as well). They could’ve made even Nightwing’s role a bit darker, but considering how they wrote him out of the story and avoided any kind of confrontation with Red Hood proper (at least after Hood’s identity is “revealed”) taking him to any kind of dark place would’ve been unnecessary in this film. The remainder of the cast is as you’d expect with Alfred (voiced by Jim Piddock) and Jim Gordon (no voice from him though) making appearances. There’s no real surprise parties here, although there is a passing reference to Oracle and brief bit with Talia, but nothing that we weren’t already expecting (unless The Riddler wasn’t shown before, in which case he shows up here too…voiced by Bruce Timm no less). Then of course there is Jensen Ackles as The Red Hood, which is probably one of the strongest performances out of the entire film—really quite exceptional all around.

Obviously the main thing about this film is the story and how it was adapted. The final elements of A Death in the Family play out in a few minutes and we don’t dwell on it too much, although there are a few well-done flashbacks plopped into the film here and there. In fact that was probably one of the nicest things about the film—the exploration of Jason Todd’s character. I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise that Todd is Red Hood (if that is a surprise then you have terrible observational skills), but the film doesn’t even make it out to be much of a surprise except to Batman and Alfred, so it’s kind of a hook that the audience is already in on (although the less informed may be unsure at first). In any case, the history of Todd is given in such a way that it gives a nice backstory to the audience unfamiliar with it (and a refresher for those that are). It even oddly ends the film in a way that feels both abrupt as well as just…right. It’s hard to describe so I won’t even bother trying, but the ending is probably one of the more poetic wrap-ups I’ve seen yet in these DC Universe films. It may have been better served if the ultimate resolution to the Red Hood story was a bit more dramatic, but it works either way.

I did realize something about the film shortly into it that it felt very familiar in structure to another animated outing in the past. The story structure really isn’t all that different from Mask of the Phantasm, with the mysterious stranger from Batman’s past arriving in Gotham and killing people off. On top of that there’s the whole flashback angle and…truth be told the more I think about it the more elements that the film kind of borrowed from Mask of the Phantasm. This isn’t a terrible thing of course, but I’m not sure if it makes me like Under the Red Hood more or less. I will say the inclusion of Ra’s and the whole angle that it spun with Todd’s resurrection was definitely a pleasing element at the very least—I’m not sure what I expected the reasoning to be, but Judd Winick definitely did a solid bit of storytelling here, with some nice little threads planted early on that were later picked up at the end. Granted Ra’s was a component of the comic book resurrection as well, but we avoided the idiotic time ripple effect of Superboy punching stuff. I won’t divulge the whole story piece by piece, but it definitely was one of the more movie-like storylines of the series thus far.

Directing and animation in this film were generally superb—everything flowed beautifully and the fights looked appropriately brutal. The CGI usage was a bit over abundant and occasionally awkward looking, but nothing too terribly annoying…though they just can’t seem to nail down vehicular physics, because they float around a lot in these films. In any case the flaws you may have with the film definitely don’t stem from the quality of the animation or the directing by Brandon Vietti as both are absolutely top notch.

Truthfully speaking I expected to really just dislike this film, but setting aside my reverence for the story of Jason Todd’s death…I have to say this really was a damn good film. Time will tell how I feel since I think I say that about every one of these DC Universe titles and then later realize the flaws with each of them, but for the time being Under the Red Hood was a genuinely surprising and entertaining film. Definitely a Recommended outing, which is truthfully a higher rating than I thought I’d give it when I slipped the disc into my player this morning.

The Blu-ray
Warner tosses Red Hood onto Blu-ray with a standard Elite Blu-ray case housed underneath a reflective foil/embossed slipcover. Inside the case is the usual assortment: a Blu-ray for the film and an insert containing the digital copy activation code (you actually just download the file, as there’s no dedicated disc just for the copy itself). The movie even has a main menu you get to choose from before it auto starts, although if you’re a diehard DC animation fan then there’s very little, if anything, that you’ll find worth checking out here (again – I pretty much said the same thing for Crisis on Two Earths as well).

Before we get into the disappointing extras, let’s first take a gander at the technical presentation. The VC-1 encoded transfer is as close to flawless as you can get, sans a few moments of gradient issues but that’s to be expected from an animated production. There were a few segments with the Joker when he was talking with Black Mask that seemed slightly out of focus and blurry to me as well, but it only lasts for a few seconds so it really wasn’t anything that detracted from the scene, especially since it was quieter.

Now the audio is…holy crap. Warner actually gave us a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track this time around. After years of DD5.1 mixes on these films, we’re finally given a proper lossless mix and it sounds fantastically thunderous. Almost immediately you get LFE output from the films score and every resounding thud and explosion rocks the room. There’s also a bevy of surround effects that flutter around the room (mostly attributed to Batman’s gadgets) to keep the whole mix alive. I’m genuinely impressed by the mix here, though mostly because they finally gave us something that had enough force to make the subwoofer actually suck up some air, rather than the tiny whispers it usually gives out.

Moving onto the extras we first have the DC Showcase: Jonah Hex (11:53, 1080p) short which is as entertaining as the previous Spectre Showcase, although it’s a tad bit less exciting. We don’t get much backstory on Hex and the only thing we can really take away from this short (other than the fantastic directing and animation) is that Hex will beat up and leave a woman stranded in the desert surrounded by the dead bodies of men she killed. Granted she wasn’t undeserving, but still...kind of strange subject matter for a short. The voice cast was also solid, with the likes of Thomas Jane, Linda Hamilton and Michelle Trachtenberg…although I honestly didn’t recognize anyone at first except for Jason Marsden.

Hold onto your butts for the rest of the extras:

First Look: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (12:12, SD)
Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson (24:13, SD)
Robin's Requiem: The Tale of Jason Todd (20:58, SD)
Bruce Timm's Top Picks (Robin's Reckoning, Pt. 1 and 2, Mad Love, The Laughing Fish) (1:28:07, SD)
Trailers (Jonah Hex Motion Comic), The Lord of the Rings (Animated), Legend of the Guardians, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman: Doomsday)

The Apocalypse preview looks cool, not only because Summer Glau is voicing Supergirl but also because they’re switching animation styles to mimic Michael Turner’s art more closely. And the two Robin featurettes are nice history lessons (though I’m not 100% sure if we haven’t seen them elsewhere before as the interviews look kind of old), but once again there’s nothing on here discussing the film itself. Would a commentary be all that difficult? I mean we got new writing talent here this time around so he could add in new insight into the production of these films and…stuff. Ah, nevermind….I should just give up that crusade for movie-centric extras instead of getting upset over the “over three hours of other extras” tagline on the back of the packaging.

Overall this would be a rental disc if it weren’t for the DTS-HD MA 5.1…that bumps it up to a Recommended at least for the fans as the audio clarity finally matches the visual clarity.

Review (James Harvey)
Before I continue in any capacity, you need to know I’m a huge Batman fan. Out of all heroes, from DC and Marvel, etc., Batman just edges them all out. As a young child I loved the 1960s Batman television until the 1989 big-screen Batman feature film, and the Batman: The Animated Series program, changed my entire perception of the Caped Crusader. I find he’s a character that, arguably, is the most flexible in comics. And, to this day, his adventures in four-color and animated form continue to enthrall me. And, to my fellow Batman fans, I can thankfully say that Batman: Under the Red Hood is no exception. Not only did this movie thoroughly grab on to me with an unforgiving hold, but it is also easily one of the best DC Universe Animated Original Movie titles yet.

The DC Universe Animated Original Movies has been pretty excellent so far. A couple slip-ups, yes, and a few features which don’t quite add up to the others, but this line has definitely brought up more hits than misses with the likes of Wonder Woman and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths easily at the top of the heap. However, it looks like they may have just been dethroned with Batman: Under the Red Hood. In fact, I would peg this as the most mature DC Universe Animated Original Movie title yet, and the best Batman-focused animated feature since Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

Where to start? Well, to those familiar with the comic book story of which this film is based, you can rest assured knowing that not only is this film very faithful to the Batman: Under the Hood storyline, but actually improves upon it. There were actually moments, while watching this movie, where I found myself wondering why Judd Winick, writer of both the original comic story and this animated feature, didn’t just do this or that in the first place. But that’s a completely different discussion. Suffice it to say, this film offers down an improved, streamlined version of the story. Plenty from the original Batman: Under the Hood is left out, but what’s left is the real meat. That’s not to say it’s perfect, it has a couple ‘face-palm’-worthy moments, but it’s an invigorating and fast-paced flick.

I found Winick’s work on the dialogue really added a fresh spin to the movie. It’s quick, witty, and allows for some great observation and interaction between the cast. Nightwing, naturally, gets plenty of great lines off of Batman, and Winick allows the crimelord Black Mask to chew some major scenery whenever he appears. The dialogue is solid and the film in general is pretty well-structured, taking a look at some deep issues and building up this great story to a powerful, intimate ending. The final scene? Perfect, perfect, perfect.

And as sharp as the story is, the animation is also up there. I found the animation on display here was pretty amazing with only a couple exceptions. This is possibly the best animated effort since Green Lantern: First Flight. Everything looks smooth, slick, and nearly perfect. Whether it’s a quiet scene or a full-out brawl, the quality is hard to deny. In fact, the film’s ability to move from an epic-like battle, such as the Batman/Nightwing/Amazo three-way battle, to a more intimate duel, like the Batman/Red Hood tussle toward the end of the feature, adequately shows how the creative team here is able to juggle the demands of feature. During the later conflict between Batman and Red Hood, you’ll feel every punch, every face smashed into the wall, all of it. It’s particularly brutal at times, causing me to flinch more than once. Kudos to the sound team for making each connecting punch, each crack, sound just painful.

And to quickly follow-up on the film’s fighting and intensity, this movie earns its PG-13 rating. It’s a dark, twisted tale that parents may want to keep away from the little ones. Thankfully, the mature subject matter, the violence and occasional curse word and such, all flows together organically so none of the mature content feels out of place here. Still, as noted by others, the film is a bit inconsistent with how it represents the violence, and is sometimes pretty sanitized. The opening sequence, where the Joker bludgeons Robin with a crowbar repeatedly, looks pretty safe, though later we see blood splatter across a wall after Red Hood literally blows off someone’s head. Inconsistent to the point where it’s occasionally distracting, blood will be in one frame and gone the next, but nothing that actually takes away from the actual content of the film. The strong story and usually powerful voice-acting makes it easy to completely miss the odd animation hiccup.

And there’s not a thing to worry about concerning the voice cast. In fact, there’s rarely a flaw to be found here when it comes to the voice work. The major roles include Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek) as Batman, Jenson Ackles (Supernatural) as Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as Nightwing, Jason Issacs (the Harry Potter film series) as Ra’s Al Ghul, and John DiMaggio (Futurama) as The Joker. I thought everyone hit their marks well throughout the movie, with only the odd quibble. I found Issacs wasn’t given enough to work with for his role as Ghul, but did pretty well for what he had. Greenwood was a great, great Batman, only occasionally sounding a bit too horse or raspy as the Dark Knight. Harris brought some great levity to the film as Nightwing, despite his role being smaller than I would’ve hoped. Ackles was absolutely perfect as Red Hood, selling every line and creating a multi-layered and complex character. Ackles easily gives a standout performance as our mysterious vigilante. And hats off to John DiMaggio for an absolutely riveting, terrifying take on the Joker. Unique, creepy and pretty unforgettable. I got chills during some of the Joker scenes here…the dialogue was just that good and the execution even better.

Kudos to Brandon Vietti on his direction, effortlessly juggling the big set pieces with the smaller moments with ease. Whether it’s the big bridge showdown toward the climax, or the final moments of the film, or even the tense-riddled pre-credit sequence, Vietti nails it all. All of this is aided with the superb musical compositions of Christopehr Drake, who hits it out of the park yet again here. Drake has managed to bring his A-game to each of DC Universe Animated Original Movie titles, and this is no exception.

Save for what’s previously mentioned, complaints are minor for Batman: Under the Red Hood. It seems that while the creative teams on these features are starting to get a grasp of creating a full feature with a limited 75 minute time-frame, there still seems to be a couple time-crunch problems. I find that there could easily have been a few instances where the action could have been cut to make room for the movie to breathe some. As enjoyable as it was, the Amazo sequence could easily be jettisoned in favor of, well, more Red Hood. The film doesn’t feel rushed at all, and does unfold at a nice steady pace, but it’s only after that fact where one begins to realize a couple things could be excised to let the movie breathe. Plus, Nightwing vanishes about a third into a movie and then promptly disappears until a silent cameo toward the end. It would have been nice to have seen more of him, even just to provide some levity as the film dips into some very dark territory as it heads into its final moments. Still, the film never loses focus so the flaws are barely noticeable.

Before I move on, I feel the need to point out an absolutely mind-boggling observation made by Alfred during the film as he and Batman unearth a body during a late night graveyard excursion. I won’t spoil it here, but it’s simply baffling and surprisingly jarring because you’d never expect to see a comment so stupid come from someone like Alfred Pennyworth. You’ll know it when you see it.

A mature and faithful take on the Batman lore, fans of the Dark Knight really shouldn’t pass this up. The storytelling is solid, the animation is top-notch, and the cast and crew really pull out all the stops to give fans a solid character-driven action drama. It’s a really fine Bat-film that, while not succeeding them, can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: Under the Red Hood. This is one movie you need to experience on in the best format possible. No downloads or torrents, but DVD or Blu-ray. It’s just better that way (and besides, you shouldn’t be illegally downloading this stuff anyway, but actually supporting these releases by purchasing them). A stunning, action-packed emotional ride, Batman: Under the Red Hood is an unquestioned Must Own for Batman fans.

The Blu-ray:
Warner Home Video brings Batman: Under the Red Hood to Blu-ray with a standard Elite Blu-ray case housed underneath a reflective foil/embossed slipcover. Inside is the standard “digital copy” insert code, among other leaflets, and the disc itself. Revving up the disc and jumping past the main menu, it seems as though a little more effort has been put into this release than past DC Universe Animated Original Movie titles.

First up is the presentation for the film, which is generally positive. Batman: Under the Red Hood does look pretty excellent in beautiful high definition, but it’s not perfect. The image is crisp and clear, yes, but the transfer does suffer from a bit of color banding and some slight artifacting. It’s pretty easy to dismiss, and not even notice, though the colorbanding is most apparent during the opening credit sequences, which looks somewhat muddy compared to the rest of the film. But, like I said, the movie looks great, even with a small hiccup here and there. The audio, on the other, is really excellent. We actually get a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track on there…the first lossless track in quite a long time for these DC Universe Animated Original Movie line. It doesn’t seem like the speakers get quite the workout they should, but it’s still a vast improvement over the previous DD5.1 tracks. I though the action scenes could be punched up a little more, but I can deal with a merely adequate HD audio mix. However, I am expecting the next animated DC DTV to sound epic.

And now…the extras. Warner Home Video has been skimping on bonus content over the last few DC Universe Animated Original Movie releases. It seems they’re starting to slowly turn things around here. Yes, there’s still no behind-the-scene content on the actual film, but we do get some actually enjoyable featurettes and another excellent DC Showcase animated short

First up the DC Showcase: Jonah Hex animated short, in high-definition, running just shy of 12 minutes but making every moment count. Personally, I found this short to be easily superior to the DC Showcase: The Spectre short. The animation is stunning, particularly the lush backgrounds, and the voice work is solid all around. Thomas Jane is pitch-perfect as Jonah Hex. The story is pretty basic, Hex comes to collect a bounty, stumbles upon a murderous plot, but it’s executed in a nice steady pace, occasionally pierced with ear-popping violence. Easily rewatchable and highly, highly enjoyable, Warner knocks it out of the park with DC Showcase: Jonah Hex, easily schooling the recent live-action Jonah Hex feature on how it should be done.

The two main bonus features on this release look at the comic book history of the first Robins, particularly Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. Pretty appropriate, given the content of the main feature. “Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson” runs for just over 24 minutes and covers Robin’s entire history from his early days at Batman’s chummy sidekick to the dark avenger Nightwing. While the featurette looks at the basics of the characters, commentary tends to dip a bit into the mythological aspects of the character, his costume, what his position as a sidekick means, etc. Definitely some interesting talk on the character, though at times some of the commenters go a bit overboard with the symbolism and mythology aspects of the character. The same happens in the “Robin’s Reckoning: The Tale of Jason Todd” featurette. Still, the featurette has a great hook with the fan-driven death of the second Robin, and is actually (in my opinion) the more entertaining featurettes of the two. The featutte is definitely meant to be watched after viewing the Batman: Under the Red Hood main feature. Still, two top-notch featurettes that are probably the best comic-based featurettes produced for these DTVs to date. Both featurettes are in standard definition.

Next up is the First Look – Superman/Batman: Apocalypse featurette, which is pretty self-explanatory. The standard definition featurette looks at the cast and crew of the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie, showing storyboards and model sheets from the flick. Providing a rundown of film and the comic of which it is based, it’s a pretty standard tease for the next feature.

The Blu-ray release for Batman: Under the Red Hood wraps up with four episodes from Batman: The Animated Series (“Robin’s Reckoning, Parts 1 and 2,” “The Laughing Fish,” and “Mad Love”) and mix of trailers and ‘first look’ featurettes for other related releases (Jonah Hex Motion Comic, The Lord of the Rings (Animated), Legend of the Guardians, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman: Doomsday). All of this listed content is in standard definition.

Complaints on the bonus content remain pretty much the same. All bonus content should actually be in high-definition, we should get some commentaries and some behind-the-scenes featurettes focused on the actual film itself. Sadly, based on early details, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie title, Superman/Batman: Supergirl, won’t be fixing that. However, the content of what we got here is definitely a step-up from previous releases even if it is still lacking in some areas.

Wrapping up, and taking the main feature into consideration, the Blu-ray release for Batman: Under the Red Hood is a pretty solid package. Not perfect, as noted above, but definitely a worthy addition to any Batman-fan or comic-fan’s library. A great, dark intimate tale of revenge and consequences, this latest installment of the great DC Universe Animated Original Movie line is probably the best of the line yet, and easily ranks alongside the classic greats like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. The main feature is a great treat for any Batman fan, and the bonus content is good for what we get, so it’s safe to peg the Batman: Under the Red Hood Blu-ray release as a Must Own.

[ Back to Reviews ]
Batman, Joker, Red Hood and related characters and indicia are property of DC Comics and WB, 2012.
The World's Finest
and everything relating to this site - copyright, 1998 - 2012.
Proudly hosted by toonzone and popgeeks.. Contact us
 

 

DC Comics on popgeeks.com