Batman: The Red Hood Options

[Tim Tilley]

Just posting an external link: http://blog.newsarama.com/2010/06/23/bruce...animated-films/

What do all of you think of this?

I like the concept and the art but I am not a fan of the voice casting.. I preferred that they would have kept the original animated series voice cast. That aside, I am looking forward to this.

[Ron Fortier]

They had a peek of this on the last Justice League animated they released and it looked awesome. I getting it the day it comes out.

[Tim Tilley]

This is the fourth movie I wanted to buy this year that I can't afford to get. It looked good, the only thing I did not care for was the voice cast.

[Ron Fortier]

Well, I finally picked up BATMAN - Under The Red Hood and just now viewed it. It is a terrific animated film in all the technical aspects and the voice actors are really terrific in their parts. The animation itself really well done and I particularly liked how the Joker was drawn in this feature. What I did not enjoy was the story itself in that the movie left it completely unresolved.

SPOILER ALERT - If you haven't seen this movie or read the comics it was based on, please stop reading now.

I personally never read the comics, but did should never hinder anyone watching the movie if the script fills in the backgrounds and this one does that extremely well. So much so that it is very clear very early on just who the character is behind the Red Hood. So there is plenty of drama and self recrimination on Batman's part and he tells the Red Hood in their last confrontation, "This ends tonight." There is more battling, a face off in an abandoned building with a trussed up Joker and the Batman saves him by wounding the Red Hood's hand. At which point a hidden bomb goes off and in the rubble aftermath, Batman finds the Joker still alive, but no signs of the Red Hood. And that's where the movie ends.

Huh? Except for the Batman learning who the Red Hood is in the tale, the ending leaves exactly where we began, with the Red Hood most likely still out there, alive and ready to kill more gangsters and just make the Batman's life miserable. Oh, they do try to imply with the final scenes that he's gone, but again, they don't say that and Batman just walks away with the Joker in tow, making no real effort to find the Hood's remains. Again, totally stupid, negating any real purpose for the whole thing in the first place.

I'm really surprised that Bruce Timm didn't get that and maybe you can leave a comic book story line open ended, as there will always be next issue, but its a real sin to do it for a movie.

[Tim Tilley]

SPOILER ALERT



I enjoyed it. There may have been an open-ended but there wasn't really a way to end it in a satisfying way with out completely disregarding the comic story-line.
Bruce either assumed that his point had gotten across to Jason, or planned on continuing to track him down. He is capable of finding Jason with ease, so there isn't too much of a problem with walking away with Joker, since getting Joker back to Arkham was his priority at that point.

Over all, I loved this film. It had a glimpse of the classic 1990's animated series, it was darker than the recent batch of animated films which I appreciated.
I loved the animation itself, it looked good. My one and only complaint... the voice cast. I hated the voice cast.

[Gonzogoose]

Don't know if you guys got to see my review as it went up amidst all the Comic-Con coverage, but I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy and gave it a review, which you can find here:

http://www.comicrelated.com/news/7543/under-the-red-hood

In short, I loved this film, thought it was one of their better ones.

[Ron Fortier]

Remember how they killed off Spock in the second Star Trek movie and all of us walked out of the theater, tears in our eyes. Anyways, those of us old enough to have seen it in theaters. Killing him off was the closure. Then a year later they cheapened everything by bringing him back. Duh.

Had Jason REALLY died at the end of this movie, it would have been a true classic. Alas, my argument still holds that although the movie is extremely well made, it serves no purpose. It changes nothing and stories, ultimately need to be about something changing.

This post has been edited by Ron Fortier: Aug 22 2010, 08:19 AM

[Tim Tilley]

To be fair I think it's official cannon now, that Jason was indeed brought back from the dead in the comics. It makes sense to a degree that they followed the comic but I do see your point. I'd love to see a flashback movie, seeing Robin in the old classic Robin costume was really cool. I want more of that.

[LurkD]

Remember how they killed off Spock in the second Star Trek movie and all of us walked out of the theater, tears in our eyes. Anyways, those of old enough to have seen it in theaters. Killing him off was the closure. Then a year later they cheapened everything by bringing him back. Duh.

Had Jason REALLY died at the end of this movie, it would have been a true classic. Alas, my argument still holds that although the movie is extremely well made, it serves no purpose. It changes nothing and stories, ultimately need to be about something changing.

There was no closure to killing Spock as long as that "Remember" was there. That and the soft landing of the casket.

[ScottDMSimmons]

I rented this yesterday and enjoyed it for the most part. Great action sequences that weren't run-of-the-mill at all, with both Dick and Jason showing off their acrobatic moves (would have loved to see them face off though). Nice dialogue in the Amazo scene like "I won't be offended if you give me some suggestions!", and I enjoyed how Dick tried to ask Batman questions, and Batman really wouldn't answer, like he expects him to read his mind.

One of my favorite moments was subtle/non-dialogue moment right as the DNA came up on screen. Those of you who saw it may know what I am talking about (I don't want to spoil it), but I thought that moment spoke volumes about the Robins basically being the Wayne kids.

Missed seeing Tim involved in the storyline, but I understand having three Robins running around could have been too much. I never read the comics version, so I wouldn't know if Tim showed up or not in the story.

The only complaint I really have is that I really didn't enjoy the voice casting of the Joker. I didn't expect Hammill or a Ledger clone (or even a Ted Knight), but the voice was so much deeper, sort of tired/slow, and the laugh was kind of flat to me. Seemed like it would have really worked well in, say, a Dark Knight Returns animated film, but it really didn't work here for me.

This post has been edited by ScottDMSimmons: Aug 7 2010, 10:05 PM

[G-Man]

I watched this today, one of the customer's at the shop actually picked up a copy for me and left at the store. It's great to know I may be gone but not forgotten!I have to agree I did not like the voice of the Joker....but that is definitely my only complaint.

I thought this was incredible!

The best animated comic based film I have ever watched, and possibly the best comic book adaptation ever....on film period!

Better than the source material from which it was taken, I've never been able to make a claim like that before. It got rid of ALL the stupid Infinite Crisis story threads and even the silly parts of Todd's death. A great story re-written to be even more powerful than the comics while staying true to the books.

G-Man's highest rating.

[doombug]

I liked it a lot. Jenson Ackles was the best choice to play Jason and NPR was perfect as Nightwing. My only problem is that the Red Hood design and some of his character felt a little like Deadpool to me.

I really loved how Rhas was used and even the newer joker was cool, I love the voice actor as Bender and other roles.

[Minjaz]

I finally bought it and enjoyed it greatly... usually I'm not a fan of bringing long dead characters back into the mix but ever since DC decided that Jason Todd will cease to be dead.. I've really liked his character where ever I've seen him pop up. I could use some more Red Hood movies.