Psychopaths and themed super-villains are no problems for Batman, but what happens when one of his former sidekicks decides that the caped crusader hasn’t gone far enough in his war on crime and takes matters into his own hands?
That is the question asked by DC Universe Animated’s latest original movie “Batman: Under the Red Hood,” an adaptation of the Judd Winick-penned storyline “Under the Hood.”
The film opens on perhaps Batman’s biggest failure, the murder of the second Robin, Jason Todd, at the hands of the Joker.
Years later, Batman and the first Robin, Dick Grayson, who now goes by Nightwing, are working together to stop a weapons shipment by gangster Black Mask.
However, things get hairy for the dynamic duo when the shipment is revealed to be Amazo, a robot with the powers of the Justice League, as well as the appearance of mysterious thug Red Hood.
Soon, it is up to Batman to try to quell the resulting gang war between the Red Hood and Black Mask before any innocents are killed in the crossfire.
“Under the Red Hood” is the first time DC Universe Animated has tackled a lone Batman story since 2008’s “Batman: Gotham Knight” and is streets ahead when compared to the previous project.
The story is a great adaptation of the original works, with most of the changes made necessary either to keep the story in an easy-to-understand continuity or for time, such as Mr. Freeze’s role in the story being replaced by that of the Joker.
My only complaint on this matter is that a group of assassins hired to kill the Red Hood went from being popular DC villains, like Captain Nazi and Deathstroke in the original story, to generic ninjas in the movie.
The voice acting was, for the most part, top notch as well.
Bruce Greenwood, known for his role as Captain Pike in the recent “Star Trek” reboot, does a good job in the role of the Batman.
He is no Kevin Conroy, but he is much better than Christian Bale’s rendition, where it sounds like he has been gargling rocks.
Doing a stellar performance is “Supernatural’s” Jensen Ackles as the Red Hood, combining the necessary gruffness with a bit of comedy in a truly enjoyable way.
Neil Patrick Harris returns to the DC Universe Animated, this time as Nightwing, and while he gives an acceptable performance, he seems to be too fun loving, not bringing some needed angst to the role.
The greatest performance in the movie though belongs to John DiMaggio, Bender from “Futurama,” as the Joker.
He displays the right amount of kookiness for the character, yet also has a very obvious dark side that actors need for the role.
If Mark Hamill does retire from the role after “Batman: Arkham Asylum 2,” DiMaggio should definitely become the regular voice for the clown prince of crime.
The only weakness of the film is the story.
There is no mystery as to what the Red Hood’s identity is, made obvious to the viewing audience at the beginning of the film.
It is still a good movie, but an air of mystery is always a fantastic element for any movie to have.
“Batman: Under the Red Hood” is another great film and comic books fans and cartoon fans should be very pleased with this final result.