Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Movies 'Batman: Under the Red Hood' takes off the kid gloves
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 3:14 PM
That's not the case for the new release, Batman: Under the Red Hood, which hit stores yesterday and earns its more mature credentials. While the Cartoon Network's "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" series proves captivating for the pre-K crowd, middle schoolers and up might be better audiences for Under the Red Hood's gloomy intensity. Within the first five minutes, the Joker administers a savage beating with a crowbar. This isn't a "Bang! Pow!" kind of story, but its headlong momentum and charged conflicts make it one of the best of DC's original DVD films.
Batman (voiced by Bruce Greenwood) discovers that a new vigilante called "The Red Hood" (Jensen Ackles) has targeted Gotham City's gang families. The Red Hood's motives aren't clear: does he terrorize and cripple organized crime to tip the scales in favor of law and order? Or does he simply want to take control for financial gain? Gotham's current crimelord, The Black Mask, resorts to hiring The Joker to stop the Red Hood's reign of terror, even though the Clown Prince of Crime has no loyalty except to chaos.
Under the Red Hood seems directly inspired by Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight: it features a pulsing soundtrack, huge urban action scenes and a willingness to ratchet up the emotional stakes to operatic levels. When Batman busts a criminal shipment early in the film, director Brandon Vietti and writer Judd Winick turn a standard-issue comic books sequence in an elaborate, superpowered set piece thanks to the nature of the cargo in question. Under the Red Hood's creators seem dedicated to raising the visual and emotional bar for the animated film series, without crossing the line to absurdity.
Some foreknowledge in DC lore will help with Under the Red Hood, particularly with characters like transnational kingpin Ra's Al Gul. Jason Todd, for instance, plays a major role in Batman continuity as the youth who took over as Robin when Dick Grayson grew up and became Nightwing (voiced here by Neil Patrick Harris as a source of comic relief quips). Batman's relationship as a role model and surrogate father to both Robins provides a crucial theme in the film. Helpfully, the film reveals that the original Red Hood was a minor thief who fell into a chemical vat and emerged as the Joker. At one point the Joker quips to his namesake, "My look was more flashy maitr' d than motorcycle fetish."
Jon Dimaggio, best known as Bender on "Futurama," gives a deeper level of menace to The Joker compared to Mark Hamill and other voice actors who've taken on the role. Under the Red Hood culminates with a three-way confrontation, arguably comparable to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, that involves not just a clash of characters, but of moral points of view. The film builds to a quietly devastating flashback sequence that packs a wallop, even without packing a set of brass bat-knuckles.
Batman: Under the Red Hood. Warner Home Video, $24.98 (two-disc special edition)
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