Batman: Under the Red Hood Spoilers

[benicio127]

Welp, you knew this was coming.

Anyone wanna chat about Batman: Under the Red Hood? Comes out today on DVD, Blu-Ray, etc!

Spoilers and two videos under the cut...
One video is a fan reaction from SDCC and the other is a bit of Jason as Robin. 



Wow, just wow.

This movie utterly blew me away. By the end of it, I was sobbing uncontrollably -- the ending is incredibly bittersweet and emotional. The whole movie was so incredibly intense. Anyways, here's some thoughts:

We start off with A Death in the Family scene. This is actually set in Sarajevo, not the Middle East as in the comic. We later learn that Ra's has involved the Joker in a scheme to distract Batman and Jason!Robin from his dastardly deeds to take control of Europe's banks. The sickening crunch of Jason being hit by the crowbar was what started this movie off. Before we got to the opening credits, we see Batman holding up his dead soldier/son and saying "Jason" ...And then the credits start.

All of the voice acting was spot on. NPH as Nightwing and Wade Williams as Black Mask provided levity at really key moments. They were so needed. I know there's been a complaint that Dick seems to "disappear" around Act 2, but he gets injured, so it makes sense; plus, the story is ultimately about Bruce and Jason, but I was smiling as soon as Dick came...appeared on scene. John Dimaggio's Joker was creepy and fantastic. There's a scene where he's standing on top of a truck about to light the occupants inside on fire and is being completely showy --- and then Batman comes along and ruins his fun. The look on his face when Batman douses the fire is priceless.

The flashbacks were all seamless and a friend of mine -- who's never read Under the Hood and has only a casual interest in Batman -- watched it with me and quickly got the story and loved it.

The ending, oh God. It was so incredibly intense and was almost word for word from Under the Hood. There was some changes in the Joker's reaction to Jason about to blow up the building during his sad suicide mission, but the Joker's reaction actually intensified the scene so much more. Bruce and Jason... oh you both made me cry so hard.

My favourite part -- other than the flashbacks to Jason's time as Robin?



JASON WEARING A MASK UNDER HIS MASK.

What did you guys think?

Here's some other reviews:
From iFanboy:
Let's put all the cards on the table straight away. This is probably DC's strongest animated feature since Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. It's maybe a little better. It's certainly the strongest of DC Animation's recent line of adaptations, with a tight script, inspired voice acting, stellar animation, and a mature tone that elevates this story to an upper tier in direct to video animation.

From Gotham Knights Online
This film has knocked every DC Animated film out of the water and blown my mind. Stunning animation, incredible scenery, bloody and brutal while still being an emotional and brilliantly acted production. Although quite a few changes were made, they were excellent changes and fitted the story fantastically.

And more reviews that you can browse yourself... Batman on Film, Wired.com, , etc.

And for legality... a blinged out cover for Red Hood Lost Days 5
Sadly, I did not create this myself. 



Original...




I’m not sure what I like best about this: the wads of money amongst the flames, the gangsta chain, the cigar, the sunnies, the butterflies or the sparkles coming out of his armpits. 

suggested tags: char: batman/bruce wayne, char: robin/red hood/jason todd, creator: judd winick
 

Comments

[icon_uk]

It was certainly a powerful movie, very strong and nicely told.

The changes to the origin actually made it a whole lot MORE sensible than "A Death in the Family" and the dreadful "Superboy-Prime Punch" and "one way vibration sensors" resurrection, which should have NEVER been allowed past editorial.

Also the "what happened next" here makes more sense than the "expanded time with Talia" that the current miniseries is using, since the logic falls over as soon as Ra's says that Talia shouldn't give Jason back to Bruce because he still wouldn't love her, and her going along with that as a plan (When the point is that she loves HIM, and would take that risk anyway... or I think she would at any rate)

The voice work was strong, with IMHO, one exception and that, sadly, was the Joker. It sounded too MUCH like "the guy who does Bender doing a Mark Hamill impersonation", it's not different enough to sound like anything other than someone trying to be Hamill, and NOT being Hamill... if that makes sense. (Also, the Joker repeats exactly the same joke as he's used earlier when he meets the Red Hood for the first time.)

NPH as Nightwing was great, though his removal from the story just before the climactic moments were too obviously contrived to allow a dramatic scene, which is a valid cinematic approach of course, but seemed a mite forced.

Certainly a lot better than I was expecting. Hope it gets a UK release soon.

[janegray]

The changes to the origin actually made it a whole lot MORE sensible than "A Death in the Family" and the dreadful "Superboy-Prime Punch" and "one way vibration sensors" resurrection, which should have NEVER been allowed past editorial.

Considering that they allowed "Joker wants to cover-up Jason's death for he fears Batman's wrath" past editorial...

This is another thing the movie got right: Joker tells Jason to say hello to Batman for him.

[daggerpen]

There are no words for how much I loved this movie. It wasn't perfect, by any means- some of Joker's lines were off, especially his repetition of the "motorcycle fetish" joke, which really threw me, and while the explanation for Jason's resurrection works better, the scene itself was kind of narmy- but it told the story very well, and very powerfully. The ending, especially, just blew me away- from the fight between Bruce and Jason to the standoff to Jason blowing up the building himself and the Joker's reaction to that to the final flashback scene with Jason as Robin... guh. Just guh. Absolutely spectacular.

[sistermagpie]

I sort of liked the repeat of the motorcycle fetish line because it showed that Joker recycles his jokes when he thinks they're funny. It seemed like an actual character moment for him that I could believe.

[hybrid2]

I loved to movie.greatly done.
Except at the beguining,when Robin get beat up with a crow bar.He did'nt look hurt at all.he should have look a lot more beaten up IMO.

I realy like this Red Hood.it's a shame the one in the comic right now look preaty lame.

[icon_uk]

I imagine the Joker did a lot of damage internally which wouldn't have been visible through the costume. I'd say it might be debatable whether he was actually trying to kill Robin with the crowbar, he probably wanted to hurt him enough to prevent an escape and to be alive so he'd be aware he was about to die in the bomb blast.

[thatnickguy]

This is basically what the comic COULD have been if not for, as icon_uk said, the Superboy-Prime punch and atrocious ending that tied in with Infinite Crisis.

This felt like the story that Winick wanted to tell before editorial (aka: Dildio) got involved and wanted it to tie in with their current event.

[daggerpen]

Probably, yeah. It's my understanding that the whole Superboy Prime punch was pretty much the result of a poorly placed editorial mandate.

[cypherfdp]

Aw man, I really want to see this.

:(

[minyandu.livejournal.com]

try your best to get it. Believe me. It's a very good one:)

[minyandu.livejournal.com]

The movie is a really good one, better than the other few DC animated movie I saw before.
The action scenes are well designed and well done. The memory scenes are heartbreakingly sweet and very Jason-like, though I kind of hope him did give Batman a blow with that tire iron:P And Dick's part is CUTE! I love him shouting at the spooky Bat.XD
And the voice. Both Bruce and Jason's voices are better I expected. Bruce's voice not so hoarse as the one trailer I saw. There's one or two moment I think Jensen was trying too hard and a bit drifted away, but most of the work was well done. Their voice are embeded in the character quite well IMO. But I think the best job goes to Nightwing. It's just very Nightwing-y :D

[minyandu.livejournal.com]

And one more. I love how they should how the details of Bruce's face change over the years:D

[kingrockwell]

Technically, Blingee's count as photoshopped images, which don't count toward legality. By no means remove that image, it is too delightful! But some undoctored scan from a comic is required.
maybe, for instance, a page-to-screen comparison if that wouldn't take too long

[benicio127]

...I would have been so sad if you'd asked me to remove it. I'll just throw up the original coz it's a little wtf-ery as well.

And when you take off your mod hat, you should let us know what you thought of the movie (if you've seen it!)

[whitesycamore]

After I finished watching it I spent about five minutes wriggling with delight.

It's weird, but the part that got to me more than anything was the split-second look of resignation on Jason's face just before the warehouse blew. It just... felt real, like that's how I'd react in the same situation.

And I loved the Joker in this. Particularly in the climax - I felt like he actually enhanced the emotion, whereas in the book he just distracted from it. "You found a way to win, and everyone still loses!" Guh.

[benicio127]

Oh man, I spent like ...15 minutes trying to de-blotch my face and cursing Judd Winick for making me cry through both comic and now animated format. Then I yelled at my s/o for not crying and I think I told him he has no soul...

Anyways, oh man, that look of resignation. It's echoed at the end as well, which I loved.
I completely agree with you on the Joker. If I have any beefs with Under the Hood, it's the Joker (and the art for issues 649 and 650). I think you spelled out some of my problems with the Joker in Under the Hood, but in this he just intensified the emotion and the scene. "It's better this way! This way we all get what we want!" -- I was practically on the edge of my seat at that moment, even though I knew what was going to happen!
And I just have to say again... Jensen Ackles, damn. (totally just gonna C&P what I already wrote...)

Jensen had all of Jason's arrogance, taunting, confusion, hurt, betrayal, snark, and even playfulness (Awful close... Afraid you're gonna miss?). This was based on the book that made me fall in love with this character in the first place and to see it done so incredibly well was just --- ~happy sigh~
I was also very happy to see all of Jason's complexity make it on screen. At one point, he's pushing Bruce to the limit to see what he can do (catch this helicopter, dad! Oh and while you're at it, let's see if you can duck away from this bomb! Haven't lost your touch!) and at the same time, there's still some hero in him: saving Bruce from one of the assassins sent by Black Mask and taking the hit himself was a nice touch. He's not all bad, but he's not exactly good and that's pretty much how I like my Jason.

[heartsalliance]

Two words: Fucking. Awesome. I had some beef with it, but overall it completely owned my life.

[benicio127]

Oh! Nifty factoid: Judd Winick actually lied about that whole voting in thing.

For the record, Winick says he didn't vote one way or the other. "In previous interviews, when I was promoting the Red Hood run, I would lie," he says, laughing. "I would say I actually voted for him to live, because I knew it made a much better story that I wanted him to live and now I'm bringing him back from the dead. I would have definitely voted for him to die.

What's even weirder is I swear this interview was shortly after whitesycamore, cloud_wolf and I were having a convo about it at S_D... *freaky*

[zechs80]

"Can I have a glass of water?"

:P

That is so going up there with, "How about a magic trick?"

[proteus_lives]

Am I the only one would loved Black Mask's female Alfred?

[daggerpen]

LOL. No. She was fun.

I particularly loved the random gender-bender, since she was a he in the graphic novel. And came to a much better fate than her male counterpart, too.

[proteus_lives]

Wow. I liked it a lot.

Sure, the Joker's voice was no Hamil. (Nothing else ever will be) But I liked most of his lines and how they beefed-up his appearance.

The fight between Bruce and Jason was amazing.

And the ending......angsty/dark and the ever-present themes of childhood lost. The perfect bat ending.

Two thumbs-up!

[janegray]

I loved the movie, but there was one part that really bothered me.

Bruce and Alfred open the coffin after five years, find a Jason that looks exactly as he did when he was buried, and Alfred goes all "oh, what a relief, he is still there!"

Are you f-ing kidding me? He has been dead for five freaking years, and Alfred doesn't find it at all weird that the body didn't decompose at all? Did Bruce have Jason embalmed, perchance?

...On second though, don't answer that, I don't want to know.

[daggerpen]

LOL.

Yeah, that was kind of a "wait, what?" moment for me, too.

[cloud_wolf]

Here is a review on Comics Alliance. Funnily enough, this guy considers Nightwing the nadir of the movie, oh well. I thought the movie was great, though I have to admit that mummy!Jason kinda made me laugh. But not as much as Black Mask! Man, I know he tortured Steph but in the UtH movie/comics? Funny as hell.

I loved DiMaggio as the Joker. Haters gonna hate.

[benicio127]

Ha! I think I've read a total of two negative reviews and that's the second. I think if this were on Rotten Tomatoes review aggregator it'd actually be ranked quite high based on the reviews.

Yeah, mummy!Jason was the only weird part for me. Ha.

[starwolf_oakley]

I noticed three things that I suspect are references to other movies.

1. Black Mask's "look" seems to be based on Tony Montana in Scarface.

2. A sold steel door getting lodged in a wall reminded me of Con Air.

3. Batman and Red Hood fighting in the bathroom had a Bourne Supremacy vibe to it. Or maybe the prologue in Casino Royale.

[strangerface]

I am so frustrated that WB will not allow me to Netflix this until August. X(

I would buy it, of course, but Batman/Superman Public Enemies sucked so bad I feel like WB owes me money.

[aaron_bourque]

How could it be good when the story is so not good?

[benicio127]

I thought the story was fantastic.