In this story, Gotham City has a new vigilante in town with a familiar name – The Red Hood, which the Joker (John Di Maggio; Futurama) admits in this movie to having used that moniker in a previous life. However, this vigilante doesn’t practice the same honorable methods that Batman does. The Red Hood (Jensen Ackles; Supernatural) has no qualms about killing and controlling crime rather than stopping it because he knows crime in Gotham will never end, and the current Gotham kingpin – Black Mask (Wade Williams) – is taking the biggest hit in business because of this new/old face. So, after several fruitless attempts to kill him on his own, Black Mask’s desperation leads him to strike a deal with Gotham’s own devil – The Joker. All he wants him to do is kill Red Hood, but with The Joker you are always guaranteed to get more than you bargained for.
Batman (Bruce Greenwood) has his own interests invested in Red Hood’s identity because every time they encounter one another, there seems to be a rising familiarity about whom this person is; from their fighting style to the personal knowledge that the Red Hood knows about Batman and Brue Wayne. All of the evidence suggests the unthinkable – that Batman’s greatest failure may have formed into a living, breathing, trigger-happy ghost by the name of Jason Todd; the only sidekick that died while serving under Batman’s supervision, and died at the hands of The Joker.
Aided by Nightwing (Neil Patrick Harris), even though he doesn’t want to be, Batman searches for clues as to who this Red Hood is and if there is any possibility that it could in fact be Jason. His search leads them to a fight with an Amazo android and takes Batman to the lair of Ra’s Ah Ghul (Jason Isaacs) and of course, to a confrontation with both the Red Hood and The Joker.
Batman: Under the Red Hood is heavy on the action and it is animated quite well. Every punch, kick, slam, and acrobatic assault comes out clearly. The voice-acting is fine; I feel that a lot of fans might take issue with Di Maggio’s interpretation of The Joker as he seems to be slightly more refined and less hysterical than previous incarnations, but I got used to it and even felt him channeling Mark Hammil’s version towards the end. Given more opportunities I think John Di Maggio would make an excellent Joker all around, but I’ll have to settle for a weekly dose of Bender on Futurama. To me, the standout was Neil Patrick Harris. Even though I knew he was playing Nightwing, hearing him act it out was a very cool experience; it rarely sounded like his own voice at all and fit Nightwing quite well.
Having read all of the stories that were involved in bringing this moment in Batman’s life to fruition, the changes made for the animated movie were understandable and didn’t detract from the viewing experience in any way, and although it is explained – the emotional and psychological toll that Jason’s death took on Batman/Bruce Wayne, I wouldn’t have minded a little snippet showing just how close Batman came to crossing that line he swore he never would, but really I have nothing to complain about. Batman: Under the Red Hood is a finely adapted tale about an important part of Batman’s life and is not at all a bad time-killer, and for the die hard fans; maybe, eventually a worthy purchase.
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