HBN!: Under the Red Hood
Previously on Horrors from Beyond the Netflix, I reviewed this year’s (and surely not the last) Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton’s take on a place where invisible cats smile and queens play crochet with flamingos. This time we’ll tour a city where penguins wear monocles and robins fight crime. Batman: Under the Red Hood, the latest animated selection from Warner Bros., can be viewed instantly from Netflix.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or suggest a Netflix instant streaming film that you’re curious about but would never, ever watch. (I’ll do that for you.)
Directed by Brandon Vietti, Under the Red Hood is the talk of the town. Seriously, I can’t go anywhere without hearing how much people love this addition to the Batman film series, but is it really as good as they say?
Yes and no. For those lacking knowledge about the Red Hood lineage, an ordinary criminal was the first to wear the plain red helm and cape before he plunged into a vat of boiling chemicals and became forever known as the Joker. Now another kook is running around Gotham rooftops calling himself by the same name, but when Batman discovers his identity, the truth strikes closer to his heart than he thought possible.
Fans of the comic books will see this twist coming a mile away. It’s there, lit up by the Gotham City PD spotlight, bright yellow against the cloudy night sky. But the real surprises of this film arise in how graphic and mature its content actually is, and how well it’s handled.
Under the Red Hood unveils a gruffer Joker than most cartoon watchers are used to, but since he’s voiced by John DiMaggio (Futurama), he’s okay in my book. The Joker plays a relatively minor role in these events, given his strong influence, but aside from his surprisingly cruel and violent nature, he dishes out a few good jokes in between crowbar whacks. Batman (Bruce Greenwood) really doesn’t take center stage here, but he’s not downplayed, either.
Neil Patrick Harris does a wonderful job voicing Nightwing, and hits home on his chatty, slightly flamboyant personality. Even Jensen Ackles (yes, Supernatural‘s Jensen Ackles) succeeds as Red Hood, and the power of his performance only grows in magnitude as the movie progresses. Needless to say, the voice acting in this movie is damn good.
The animation, not as much. Sometimes we see a gritty, richly colored Gotham—the beginning overview of the city is particularly striking, as is the Arkham cell scene with the Joker in his orange straight jacket—but sometimes the CGI looks awful, as if using pre-90s technology.
Flashbacks are utilized fairly well, though perhaps too much in the long run. Still, the best move on DC’s part is what the characters get away with on screen, a level of violence more explicit than in any movie of its kind. Under the Red Hood retells the Red Hood story with grace (script credited to comics writer Judd Winick), but it isn’t particularly ground-breaking by itself. What makes it worth watching is, well, everything you wouldn’t think you could see. Kudos to DC and Warner Bros. for having the guts to greenlight such a bold move.
