Added on August 10, 2010    Batman , batman: under the red hood , bruce greenwood , DC Comics , jensen ackles

Batman: Under the Red Hood is F*cking Awsome!

When I first heard about this project I had almost no interest in it. I had liked the original comic run and thought they could not do it justice, also Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were not involved.

It was not until I started doing some research that I found out who the key players involved were and the main reason why I decided to give it a try…

For instance you have the following:

Brandon Vietti (The Batman, Batman the Brave and the Bold) – Director

Judd Winick (the author of the original comic book story) – Writer

Bruce Timm (Justice League, Superman, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond) – Producer

Andrea Romano (Justice League, Superman, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The Batman; you can more or less blame her and Paul Dini for recasting Mark Hamill as the Joker, the part was originally given to Tim Curry) – Casting and Voice Director

After seeing that large of a list of people with Batman pedigrees, it’s then I became VERY interested. If I were to choose a crew to work on a Batman feature, most of them would be involved because these people understand Batman. In fact, the only person missing from this is Paul Dini.

Under the Red Hood has an all new cast. I love Kevin Conroy, and I was very perturbed when I found out he was not involved. However Bruce Greenwood steps up and gives a stellar performance that is somehow reminiscent of Conroy, but still making it his own. John DeMaggio, who I thought at first was a miscast (probably best known for Bender on Futurama) turns out to be equally up to the task and does an excellent job. Also involved as voice crew are Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing, Wade Williams as Black Mask, and Jason Isaacs as Ra’s al Guhl. All in all they turned out to be an excellent cast.

The Animation was also excellent. The matte paintings were some of the best I have seen DC do. For the most part, they did all new character designs that somehow still feel familiar. The character animation was good, but it is not quite up to “Heart of Ice” from Batman: The Animated Series, but frankly I don’t think we will ever see the like of that again.

Spoilers for those that don’t already know the story: Under the Red Hood is the story of Jason Todd. Todd was the Robin that took Dick Grayson’s place. He was brutally beaten and killed by the Joker. He was returned from the grave by Ra’s al Guhl, by way of his Lazarus Pitt (often a side effect of the process is insanity). Now retuning to Gotham playing the part of a crime lord in order to seek his revenge and clean up the city in his own crazy way.

Side note: The Bluray version also contains a Jonah Hex exclusive short starring Thomas Jane and Linda Hamilton. Honestly I usually dislike Jonah Hex, but I really enjoyed this short, it was pretty awesome. The story was good, the voice acting was good, and the animation was great. If you are going to buy Under the Red Hood, spring for the Bluray so you can see this short feature.