BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD (2010, Blu-ray released July 27, 2010 – MSRP $29.99)
Man, I love these DC Comics animated films! As much as I’m dying to see Warner and DC branch out and tackle more obscure characters and story-lines from their vast universe of super-hero properties, Batman: Under the Red Hood is a welcome addition to a growing library of wonderful animated adventures based on the dark, gritty world of the caped crusader. And a perfect compliment to the live-action Christopher Nolan films of the last number of years!
Right out of the gate, you know that Under the Red Hood means business. The film opens with Batman rocketing toward an abandoned warehouse to save his young partner who is being savagely beaten by the dark knight’s arch nemesis, crazed madman the Joker. Savagely beaten. On screen. With a crowbar. This is a violent, more realistic portrayal of these characters than we’re used to seeing animated and as such is not meant for innocent eyes. This cartoon is for the more mature fans of the comics and films.
The story is typically dark, and deeply psychological, examining Batman’s relationships with his partners in crime-fighting through the years, and his failure to live up to the role of their guardian and father figure. Neil Patrick Harris is perfectly cast as Nightwing, the first hero to go by the name of Robin and former partner to a Batman wonderfully portrayed by Bruce Greenwood. They’re trying to track down and stop the Red Hood (Jensen Ackles), a new figure in Gotham’s underworld who’s taking over the city in a reign of violence and murder. But the Red Hood is connected to Batman’s past. To bring him down, the dark knight will be forced to face his mistakes and his demons, not to mention the Joker (John DiMaggio), head on.
Under the Red Hood is another visual triumph for the Warner animation department, resulting in a high-def tour-de-force on Blu-ray. The 75-minute film is created on a tight budget that is only sometimes apartment in the movement of characters or their occasional slip off-model. The transfer onto Blu looks great here, exhibiting vibrant colours and deep blacks. Occasional compression hiccups – banding, aliasing, noise – keep this from being amongst the best looking of the DC animated Blu-ray discs. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, on the other hand, is an explosive picture of dynamic perfection that will give your LFE channel that workout it’s been clamouring for.
This Blu-ray disc features a killer selection of extras including a short Jonah Hex film written by Joe R. Lansdale and Justin Gray that easily bests its live-action counterpart which bombed in cinemas only a couple of months ago. The dark, 12-minute western-horror stars Thomas Jane as our scarred, gun-slinging hero, with co-stars Michael Rooker, Michelle Trachtenberg and Linda Hamilton filling out the cast. The animation is moody and breathtaking punctuated by an amazing score by Jeremy Zuckerman and the Track Team. If not for the short run-time, Jonah Hex would be the best thing on the Blu-ray disc.
Other extras include a couple of half-hour featurettes, each focusing on one of the characters who went by the name of Robin, a 12-minute “First Look” at WHV’s upcoming Superman/Batman Apocalypse disc, four of the finest episodes of the Batman Animated Series from the 90′s (“Robin’s Reckoning, Parts 1 & 2,” “Mad Love,” and “The Laughing Fish“) and a handful of trailers.
[...] who saw the animated Jonah Hex short included on the Batman: Under The Red Hood Blu-ray have seen a great example of a Hex story. The mood and feel was right on, and the live-action film [...]
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