Under the Red Hood

Logline: While a new foe who uses The Joker's old alias wreaks havoc among Gotham City's organized crime, Batman finds him disturbingly familiar.

Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, Neil Patrick Harris, Gary Cole

Directed by: Brandon Vietti

For a quick Friday review I chose this hidden gem mainly because my buzz for The Dark Knight Rises hasn't faded yet. What better than to review an animated Batman?

Running at just 1h and 15 minutes, Under the Red Hood is a quick and enjoyable watch. However, although animated, this rendition doesn't shy away from blood and death to entertain a child's demographic.

The movie kicks off with Robin tied up inside a building that The Joker has loaded plenty of explosive devices into. Being that most animated Batman films are made for kids, you'd expect Batman to roll in like a hero and save the day. Well, he doesn't. The building explodes and Robin dies.

Cut to the future where a new villain is present in Gotham City, the Red Hood. Now, prior to his appearance in this one, the Red Hood had taken the identities of a few different people; The Joker being one of them. With Joker killing Robin in the first scene, it all makes sense right? Wrong. The Joker is actually held up in Arkham Asylum in a body suit. So, who could be under the red hood?

I will not give away any more. Instead, I'll cut to today's topic and why this Batman worked for me.

This is primarily an action film. There are many explosions, fight scenes, and chases. So, what makes for a good action film? Why are some so boring?

Under the Red Hood works for me for 2 simple reasons:

1) It doesn't overdo itself and add scenes where character's are floating around on the screen without much happening

2) all of its action scenes had purpose.

Many action movies try to act like something that they are not. If the film portrays itself as constantly moving quickly in its trailer, it HAS to be like that when the film rolls or it will not live up to expectations. I understand that some editors rely on action trailers to bring people to watch their political dramas or whatever, but if the Genre says action and you intend on producing an action film, this rule always applies. There needs to be action. You can have a few scenes showing the protag's family life, developing a sense of backstory, but you cannot have the characters floating around the screen not advancing the plot for very long, if at all. All great action movies are great because they're fast paced and meaningful. John McClane is not sitting up in the elevator shafts of the hotel being taken over by hostages in Die Hard playing solitaire by himself. Every scene in that movie advances the plot, the little scenes with his wife provide backstory that connects the audience emotionally, but that's all they intend to do. Explosions, chases and fights are good tools for an action movie, but the plot has to keep a fast pace and this brings me to my second point...

Although the plot has to be fast paced, every scene needs to have some meaning that moves the plot forward. A guard is sent up to find out who rang the fire alarm. John McClane sneaks up, the two men fight, McClane snaps his neck. 1) John McClane is discovered by the bad guys. 2) John McClane now has a firearm. And to spice action movies up there can be comedy - like when he sends the body down the chute with a smart-ass letter attached to it. Every scene should be doing something that moves the plot forward to the eventual climax of the film.

Batman never added scenes that bloated the movie; every scene had a purpose to it. For example, Batman and Nightwing chase the Red Hood together throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him. The Red Hood deflects all of their attempts and leads them into a booby-trapped building that explodes. During this sequence, Nightwing is injured leaving Batman on his own, and they discover that The Red Hood has a knife that can cut Batman's cables (very few people could have a knife that sharp). They also learn that only a few people could provide that type of extensive training as one does not simply react that fast without practice. Three different reasons for that chase scene, ya got me?

Under the Red Hood is a slick and action packed animated Batman adventure. The plot flows nicely and the villains are well fleshed out. It reiterates Batman's defiance to kill and has other themes that develop throughout. If you enjoy Batman and like animated movies, I'd definitely give this one a try - it's done really well.

7.9/10