DC Universe's latest animated feature, Batman: Under the Red Hood, is an adaptation of the 2005 Batman comic book storyline "Under the Hood", which was written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Doug Mahnke.

The "Under the Hood" storyline was slightly controversial when it was first published - but that controversy hasn't stopped DCU from making one of their best animated features to date, one full of great voicework and some spectacular Batman-style action.

Under the Red Hood finds Batman caught up in an underworld mystery; the ruthless Black Mask has murdered his way to the top of Gotham City's underworld and reigns as king - that is until a mysterious (and even more ruthless) vigilante called Red Hood shows up and starts taking apart Black Mask's empire, piece by piece.

Red Hood is as smart and well-trained as Batman himself - the only difference is that Red Hood has no qualms whatsoever about killing "underworld scum." The Red Hood mantle is something of a tradition in Gotham's underworld, so Batman's first guess is that this is just another crook looking to make a name for himself. However, after each subsequent encounter with Red Hood, Batman begins to suspect that the murderous vigilante may have a direct connection to a dark chapter in the Batman and Robin Legacy.

batman under the red hood animated robin

Meanwhile, Black Mask is desperate to stop his empire from falling apart and in that desperation, he turns to the one man in Gotham crazier than Red Hood: The Joker. As you would expect, chaos ensues and the mystery of who is under the red hood is finally revealed - with deep repercussions for Batman.

If you're familiar with Judd Winick's storyline, then you already know who is under the red hood. The movie doesn't exactly make it hard to guess but I won't spoil the mystery here. The comic book storyline was a slow build to the big reveal, but director Brandon Vietti - who has directed episodes of the Batman: Brave and the Bold TV series and Superman: Doomsday - does a great job of condensing the storyline into a 70-minute movie that favors action over mystery. And because this is a PG-13 animated feature, the DCU team isn't afraid to keep things a little more adult in tone - good decision when you have villains like Black Mask, Red Hood and The Joker all in one film.  You just know some blood is going to be shed, and the filmmakers manage to get in the adult themes without the cartoon being too scary for youngsters to enjoy as well.

Batman animated red hood

The animation is pretty impressive: it's a smoother and polished version of the animation style seen in Green Lantern:First Flight or Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, instead of the anime-influenced style we saw in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. I prefer traditional DCU animation style and Under the Red Hood makes it look crisp and clean; it'll look gorgeous on Blu-ray, no doubt.

The fight scenes in Under the Red Hood are all pretty awesome. There are battles with super-androids, cybernetic assassins, gangsters and rogues like The Joker and the titular Red Hood, and what really makes these fights great is that the DCU team totally get who Batman is and what his capabilities are: he's a highly-trained detective and a non-powered human who is still more than a match for any of the super-powered foes in the DC Universe. There are cool gadgets, cunning tactics, crazy acrobatics, awesome martial arts and grappling-gun swinging galore; this movie has all the Batman staples and makes them look damn cool.

Batman crooks animated under the red hood

The voice cast is also in top form. When I heard that fan-favorite Kevin Conroy wasn't voicing Batman in this film, I was a little disappointed. However, Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike from the Star Trek reboot) steps up and delivers a pretty excellent Batman - no need to worry about any Christian Bale "gruff voice" in this movie. Supernatural's Jensen Ackles gets extra fanboy cred for bringing Red Hood to life and making a guy in red mask interesting; Neil Patrick Harris is charming as usual, shooting off one-liners as Nightwing, the original Robin now all grown up.

In my opinion the most impressive voicework in the film has to be John Di Maggio (Bender from Futurama) as the Joker. Di Maggio actually gives fan-favorite Mark Hamill a run for his money as THE iconic voice behind the animated version of the Clown Prince of Crime. He's as demented and disturbing as you'd want the Joker to be in a story like this, which has many iconic Joker moments and themes.

under the red hood animated Joker

All in all, Under the Red Hood is the best animated Batman project I've seen in a long time, and is probably in my top 3 favorite DCU animated features of all time. It's simply a great Batman story with great Batman action - if you're a fan of DCU animated features (and if you're reading this, you probably are) you definitely need to check this one out.

Batman: Under the Red Hood arrives on DVD/Blu-ray on July 27th.

Continue to the Jonah Hex showcase and Special Features...

batman under the red hood dcu showcase jonah hex review

DCU SPOTLIGHT: JONAH HEX

DCU has started to include animated shorts with their animated features, and along with Under the Red Hood comes a DCU Showcase featuring Jonah Hex, who (not so) coincidentally had a live-action feature film hit theaters this summer.

What's sad is that the DCU team manage to do in ten minutes what the entire Jonah Hex movie team couldn't do at all: Introduce Jonah Hex in a way that generates fan interest and makes you want to follow further adventures of the character onscreen.

This animated short features Thomas Jane (The Punisher) as Hex, a scarred-face bounty hunter who comes to town in pursuit of his latest bounty, Red Doc (Michael Rooker). Problem is Red Doc has already been done in by a murderous con-artist gang, led by a ruthless prostitute (Linda Hamilton). When Hex comes asking questions, the gang set their sights on him next.

Batman under red hood jonah hex

This cartoon is everything that the Jonah Hex movie should've been and was not: A western that features a badass anti-hero character - none of that supernatural powers crap in this animated short. If DCU wants to do an entire Hex animated feature in the future, I'm all in.

[SIDE NOTE: Thomas Jane definitely should've played Jonah Hex in the live-action movie. Jane even did a makeup test as Hex to audition for the part and still didn't get it - yet another comic book movie missed opportunity...]

The Jonah Hex showcase was directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, the same man who directed the Spectre showcase (which was attached to DCU's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths animated feature). Santos is also directing the Green Arrow showcase, which will be attached to DCU's upcoming animated feature, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. These animated shorts have been great additions to the DCU animated lineup, and Santos is doing a great job helming them. So far he's left me wanting more every time.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The Batman: Under the Red Hood DVD/ Blu-ray comes with the following special features (they're broken down by format):

DVD

  • Next Upcoming DCU Sneak Peak: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (10 min).
  • DC Showcase: Jonah Hex - animated short. The tough-as-nails bounty hunter Jonah Hex always gets his man--until someone else gets to him first - in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just his bounty from Jonah Hex. Based on a story from the award-winning Jonah Hex comic series.
  • Featurette: Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson--Explore the evolution of the character through the years.
  • 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm.

Blu-ray

  • Featurette: Robin’s Requiem: The Tale of Jason Todd - The story of how DC Comics heard the fan outcry and reshaped the Robin character for the new millennium.
  • 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm.
  • Next Upcoming DCU Sneak Peak (10 min).
  • DC Showcase: Jonah Hex – animated short. The tough-as-nails bounty hunter Jonah Hex always gets his man – until someone else gets to him first – in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just his bounty from Jonah Hex. Based on a story from the award-winning Jonah Hex comic series.
  • Featurette: Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson- Explore the evolution of the character through the years.
  • 2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm.
  • Digital copy.

Batman: Under the Red Hood arrives on DVD/Blu-ray on July 27th.