Viewed in
2010
Formats
Netflix HD streaming (Xbox 360)
Premise
In this animated, stand-alone tale, a mysterious red-hooded figure begins to take control of Gotham City's organized crime.
Liked
The dark style, slick action.
Thoughts
I enjoyed the fun hybrid animation between the original goth version and the later anime-style version. It felt dark and gritty, but at the same time it had visual style and flair. And a much better production value. It definitely deserved the PG-13 rating with its violence. Which was fine by my, as it fit the tone of the story.
Like many animated works these days, the film makers hired a lot of known actors instead of voice over actors. To my surprise, their performances were genuine and fit within the film. Though I still miss the original voices of Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy.
Knowing only Batman from the movies and 1990's cartoons, I was unsure if the plot and characters were derived from original source or completely original. I have a feeling they were derived from somewhere, because there were times when the film did not bother introducing characters or their relationships. In terms of the big picture, that was fine, since it was consistent with the wealth of complex characters that the Christopher Nolan had, as well as Batman Gotham Knight.
For me, the flaws were the dialogue was sometimes uncreative, the identity of Red Hood was pretty obvious, and some of the computer generated animation was too obvious. It is up to you if I should expect higher standards from a 80-minute animated tale that went straight to DVD.
Clearly meant for older kids and adults who wanted something edgier than Saturday cartoons, it succeeded in tone, action, and production. As a big fan of Batman: The Animated Series, it brought me back to those days without totally insulting my intelligence.
What I would change
Nothing.
