Batman: Under the Red Hood

Batman: Under the Red Hood is a 2010 American animated superhero direct-to-video film produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Animation, and released by Warner Home Video. Directed by Brandon Vietti and written by Judd Winick, it is the eighth film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. The film, directly derived from the Batman storyline "Under the Hood" (also written by Winnick), sees Batman as he confronts and searches for the identity of a vigilante called Red Hood. The voice cast includes Bruce Greenwood and Jensen Ackles as Batman and Red Hood, respectively, alongside John DiMaggio, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Isaacs, and Wade Williams.

Batman: Under the Red Hood was released on July 27, 2010, and received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised its plot, animation, and focus on storytelling. It is generally considered to be one of the best in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. The film was also a commercial success, grossing over $12 million in home video sales. The two-disc special edition and Blu-ray also includes an animated short featuring Jonah Hex. An interactive short spiritual sequel/film adaptation, Batman: Death in the Family, was released on October 13, 2020.

Plot
Ra's al Ghul realizes his mistake in hiring the Joker to use him as a distraction while he destroyed Europe's financial districts after learning that he has captured Jason Todd, the second Robin, Batman's partner. In Sarajevo, Bosnia, Joker brutally assaults and tortures Jason in an abandoned warehouse. He then locks Jason in the warehouse with a bomb, which explodes and kills him before Batman arrives.

Five years later in Gotham City, a mysterious vigilante called Red Hood assembles a meeting of the city's most prominent drug dealers. He announces a takeover of their drug trade, taking only a quarter of the profit while offering them protection from both Black Mask and Batman, but threatens to kill them if anyone is caught dealing drugs to children.

Meanwhile, Batman stops an attempted theft of a shipment that belonged to Black Mask, which contains the advanced android Amazo. Batman destroys Amazo with the help of Jason's predecessor Dick Grayson a.k.a. Nightwing and discovers the thieves are working for Red Hood who then kills them. He chases Red Hood to Ace Chemicals, where an explosion destroys the facility. Batman and Nightwing interrogate Joker at Arkham Asylum about Red Hood, but he denies involvement.

Infuriated, Black Mask puts a hit on Red Hood for Amazo's destruction. Batman and Nightwing prevent Red Hood from hijacking Black Mask's next weapon shipment. They chase Red Hood to a train station, where he escapes after detonating a bomb, which injures Nightwing. As Alfred Pennyworth tends to Nightwing, Batman realizes that the Red Hood is trained and has knowledge of Batman's tactics, gear, and secret identity.

Batman recalls Jason performing the same maneuvers as Robin and that Jason grew more violent and bloodthirsty as he aged. Black Mask sends out the Fearsome Hand of Four to lure Red Hood in. They nearly overpower him until Batman helps incapacitate three of them and Red Hood kills the fourth, horrifying Batman. Red Hood explains he is doing what Batman will not: killing criminals who are not afraid.

Batman analyzes a blood sample of Red Hood drawn from the battle and it matches Jason's. After discovering Jason's corpse is fake, Batman confronts Ra's al Ghul and demands to know the truth. Ra's explains that he felt responsible for Jason's death and, as a peace offering, swapped Jason's body for a fake and revived him in the Lazarus Pit, but following his resurrection, Jason was driven insane and escaped.

After surviving an assassination attempt by Red Hood, Black Mask sets Joker free, tasking him with killing Red Hood. However, Joker instead abducts Black Mask and the drug dealers and plans to set them on fire; Red Hood appears and reveals his real target all along has been the Joker. Batman saves the hostages and Red Hood takes Joker. Red Hood brutally beats Joker in revenge and confronts Batman.

Batman and Red Hood fight, and during the fight, Red Hood reveals himself to be Jason. Their fight makes its way to the dilapidated building where Jason is keeping the Joker and ends with Jason holding Batman at gunpoint. Though he has forgiven Batman for not saving him, Jason is upset and angry that Joker is still alive after killing him. Batman admits he has thought constantly about torturing and killing the Joker but will not, fearing he will not stop if he kills even once. Jason tosses Batman a gun and gives him an ultimatum – he will execute the Joker unless Batman shoots him. Batman refuses and drops the gun, causing Jason to shoot at him. Batman throws a Batarang, which jams and destroys Jason's pistol. Defeated, Jason sets off a time bomb and Batman subdues Joker before attempting to save Jason.

The bomb explodes; Batman and Joker survive but Jason is gone. Subsequently, Joker is returned to Arkham and Black Mask is arrested. At the Batcave, Alfred offers to remove the glass case display of Jason's Robin costume, but Bruce refuses, claiming it does not change anything.

A final flashback shows Jason's first day as Robin, which he cheerfully declares is the best day of his life.

Crew

 * Andrea Romano – Voice Director

Music
The score for Batman: Under the Red Hood was composed by Christopher Drake, who had previously scored several animated films set in the DC Universe. It was inspired by the soundtracks of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm which features a traditional orchestral score and The Dark Knight which features a computer generated, electronic score. Drake said that since Under the Red Hood has a darker tone than previous DC Universe animated films, he chose not to use the music as epic and melodramatic instead opting for a more intimate, minimal and restrained tone. He added that this is the first DC film he has scored that didn't rely on using a large choir to make the fight scenes sound bigger. Drake scored the film as a reference to modern minimalist electronic scores because the film's director Brandon Vietti felt that Under the Red Hood needed to go in a different, more modern direction to separate it from previous DC animation scores. At that point, Drake introduced more electronic and ambient elements, like synthesized and processed electronic guitar, while retaining orchestral elements.

Batman: Under The Red Hood – Soundtrack to The Animated Original Movie was released by WaterTower Music on July 27, 2010 and features 18 tracks composed for the film.

Commercial performance
The film grossed over $12 million in domestic home video sales, making it one of the highest grossing DC animated films.

Critical reception
Batman: Under the Red Hood received positive reviews from critics who praised the film's direction, animation, emotional weight of the story, and voice acting particularly for Jensen Ackles. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews from  critics, with an average rating of. Demeter's review for The World's Finest stated: "I have to say this really was a damn good film". James Harvey's review on the same website was even more positive, calling it "a mature and faithful take on the Batman lore". IGN gave the movie an 8 out of 10, calling it "An interesting peek inside the psyche of Batman and the fine line between good and evil". It was the highest rated direct-to-video Batman film until the release of The Dark Knight Returns.

Continuation
A follow-up film titled Batman: Death in the Family was released on October 13, 2020, a decade after Under the Red Hood with Greenwood, Martella, and DiMaggio reprising their roles. Zehra Fazal plays Talia al Ghul and Gary Cole plays both Two-Face and Commissioner Gordon. It is an interactive narrative where the viewer chooses what happens in the story.