Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

Batman: Under the Red Hood is an animated movie within the world of Batman.

For a short movie, there is a lot of depth.

Under the Red Hood tells the story of Red Hood (Voiced by Jensen Ackles) and his encounters with Batman (Bruce Greenwood). 

The film opens with an incredible sequence that manages to demonstrate the ability animation has to portray violence and danger without having to explicitly show it. This is something that I wish more movies would do. This sequence also managed to allow for an emotional punch that is best vocalised without words.

As the movie shifts from the past to the present day, we are greeted with an exposition filled five minutes, which begins to drag the movie down. However, that is the only section filled with awkward exposition, which was very fortunate.

As the main story progresses, the Red Hood story becomes more and more intertwined with that of the now deceased Jason Todd, a former Robin. This therefore makes Batmans journey all the more emotional as he is driven towards a final confrontation with the masked man.

This arc of the Batman saga manages to create a vulnerable hero as he dwells on his failures. The character of the Red Hood manages to exemplify the limits the Batman has put upon himself by crossing the line and killing criminals. This makes for an interesting, and deep character study. It also poses the question of whether Batman is actually affective.

Along the journey, Batman is joined by Nightwing (Neil Patrick Harris), a character primarily placed for comic relief. He is also a nice way of juxtaposing two parts of Batman, his greatest success and his greatest failure. As ever, Alfred (Jin Piddock) is there to faithfully provide Batman with a voice of reason, while Ra's Al Ghul (Jason Isaacs) appears to piece together a puzzle for the detective.

For the Red Hood and his story of vengeance, he is pitted against both Black Mask (Wade Williams) and Joker (John DiMaggio). While Black Mask was a character that featured more, he was a means to an end, both for the audience and for Red Hood. With Joker however, there was eery feeling of how personal his vendetta is with all of the characters.

To say that all characters were portrayed well is an understatement. It feels as if the focus on voice acting has allowed some of the actors, especially Jensen Ackles, to deliver some of their best performances. It is a testament that all of the characters feel unique and alive in a world where stereotypes and over the top characterisations should have been prevalent.

Regarding the movement and direction, this film felt as if you could be watching a live action film. The characters movement was based on real human movement, despite some creative license with pain thresholds. The camera angles showed a dedication to detail.

One thing that I enjoyed above all else with this film is that it is one of the most human superhero films that I have seen. The focus is on the characters as opposed to ver the top action. 

The themes of this movie are very mature, with bloody violence and references to death. While this did not kill my enjoyment of the film, it is not a family movie. 

Number of times I looked at my watch: Three

Recommendation: Feel free to watch it but avoid showing to young children.

All feedback is welcome, have a great day.

If you have any suggestions for films to review, or would like me to review your film, please let me know.

Sense8 (2015)

Sense8 is a show that explores the connections between eight people who are psychically connected, for lack of a better description.

While high concept Sci Fi is difficult to follow, but every so often it is worth it.

Sense8 follows Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre), Sun Bak (Doona Bae), Capheus (Aml Ameen), Nomi Marks (Jamie Clayton), Kala Dandekar (Tina Desai), Riley (Tuppence Middleton), Wolfgang (Max Reimelt) and Will Gorski (Brian J. Smith) as they discover their connection to each other.

The overarching group story is peppered with each of the characters individual stories. Each of these stories helps to develop both the character who the story focuses on as well as the world. I feel like I should attempt to review each of the stories individually. However, in the interest of time, I will restrain myself.

The highlight of the individual stories in my opinion is Litos as it builds a world of interesting and exciting characters. The low point of the individual stories is Wills. I feel that the reason for his individual story not clicking is that his character was designed for the overarching narrative.

The characters vary from interesting and fun (Lito and his story) to dull (Will). However, each of the characters feel like individuals, a sign of great writing. This sense of character even extends to the supporting characters, they are vibrant and help to build a lived in world.

Finally there is the villain, Mr. Whispers (Terrence Mann). Whispers is a very good, enigmatic villain. Throughout the series we learn very little about him, bar his methods and his first name. This makes for a great villain. One who we know to be afraid of without having that pesky humanity to make us feel sympathy for him.

His opposition is Jonas Maliki (Naveen Andrews), a man with a chequered pass who is atoning for his sins. This character plays a vital role, helping to kick off proceedings for this show.

Despite there being action in this series, it is not something that needs to be focused on. This is primarily a Sci Fi character drama, peppered with touching moments, some of which are karaoke based. This series is difficult to pin down as it covers such an array of genres.

For what was advertised as an action show, I found a far more riveting show instead. I recommend that people watch this show.

Number of Episodes: 12

Recommendation: Watch it.

I hope you enjoyed this review, please let me know what other shows you would like me to review.

Have a great day. Looking forward to your feedback.