OK so this is something new to me in that I've never done a review where I review a film and the source material that the film was adapted from since I started up this blog a couple of years ago, so please bear with me if I mess up. Anyway, so as all hardcore Batman fans (like myself) know (and if you are a hardcore fan of Batman you should have played the video games, watched the many films and TV shows and most importantly, read the comic books and know what the characters are like. That's what it takes to be a hardcore fan of Batman), Batman is known for having many sidekicks. The most common of his sidekicks is the many variations of Robin (yeah, there is more than one Robin). Now each Robin that has worked alongside Batman, often see him as a teacher and mentor and until they reach an adult age, they then grow out of being the sidekick and try to get their own name in the DCU. Dick Grayson became Nightwing, Tim Drake became the Red Robin and today's Robin, Jason Todd, became the Red Hood. This is a story that shows us the downfall of the second Robin and the rise of his antihero persona, the Red Hood. Let's take a look:
Comic Book - A Death in the Family
So this film was based on not one but two comic books, the first of them is "A Death in the Family" which became one of the most controversial Batman stories to this day. The story is also one that fans were given the chance to input on the fate of Jason Todd and in the end, with a voting score of 5343 for him to die and 5271 for him to live, he dies with subsequent stories focusing on Batman's guilt for not being there with him. The story focuses on Jason Todd trying to find out who his parents are with help from Bruce Wayne, but as they do that, little do they know that Joker is up to no good and is planning to sell a nuclear weapon that he somehow acquired, to terrorists. Its up to them to stop him, but with all that's going on, will Jason find his parents? Will Joker be stopped? And what does Batman have to say about all this? Now I never quite managed to read the original comics so I instead read the collected edition which contained this story and the story of how Tim Drake (the third Robin) became the new Robin which served as a crossover between both the Batman and Teen Titans comic books, but as its not relevant to the story here (although some of you may say otherwise), I'll review that story another time. As for this comic book series, it a pretty good if not confusing read that shows how much Jason Todd can be a bit of an idiot as well as how Batman copes with a death that's very close to him (although its not the first time). 7/10
Comic Book - Under the Hood
The second of the 2 comic books is called "Under the Hood". In this one, an antihero who calls himself Red Hood has arrived in Gotham and has made things for a gangster called Black Mask (a well known villain in the Batman universe, but only ever seen in the comic books, the film that is based off this comic book and the one before it and 2 of the 3 Arkham games (makes a cameo in City and is the main antagonist in Origins)) difficult. As the man who controls most of Gotham's criminal underworld, Black Mask teams up with a gang of super villains to take him on, but when Batman intervenes, the 2 of them (Batman and Red Hood) take down the team, but it ends badly. Who is the Red Hood really and what does he have against Black Mask? Its a pretty good read, but again, it can be quite confusing. But that being said, it does manage to give us a chance to see Jason Todd again, even if some of us, didn't want him to begin with. 8/10
Movie - Under the Red Hood
So now we have the film that was based on the 2 comics. I won't go into too much detail about the story of it as I've already sort of done that anyway. The differences that I have noticed here is that Joker is alone when he beats Jason with the crowbar and its also snowing. Additionally we can all assume that they are in a warehouse in Gotham. Also not much of A Death in the Family is covered in the film because for the most part, it focuses on the Under the Hood story with a few flashbacks thrown in. Members of the Teen Titans and Justice League also don't appear in the film like they do in the comics, but considering that this is a Batman film, that's to be expected. Lastly, new stuff that's added includes a flashback of Batman turning an unknown gangster into the Joker and a few other things as well. Overall, its a great film that is dark, a little bit funny and very action packed with everybody doing a great job of voice acting (oh and I'll review the short film that this film has, another time). 9/10
So in conclusion, the story itself was confusing to begin with, but never the less, managed to make a good movie that just tells us of how Batman can turn someone very close to him, into something that he is not. I do hope that you check these out because it is great.
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