Cinepals - BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD Movie Reaction and Review!

Episode Date: September 1, 2024

Jaby and Achara watch the DC Animation Batman: Under The Red Hood for the very first time! In Batman: Under the Red Hood, Batman faces a mysterious new vigilante, the Red Hood, whose brutal methods force him to confront his past and the tragic consequences of his greatest failure. Batman: Under the Red Hood stars Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, Double Jeopardy, The Resident) as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, The Boys, My Bloody Valentine) as Red Hood/Jason Todd, John DiMaggio (Futurama, Adventure Time, Gears of War series) as The Joker, Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser, M.D., A Series of Unfortunate Events) as Nightwing/Dick Grayson, and Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter series, The Patriot, Star Trek: Discovery) as Ra's al Ghul. You can watch the cut down reaction to this movie (and many others) on our YouTube channel https://www.YouTube.com/@Cinepals and the full length reaction is available on our Patreon page https://www.Patreon.com/JabyKoay SOCIAL MEDIA: ~CINEPALS~ YouTube: @CinePals Instagram: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals

Senna. We could all use a little bit more Batman in our lives. And so we're watching Batman Under the Red Hood together. This is my very first time watching it. It's a Char's 200th time watching it. Just kidding. It's her first time as well. And so Batman Under the Red Hood, here we go.

How does it feel? It feels awesome. Aw. Are you kidding me? This rocks. Come on, old man. We've got bad guys who need chasing. This is the best day of my life. Hmm.

What? That's where you end it? I think that was actually a really lovely place to end it. But we don't know what happened to Red Hood. Well, yeah, they're leaving it open-ended. There was another, there was like two other matrix references. The first one that I noticed was when it's like raining and they're in the alley. And Bama goes, it ends tonight.

I'm like, that's basically what Kianu said. It ends tonight. And then Agent Smith goes, I know. I've seen it. I know it does. I've watched that way too many times. A few times. And then they have a fight in the bathroom.

Deserted bathroom fight scenes, I just associate that with Matrix 1. Yeah, yeah. Batman goes not like this. Not like this. This is a great film. I really, really liked it. I mean, I already kind of knew the story from, I forget which game it was exactly. Maybe it was Arkham Knight.

Okay. From the cutscenes from that. But I just find the story just so heartbreaking, you know. And you really see how his death, Jason's death, affected Batman because he's a very different guy to Nightwing, to Dick, that's his name of Dick, Dick Grayson. Yeah. It's really heartbreaking to see him and, like, hear how he blames himself, not only for Jason, death, but also, like, the responsibility he feels towards him, like, taking him away from

a life of crime only for him to come back to it. And he's kind of like, I created this monster, you know? It was just really well done overall. And it was, it was really exciting. I think Jason Todd is such an interesting character as well. Because, like, you, you see where he's coming from and like his point of view but not only that to have the revelation at the end be like I don't even care about all of this all I care is that you let Joker live and you

see the little boy inside him who's like I thought you loved me more than that and that's why I think the ending is so perfect because you know for Batman he is a son to him right and so he

and you hear this like my dad always says to me like I just see you as my little girl. And, like, I'm not little anymore. You know what I mean? I'm a full ass grown up. I'm not going to cry. But.

You seem to be working yourself out. I was a little bit, you know? Because he was such a beautiful scene. And then he just sees him as little Robin. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, he's just a daddy. Who's sad?

So I think it's beautiful Anyway go ahead No I liked it a lot I thought it was very very well executed It hits you right at the top With the brutal like beating that he was getting And it's you don't even necessarily see it But you hear it and sometimes the sound is adequate enough

And your brain fills in the rest And it's like oh God that hurts just to hear it You know Well they actually did a really good job With keeping the violence really PG while suggesting, like, very R-rated stuff that was happening. Exactly. It was like, dang.

The influences of the Dark Night can't help but be felt or the Dark Night trilogy between the music and, I guess, the tone and even the introduction of Red Hood, it felt like something straight out of the Dark Night. And so that's why when he showed up, I was half expecting it to be Joker. But I don't mind that. I think that's actually pretty cool that, you know,

they borrowed from that and it made its way into here. I don't know what, like, the comic book version of this is. What was fascinating to me is taking this, you know, the, I grew up with like the Adam West Batman, right? Yeah. And so I've always associated Batman with Robin.

But as I've become older, I can't help but look at that and go, that is kind of peculiar that you have this grown-ass dude who's taking on this like 10-year-old boy or whatever. It's like, okay, you're going to be my psychic. It's like, that guy, he's a kid. Why would you do that to him? But, I mean, they kind of explained it here,

which is like he was like from rough beginnings. and stuff like that. And so he tried to bring him out of a life that would otherwise be criminal. I think they did a pretty good job of explaining it. It's still kind of like, well, why don't you just put him in a better home, you know, instead of making him part of your thing.

So they have to take that concept and they got to own it because that's such a classic concept, right, that Batman and Robin. Right. And so the way they ran with it in this story, I thought it was pretty effective because already you have to sort of buy

to the conceit of, you've got a man running around a city in a cape. The first time I thought about that notion like that from that perspective was after Nolan's movies came out, I read reviews about that. And it's like, it's so cool how Nolan is taking it seriously, like this thing that is kind of goofy when you think about it, a guy running around in a cape fighting crime. Right. I'm like, oh, yeah, I guess that is kind of silly. But because it's taking itself seriously, you take it seriously with the story.

Long walk for a cup of water, I apologize. Like this notion of this guy like enlisting this little kid to be his psychic who's like, why would you, and just owning it and taking it seriously all the way through and not questioning it necessarily. I liked how they handled the material. He's a much more jaded Batman than the guy who took on this little mischievous 10-year-old or whatever. Do we know why the original Robin turned into Dick Grayson turned into Nightwing? I know he does. I don't know why he does. I'm not entirely sure. There's a part of me that wishes that they kind of explained it, just the hint of it, why that transition happened? Because the movie's not about that, I understand. But it kind of

leans on you having a little bit of foreknowledge of that relationship. Yeah, I think the movie just kind of goes, look, we know that you probably already know these things, or you should know these things, at least in a cursory manner. I needed that scene when Batman lost his parents in the alleyway. It's like, it's not a complete Batman story without that scene again. In slow motion. A hundred percent agree. Every single Batman movie should have that scene. The pearls should fall down. Exactly. And it should be in slow-mo for half the movie.

The movie had me asking questions because Razel Gould was like, okay, the boy is with him. The guy is telling him all this play-by-play of what's going on. I'm like, how does he know this? And I was like, well, I shouldn't ask out loud. I'm sure the movie will answer it for me at a certain point. Right. And it did. It's like, oh, yeah, okay, so because he was his fault.

That's interesting. And it comes full circle at the end. Yeah, because he really tried. He felt so bad. It's so interesting just kind of seeing how. character like Rayshal Ghul, who, you know, is a baddie, as it were, but he also has his own code, his moral compass and stuff like that. And so he's like, oh, I didn't mean to kill the boy. I'm so sorry. Let me fix it. It's like, no, you don't ever bring people back from

the dead. No, no matter how good your intentions are. Have you, have you not seen Pet Cemetery? Have you, have you not seen any horror movie? It never goes well. All things considered, it went pretty well. If you think about it, he didn't become like a genuine, he became who he would have become anyway if he was alive, like never, if that never happened. I feel like that was probably always going to be his path because he's always been one to take things a little too far. They established that in the scene when he broke the guy's collarbone. Like he was always, like that was when he's a kid. You know, you just extrapolate from that.

Where do we go from there? He's going to end up taking things into his own hands because he's going to be done. dissatisfied with Batman's inability to actually take the next step. Right. But Batman trained him, right? And Batman instilled him with that code, with that desire. Well, after his realization that you can't eliminate crime, you just have to kind of control it. That was his version of Batman's plan, right? But if Batman hadn't stepped in, he would have probably just been a petty criminal or a crime lord himself, which I guess he ultimately became. His main goal was kind of.

of cleaning up the city but not really it's just like let me just control where all of this is happening and who's selling and buying so i thought that the way they handled i don't know again i don't know the source material all that well with regards to red hood specifically but i thought he had a couple of interesting moments of just sort of reacting to the situation at hand and it did very much remind me of nathan drake because when you play uncharted there are moments like when a grenade comes at you Nathan Drake, you're controlling him. It's not a cutscene, right? But Nathan Drake will go, oh, no, no, no, no.

He'll say things like that as you are trying to get away from the grenade. And it's like, it speaks to your feeling that you're having while playing, right? And so things were happening in the movie with him and he's like, oh, crap. Like his response to it felt exactly what I would have felt. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so it was this weird thing because initially you're looking at him like he's a bad guy, kind of. But you're identifying with his response to the situation.

So it humanizes him. And I thought that was actually very effective in making me care about the relationship between him and Batman. So when they're actually talking again, it's like, the movie's only 75 minutes, but I care so much about what's going on between the two of them. Yeah, I think that was like really great acting on Jensen Ackles part. I think he was doing Red Hood. He was really fun, just the sarcasm and the humor that he was bringing, but also the pain in his voice when he finally explains why he's, doing what he's doing and he's like cause why didn't you take care of Joker Batman you know oh Bruce Greenwood is the one who did Batman interesting oh oh Jensen Ackles who plays um yeah in uh the boys yes and

supernatural okay it's up I didn't watch Supernatural okay I wasn't the biggest fan of John DiMaggio as Joker but Neil Patrick Harris I forgot that he was in this because I saw his name near the beginning yeah and I was like okay I don't always get excited when I see his name. It's hit or miss, but I thought he actually did a very good job as Dick Grayson. I didn't know, I forgot it was him. So I actually thought he did an excellent job

because he really disappeared into that role as far as I'm concerned because I bought all of it. I felt really bad for him too. Like, just all of the times when he was trying to help Batman and Batman just leaves him alone. And I'm like, oh, he's just here trying to help.

Like, let him help. Why are you being such a douche? And then you realize why later You're like, okay, well, fine. I get it. How did you feel about John DiMaggio's Joker, though? Mark Hamill is my favorite Joker. There, I said it.

I don't think many people are in disagreement with you. He's a very prolific voice actor. Yes. I just pulled up his thing right now. I'm like, because when I saw his name, I'm like, I feel like I've seen that name a thousand times. And then I clicked on his profile, you know, anticipating he's going to have a long list of credits. And sure enough, he's got 460 previous credits. three upcoming as of this recording.

John DiMaggio. John DiMaggio played Joker. Okay. And so he's a very, very respected actor in the voice industry, voiceover industry, right? And so I'm like, they picked a guy who's very skilled. It just didn't work for me in this particular, like, performance in this role, this version of Joker. I honestly didn't mind it too, too much. But there's something that Mark Hamill brings to it, this like extra unhinged quality that I really like. But I think I think I was just more not very appreciative of the look that they gave for Joker in this movie.

Like he just seemed a little bit too square-jawed and a little bit too buff. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I like my Joker skinny and amazing. Lean and mean. Yeah. For some odd reason, it reminds me of like what people, do you ever hear the story about how, what's his name, Charles Matonay audition for Mario? Uh-huh. Everyone who came in to do Mario came and going, I'm a blama.

Hey, a Mario. And he's the first, he was the only guy to come in with, it's me, like that voice. Uh-huh. And he won, right? He won the lottery of one of the greatest roles of all time. And so when you think of a hoodlum from a city that's like Chicago and what they might sound like,

what John DiMaggio was doing in that role sounded so akin to that. And it's like, but that's not what I'm used to with Joker types, even though Heath Ledger was aiming for that kind of Chicago type. accent. There was something about his affectation and his voice, his cadence that sounded very different from your typical run-of-the-mill street thug. Right. You know, that usually sounds like some New York Italian or something, right? Whereas that's more in line with what John DiMaggio was doing that in this version of it. And I was like, oh, I get that you're trying to like find your joke, your own version of Joker. That's hard, especially given the history of dope

jokers, right? Right. With a character that is so iconic. Yeah, it's tough. Yeah. I don't envy that job. No. Yeah. I don't know if I would take it, honestly. I'd be like, I don't know.

Yeah. This is kind of unrelated, this is totally unrelated, but I'm going to say it anyway. So I have a friend of mine who was offered the opportunity to choreograph the fight scenes for the American version with Josh Brolin of an old boy. And he turned it down. He's like, there's way too much expectation here. I'm not doing that. Like, that's just a, that's a, that's a lose, lose battle as far as I'm concerned. He didn't do it.

And then the movie didn't perform well because, like, no matter how well that movie was executed, it was always going to be like, that's not good enough because it's not, it's not the original. There was absolutely no need to remake that movie because I feel like so many people already saw it in its original language. The only time I think, like, okay, maybe you might want to do it is if, like, it's a great film, but nobody in the West really knows about it. Yeah. Yeah.

And so, to bringing it back to this, like, that's such a tough challenge. Like, I wouldn't, I would not embrace that challenge personally. And, you know, kudos to John Demasio for trying. I didn't like it. So, it was okay. Point has been made. Yeah. Part of watching an animation is, you know, getting sucked into it and whatnot.

It's like, when things start to get really harrowing, I guess, for the characters, it's a challenge to make me be sucked into it to buy into the reality of it and I think that because of the way they handled the beginning and killing him off I bought into the reality pretty early of like oh gosh like this is harrowing to the point that when Red Hood was jumping through the beams

I'm like the heights but it kind of pulled me out of it with the air balloon the blimp because I'm like for some reason I don't know what that's like in my mind, though. I don't think it's like a balloon. Like, I think in our minds, we think like, oh, because it's floating in the air, it's probably like a little rubber balloon.

And so when you jump on it, you bounce, right? But I think that one looks like, now I'm saying this, I might be wrong, but maybe it's like more metallic or something. Or maybe it's like sturdier than that. Maybe. Maybe. But I think even if you were jumping onto a train from that kind of height, you'd bounce off. Yeah. But I don't know.

It's a cartoon. whatever like that's yeah but anyway that was the only part that i didn't love in terms of the i guess action just because i was like that was the persniquity part of my brain turning on the action was really cool though yeah yeah i just found it kind of funny that like alfred's like and crimes down you know batman got more sleep tonight or last night he got he actually got a full three hours i'm like you but he's destroying shit like red hood keeps destroying property a helicopter almost came down and murdered people and the only reason it didn't is because he knew badman was going to be able to do it.

That's a big bet to take. You know what I mean? Right, right. And then he's like, destroying property where the train is. I'm like, I guess crime is down as long as no one's getting killed, you know? But anyway, that's just funny to me. It amused me. This is one of those dumb things, but it was a fun thrilling film all around.

I liked a lot. I thought it was well done. I can understand why there's so much love for this. And, yeah. Good job, Bruce Greenwood, who's also. You know, got the same name as Batman. I was like, his name is not Batman. And I was like, oh, Bruce, yeah.

Took me a minute. Just like the Jason joke, right? Anyway. Oh, yeah. I was like, what, Jason joke again? The Jason joke you made. Yes. So you guys, thanks so much for hanging.

I'm Jabby Kaui. This is Achara Cook. Peace out.