Movie Review: Batman: Under The Red Hood

That's right! My favorite Superhero movie is not only a Batman movie, but a direct to DVD animated film. Where Marvel has been doing well with Hollywood release features, DC Comics has been giving us something better in other formats. The best example is in fact this movie, Batman: Under The Red Hood. When I first saw it, I had one nitpick about it. As I watched it again and again, that nitpick was gone and I began to love it more and more.

I'm not going to do a pros and cons kind of review this time because I really don't have any cons to this movie. Instead, I am going to talk about all the good and even mention a bit of a warning to those who have not seen it.

The film looks and sounds better than even some Hollywood animated films. It has your attention throughout. The voice acting is top notch. People who are popular on TV shows more than movies are providing some voice acting that matches the characters perfectly. Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) and Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) are two actors that are a part of this film and they match the characters they are given and makes them feel realistic, even for an animated feature. The one voice actor I first had an issue with was John DiMaggio as the Joker, but when I watched it the second time, I understood his interpretation of the Joker and it is now my favorite Joker, next to Mark Hamill's portrayal of the character in the original animated series in the 90s. Bruce Greenwood voices Batman and it is his first time doing it, but it is incredible. He sounds like Batman in the way he should with a film and story like this.

The movie is only 75 minutes long, but that means no filler! Everything contained within the movie is plot focused and keeps the story movie without delaying it (take note Marvel). There are no plot holes. It follows it's comic book story line and keeps it focused on just the one movie instead of trying to introduce a sequel. The ending is open, but solely to say that Batman's adventures are far from over. We will see more Batman and we will always get more material from this character.

Another thing this movie does is not only introduce us to character Hollywood hasn't even done, but has given us a character Warner Bros. has avoided for a long time; Jason Todd, the second Robin. The Batman Animated series we all know and love gave us Dick Grayson (The First Robin who became Nightwing) and Tim Drake (The Third Robin) and skipped Jason Todd. Why would they do that, some people may wonder. It was because Jason Todd was much more violent and rebellious than the rest of them and was the only one who officially died. This character is what Batman believes to be his biggest failure. I'm not going to spoil anymore because it is an amazing story.

This movie catches 2 things other Batman movies have failed to do; show Batman as a detective (think of one film that has truly highlighted that from Hollywood), and show what the relationship between Batman and Robin really is. Batman and Robin are more than just mentor and student, it is Father and Son. Bruce Wayne took in children who were recently orphaned or came from trouble upbringing, showed them a better life, and trained them to someday become heroes and icons as well.

This movie makes you think about your own life. Seeing a character like Batman, one we painted in our heads as the greatest Superhero of all time, face his failures and own up to his mistakes, made me want to do the same thing. Nobody is perfect, everyone is human, we all make mistakes and who better to show us that than the icon of most people childhood.

Warning: This movie has some brutal scenes. Even though it has the PG-13 rating, it is on the border between that and the R rating. The movie even starts with a scene that is kind of hard to watch if you are a young kid. It can be brutal and violent at time, much like the comic.

Overall: If you have not seen this movie, I urge you to see it. I even have a copy of it if you need to borrow it. If you are not a fan of violence, I still recommend it. It capture everything that makes a great movie and leave a mark to do better. I do not know if we will get anymore good DC films from Hollywood, but I am more than satisfied with what I have gotten already from the direct to DVD films, and this is my favorite above all of them.

Movie Review: The Avengers

Superhero movies can be either fresh and interesting, or a repeat of previous films. When it is fresh and interesting, it stand out and makes you want to actually read comic books. When it is a repeat, it just makes you want to wait until the next movie and hope they backpedal to fix the problems of the first film. No company is more guilty of that than Marvel. Yes, I don't like Marvel's Cinematic Universe. While it is impressive that all the films connect, one of them struggles to stand well on their own.

Where we got some good stand alone movies, like Iron Man and Guardians of The Galaxy, all the sequels tend to repeat the same plot while leaving some plot holes to be filled by the sequel. However, people tend to ignore it and just say "It's perfect! You have to love Marvel!" And I say, "You are wrong." Marvel is not perfect. They are just as flawed as other movies are.

To prove it, I am taking apart what some have called, The Best Superhero Movie of All Time, The Avengers. Where I liked the movie the first time I saw it, every time I watched it after... My eyes kind of started seeing the problems behind all the flare.

The Pros: There is nothing wrong with the casting in these movies. All the actors properly portray the characters we got in the comics. The action is eye candy and can be enjoyed by just watching it. When I first saw it, I was sucked into solely the action and I ignored all the problems. It is also our first time seeing Hawkeye in action. He is the best lesser known Marvel character out there and it is nice to see he is well represented. It is quick to catch your attention, so it is good if you need a movie to distract you. Thor is my favorite character in the movie. He is well represented by Chris Hemsworth and he does have the best lines in the movie.

The Cons: The characters are poorly written. Iron Man is a prick, Captain America is a Boy Scout, Nick Fury has no personality outside of yelling and complaining, Black Widow is a cock tease. and Loki is a bratty child. If you met anyone like them in real life, you would think the same way. That is the difference between a good character and a bad character. The action, even of impressive, is just CGI. I have seen movies, like Transformers and Man of Steel, get crap from critics for the use of CGI, and this movie gets a free pass when it looks exactly the same, even worse in some cases. There are some huge plot holes throughout the film. For example, what is the Tesseract? We hear what it can do and it's functions, but what is it? The movie explains nothing about it and  it is crucial item for the plot. This is the same plot as all the Iron Man movies; The hero is introduced, the hero makes a mistake, bad things happen, the hero makes a resolve, the day is saved, and an open end announcing a sequel. This was so well received Marvel has repeated it over and over again after this movie with all their sequels. I haven't like a Marvel movie sequel after this one for that reason.

Final Thoughts: I don't like this movie, but I know I am a minority. People have their reasons for liking them and I will respect that. For some, it may be an incredible movie, but for me, it is nothing special. My favorite Superhero movie will be brought up Monday March 28th. 

Movie Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Welcome to Super Hero month!

The X-Men film franchise had been interesting for more than one reason. Where none of them have 100% followed the comics, they have still been proven to be some of the better comic based movies in the market today... except for X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. However, I don't think I would benefit by talking about those two movies, because after those movies we got three more movies that proved to be leagues better and have given us something great as stand alone movies. Those movies being X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, and today's movie, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

I picked this movie not because I liked it, but because it was also my favorite movie of 2014. Think about that... 2014 gave us Godzilla, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Fault in Our Stars, The Lego Movie, and How to Train Your Dragon 2, and This is my favorite film to have come out that year.

The Pros: It is a completed story, which is hard for any sequel to do. However, because of the subject the film presents, it works better than any other sequel I have seen. Time Travel is very hard to present properly, but this movie managed to do it incredibly well without plot holes. We see both old and new characters in this film franchise. Even though not all of them get speaking lines or anything like that, the scenes still work really well without dialogue. The Sentinels! I have been wanting to see this things since the original X-Men movie came out, and they are threatening! You see just what they can do at the beginning of the movie and it gives you a full understanding of the threat that is present among these characters. Magneto! This is still one of the best written characters I have seen from Marvel and both Ian Mckellen and Michael Fassbender shows us just that. The cast still shows us all the powerful characters we loved in previous movies. When we see something tragic, or scary for the character, we feel it. Every character death hits hard! That is what it is supposed to do and I loved that when I first saw it and when I watched it again before writing this review. When a new power is presented, they do their best to explain that and I appreciate that. This movie has some of the best CGI I have ever seen and mixed practical effects into the movie as well, making the visuals fantastic. It is a great film to look at and it feels good on the eyes.

The Cons: I myself do not see it as a con, but I'm sure others will and I'll get some person complaining about it. It is not 100% accurate with the comic. I have to argue this, would you have wanted to see it if it was about Kitty Pride (Shadow Cat) going into the past? Think about that.

Final Thoughts: I'm not going to give a number rating this month and see what happens, because I can't give any of these movies a number. I didn't think I would like this movie as much as I did. I was surprised by it and that is something I haven't had in a theater in a long time, because I see every movie without expectations and an open mind, even when watching something for a second or third time. This is the best X-Men movie when have ever gotten. I love this franchise and I am looking forward to whatever Bryan Singer and the guys at Fox give us next in this franchise.