Following in the footsteps of the superb Nolan films, Under the Red Hood is a mature and sophisticated animated film with plenty of exciting moments packed into its slim 75 minute runtime. The voice cast isn't quite as good as The Batman Animated Series (I haven't kept up on who's been doing these voices, but Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were almost perfect and reprised their roles in the video game Arkham Asylum last year, which means they are still interested in the franchise and willing to do it), but the cast is decent and does a respectable job filling in. John Di Maggio has the biggest shoes to fill since Hamill's Joker is almost legendary. Di Maggio has the laugh down, although he doesn't have as many quirks as Hamill did with the character. I missed Hamill, but at the same time I wasn't constantly thinking about it. The story is more in line with the comics than the films, with Ra's Al Ghuul being immortal and all the somewhat silly stuff thrown in. I prefer the more realistic approach seeing as Ra's plays an integral part of the story, as well as his way of staying immortal. Minor complaint though, as this was definitely one of the best Batman stories I've seen so far. It would have been a good live action film too, and that is saying something. Hopefully WB keeps the quality of the animated movies this good. I'd be thrilled.
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