Nerds That Geek Movie Review - 'Batman: Under the Red Hood'

Written by Scott Edwards

It is easier said than done, going through life with no regrets.  It is a motto that I have taken to heart as of late and most of the time it keeps me going, but when an opportunity is missed, well let’s just say it gets me down. I know this happens with several people these days as schedules get more and more crazy every day.  It is just important to fight to make time for those things that you know are important, since you never know when they will present themselves to you again.

Gotham’s underworld has a new boss coming to town as the Red Hood is ready to take over the business. Promising protection from the Batman and the former boss Black Mask, Red Hood is determined to make everyone money and keep the streets safe from the evil doers. Not knowing what is afoot, Batman is doing his job when he intercepts a gang of hijackers who stole a truck meant for Black Mask. Finding out that the mysterious Red Hood was behind the heist, he is not able to gain any additional information about this character as the men are killed off by a sniper.

Giving chase across the rooftops, Batman and Nightwing are able to get close to the Red Hood, but when all of their familiar tricks do not work, they discover that the new vigilante is well trained and will be a burden to be dealt with. Watching footage of the pursuit, Batman feels like there is something familiar about the Red Hood’s escape tactics and quickly finds out that the man under the mask is someone from his past.  Believing he put his last partner to rest, Bruce Wayne digs up the grave of Jason Todd (his last Robin) and finds out that the body in the casket is made of latex.  Now knowing who he will be matching up against, Bruce has to find a way to keep his old trainee from killing everyone in his path, especially the villains he is looking to take revenge upon.

Meanwhile, the Red Hood does not only have to worry about Batman coming after him, Black Mask is also trying to hunt him down. Blowing up shipments of guns and taking over half of his income, Red Hood has become a nuisance to the crime boss and the time has come to put him down. When his best men are defeated by the Red Hood, Black Mask has to turn to someone that can make things happen. Breaking the Joker out of Arkham Asylum, Black Mask has unleashed an evil on Gotham that not even he knows how to control. With a plan in place to bring Red Hood out in the open, the Joker is not willing to stop there and will make sure that everybody knows that his crazy is not only skin deep. Preparing to take out all of the Red Hood’s distributors, Joker is happy to see that Red Hood along with Batman will be fighting over him. But Red Hood does not have the same respect for life as Batman does and with only revenge in his eyes, he will beat the Joker, the same way he was beaten years ago. Will Batman be able to stop his old apprentice from killing another evil doer and taking the final steps into becoming one himself?

I know that this is a Batman story, but dang it is really a dark look at the human psyche. With Red Hood taking over the drug trade in Gotham, he lowers the crime rate on the streets, but that is not enough for him. Wanting to take revenge on the Joker, he devises an elaborate plan to get the Joker back on the streets, putting many more lives at risk. As Batman has the flashbacks about the young Jason Todd and how good of a partner he was, he also recalls Jason's need to bring vengeance on the evil doers and blames himself for not being able to stop it. Now as he is still in mourning of his former student’s death, he sees that the next step has already been taken and there is little that he can do to stop it. Even though Batman creates his own demons, he is still human and wants to correct them by any means necessary and that is what is so humbling about his story. Even with all of the gadgets in his possession, he still relies more on his mind than anything else. Happy Viewing.

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