I often think about what my favorite Batman movie is.

After re-watching Under the Red Hood, I can honestly say that this is, hands down, my favorite one. Judd Winick wrote a solid script based around  a lot of his own comic work which dealt with The Caped Crusader’s greatest failure. Winick is vastly underrated and should be brought on to do more DC projects in animation or otherwise. Throughout the film, Bruce Wayne deals with the guilt of failing to save Jason Todd from The Joker. This obviously weighs heavy on him, yet he never stops being Batman.

That’s what I love most about this portrayal.

We see that it is his coping mechanism, as it often is in the comics. Another great aspect is the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd. This gives what happens a lot more emotional resonance.

Bruce Greenwood gives one of the best Batman performances ever. He performs his lines with comparable gravitas to Kevin Conroy and has just as memorable of a voice. John DiMaggio takes a shot at The Joker and, instead of just trying to do a Mark Hamill impression, he gives the character his own unique voice and identity. There are times where his voice is downright chilling. Jensen Ackles stuns as Jason Todd; he’s absolutely perfect in the role. There was even some buzz of him being cast in a live-action version of The Red Hood, though that has yet to come to fruition. I would not be opposed to that, he definitely adds to what is already an amazing movie. Perhaps most importantly, this film shows us the uncompromising nature of Batman’s morality. I think that it is better portrayed here than in any other film. 

Batman: Under the Redhood is available on Blu-ray and DVD.