My brother and I saw Batman: Under the Red Hood, DC/WB's latest direct to video presentation. The story is based on the Death in the Family and Under the Hood storylines from the Batman comics and finds Batman confronting a new threat called the Red Hood, who is quickly working his way thru Gotham's underworld, building a reputation as a feared crime leader while also mercilessly gunning down any mobster who will oppose him. When he sets his sites on Black Mask, Gotham's reigning underworld boss, he draws Batman and Nightwing into the confrontation.
Continuing the trend from the past few direct to home video presentations, Under the Red Hood really earns its PG-13 rating. It begins with a pretty grisly scene of the Joker beating Jason Todd to a pulp with a crowbar and features more than its fair share of violent deaths. While there is action aplenty, this story also spends a lot of time on story and character development and is fairly faithful to the comics storylines that inspired it.
The animation style largely follows the art of the comics that inspired the story, going for a more realistic look in favor of the classic Bruce Timm design and consists of mostly hand-drawn animation along with the occasional CG object to give it a more three-dimensional look at times. The look of Gotham very strongly hearkens to The Dark Knight and we get to see plenty of Batman's toys in action.
The voicework is uniformly solid, though no one really stands out other than maybe Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing. Bruce Greenwood is almost unrecgonizable as Batman/Bruce Wayne.
Overall we enjoyed this one quite a bit. It tells a darker more adult story than most of these direct to video offerings and doesn't offer up a neat and tidy happy ending, qualities in keeping with the Batman mythos.
We checked this out using the VuDu video streaming service, which is now available on a lot of internet enabled devices. The picture quality was outstanding, rivaling a BluRay disc even though it was being streamed in real time over a wireless connection. We'll definitely be adding the BluRay to our collection in the not too distant future.
Noticed this press release, filled with hyperbole, about the new Spider-Man actor, Anthony Garfield. As one who thought Spider-Man 3 was awful, this casting does nothing to make me want to see the next one, even if it is a re-boot. Which by-the-way, was not needed.
By way of the Daily Mail, some spy pics of Captain America astride a motorcycle have surfaced. Looks like a stunt double wearing a slightly baggy version of the suit previously shown in CG form; the enemy vehicles look interesting.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
I dunno...I've got a really positive overall vibe from these pics...nice to see that CA's director's vision of WWII isn't any farther out than Tarantino's
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Found a couple of more pics that give us a better view of the costume and shield. Its definitely a stuntman in the suit as well.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Love the wing decals on the helmet B-)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I thought this is an exceptionally impressive fan costume for Riddler in the upcoming Batman film.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,709MI6 Agent
Nice find Ricardo. I notice the same fan has made a poster for Cat Woman also. Not sure who David Tennant is, but the rumors I've heard have a actor who's previously worked with Nolan to get the role of Riddler. Of course it's just a rumor. I wish we could get some more info on this. It's driving me crazy to know who will be in the next Batman movie and who the villains will be. For some of the Batman fans here, since Nolan has stayed true to the comics (mostly I think), would it make sense to pair up Riddler with Clayface? (I think that's who Riddler was usually paired with in the comics.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Nice find Ricardo. I notice the same fan has made a poster for Cat Woman also. Not sure who David Tennant is, but the rumors I've heard have a actor who's previously worked with Nolan to get the role of Riddler. Of course it's just a rumor. I wish we could get some more info on this. It's driving me crazy to know who will be in the next Batman movie and who the villains will be. For some of the Batman fans here, since Nolan has stayed true to the comics (mostly I think), would it make sense to pair up Riddler with Clayface? (I think that's who Riddler was usually paired with in the comics.
I doubt Clayface, Poison Ivy, or Mr. Freeze would ever show up in a Nolan bat film; He wants the series to remain as down to earth as possible, to a fault. If Nolan decides to continue after this film, he dosen't have much left to choose from.
I've always thought Scarface & The Ventriloquist would be good villains for a Nolan Batman movie. They're a visually interesting pair who's MO and mental instability are fairly grounded in reality (well, as grounded as you can get for a comic book character). They would also fit nicely into Gotham's criminal underworld that Nolan liked to explore in the first two movies.
Black Mask is another possible candidate for pretty much all the same reasons stated above.
Catwoman would be another doable choice for Nolan since he really hasn't had a strong female antagonist and exploring the physical and emotional attraction between Batman and Catwoman might be something he'd find interesting, especially if you work in the angle of Batman's guilt over what happened to Rachel in Dark Knight.
Batman has one of the deepest Rogue's Galleries in comics, full of obscure but still interesting characters. I'm sure Nolan can find one or two villains from the batch.
I've always thought Scarface & The Ventriloquist would be good villains for a Nolan Batman movie. They're a visually interesting pair who's MO and mental instability are fairly grounded in reality (well, as grounded as you can get for a comic book character). They would also fit nicely into Gotham's criminal underworld that Nolan liked to explore in the first two movies.
Black Mask is another possible candidate for pretty much all the same reasons stated above.
Catwoman would be another doable choice for Nolan since he really hasn't had a strong female antagonist and exploring the physical and emotional attraction between Batman and Catwoman might be something he'd find interesting, especially if you work in the angle of Batman's guilt over what happened to Rachel in Dark Knight.
Batman has one of the deepest Rogue's Galleries in comics, full of obscure but still interesting characters. I'm sure Nolan can find one or two villains from the batch.
Yeah I was thinking of all those characters. I get a kick out Blackmask mostly because of his dark sense of humor and not as a strong villian. Scarface and Ventriloquist would probably work but it's hard to see. I agree that Catwoman should make an appearance eventually because Nolan's films desperately need a strong female character, Rachel Dawes was nothing more than a talking head.
I also thought of Dr. Hugo Strange but again, I am having a hard time grasping how he could make a strong central villian without his trade mark monster men running about. The only thing I can see him doing is taking over Arkham and imprisioning Batman in the institution but then people will say they are ripping off the video games.
By way of Superherohype.com, here are a couple of pics of a retro submarine from Captain America. I'm really liking the production design on this movie.
I really do think Joe Johnston was the right choice for this film. While he often is derided as as Poor Man's Spielberg, I really felt he did an excellent job with The Rocketeer by being faithful to the feel of Dave Steven's comic. I perceive Johnston as really being able to balance the realism of the WWII era with the fantasy that's necessary in Cap's world.
I really do think Joe Johnston was the right choice for this film. While he often is derided as as Poor Man's Spielberg, I really felt he did an excellent job with The Rocketeer by being faithful to the feel of Dave Steven's comic. I perceive Johnston as really being able to balance the realism of the WWII era with the fantasy that's necessary in Cap's world.
Thanks for posting the pics!
Joe Johnston continually diasspoints me. The Wolfman looked good to but...meh. Hopefully he'll turn things around.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,709MI6 Agent
By way of Superherohype.com, here are a couple of pics of a retro submarine from Captain America. I'm really liking the production design on this movie.
That's really cool. I stumbled upon these by way of Yahoo. There's 5 pictures in the series
In a move that should come as a surprise to no one, Christopher Nolan has officially confirmed that he will be directing the next Batman movie. While no villains have been formally announced, Michael Caine expects filming to begin in May 2011.
Also, several reports have Warner Brothers strongly pressuring Nolan to shoot the movie in 3D. While Nolan isn't a particular fan of the medium, he has said in the past that he did like some 2D>3D conversion tests that were done for Inception and the main reason he didn't go 3D with that film was the lack of time to properly convert the entire movie to his standards.
I really hope Nolan tries to develop characters this time instead of themes.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,709MI6 Agent
Maybe someone can answer this for me. Iron Man and Captain America are both (or will become) Avengers. If Captain America takes place in the 1940s, why does Tony Stark have Captain Americas shield in IM2?
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Maybe someone can answer this for me. Iron Man and Captain America are both (or will become) Avengers. If Captain America takes place in the 1940s, why does Tony Stark have Captain Americas shield in IM2?
There really is no reason (canon-wise) for Stark to have Cap's shield (unless we're talking post-Steve Rogers assassination). The original Captain America Shield was not round, but a more traditional shield shape, but Marvel ditched that style shield when they ran into trademark issues with another comic book hero. It was replaced with the current round shield which was originally a unique vibranium creation from Wakanda. Assuming that Cap is lost and frozen in ice along with his shield, maybe what Stark has is some type of experimental re-creation that Stark Industries was contracted to design and that was intended to replace the one that is MIA along with Cap. Conjecture, of course.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,709MI6 Agent
Cool, thanks DH. I didn't know Captain America was frozen. I had little to no interest in the Captain America movie, but I'm more intrigued now. Still not to sure about Thor. I'll have to see the previews.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
My brother and I checked out Superman/Batman: Apocalypse over the weekend using the Vudu video streaming service. This latest direct to video presentation from WB introduces us to Superman's cousin Kara. After crashing on Earth and running afoul of Batman Kara is dispatched to Themyscira to learn how to cope with her powers under the tutelage of Wonder Woman and her Amazon sisters. While there she is kidnapped and sent to the fiery world of Apocolips by the evil Darkseid who intends to brainwash her and use her for his nefarious purposes. Our heroes decide to mount a rescue mission; of course you know lots of carnage will ensue.
S/B:A is a pretty good entry in the series of animated features. It takes a little while for the story to ramp up and I could have done without the section early on where Kara starts to act like a typical human teenager. The show improves dramatically in the second half, which is pretty much wall to wall action, including an explosive surprise coda just when you think its all over.
The animation is pretty good, though all the male characters have a blocky angular look to them and the strangest looking lips. Wonder Woman actually is the best looking character (she actually looks better here than in her own animated feature). The voice work is generally competent with Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly again voicing Batman and Superman. Summer Glau is OK as Kara and only Andre Braugher comes across as a little weak as Darkseid. While the tenor of his voice is fine, he sometimes delivers his lines very flatly, almost as if he's just reading instead of emoting. The producers might have been better off bringing back Michael Ironside, who brought real menace to the character. In an inspired move, Ed Asner does the voice for Granny Goodness.
While not the best of the bunch (Green Lantern: First Flight and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths are still tops in my book, with the recent Batman: Under the Red Hood being another strong entry) this is still a very entertaining show that I'll be picking up sooner rather than later. Definitely recommended for all the comics fans out there.
I meant to ask what you thought of First flight as a couple of GL fans I know really disliked it.
Anyone see Requiem for a scarlet speedster on Batman:the brave and the bold?
What a great episode, and John Wesley shipp as Zoom to top it off
I meant to ask what you thought of First flight as a couple of GL fans I know really disliked it.
I loved First Flight. It does condense the GL mythos somewhat and paints certain characters in a different light (which is what most GL fans were bothered by) but overall I thought it was a great Hal Jordan origin story.
Anyone see Requiem for a scarlet speedster on Batman:the brave and the bold?
What a great episode, and John Wesley shipp as Zoom to top it off
I was going to bring that up as well since I know you're a Flash fan. My brother and I saw it over the weekend and had a ball. We really loved all the little touches like Flash's rogues gallery and the treadmill.
I don't always love the animation style on that show but Brave and the Bold have told some really good stories, especially this season.
I can't stream videos at work but based on the name in the link - it's Aquaman, everybody makes fun of him. )
EDIT: I just saw this, looks like they take little digs at everyone ("sometimes Flash is just too fast"). Yeah, I don't know how that one got by the censors.
I think the DC animated universe has underwhelming for years now. They had right with that early Bruce Timm show. Beautiful backgrounds and animation friendly character designs. Ever since that show ended the other stuff has become more and more of a reflection of today's mediocre animated programing. Justice League and JLU was fun but again, not on par with what Timm did in the early 90's.
BIG NEWS from WB. Zack Snyder has been confirmed as the director of the next Superman movie, which is being produced by Christopher Nolan. Snyder has confirmed the rumors himself:
"I've been a big fan of the character for a long time, he's definitely the king of all superheroes, he's the one. It's early yet, but I can tell you that what David [Goyer] and Chris [Nolan] have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I've always felt he was kind of awesome. I'll finish 'Sucker Punch' and get right at it."
It is rumored that General Zod will be the main villain of the movie. Full story is on numerous sites including this one.
Personally, I'm really happy with Snyder being given the reins. I thought he did a great job with Watchmen and I'm hopeful that he'll bring the same respect for the material to Superman. He can also definitely frame a good action sequence.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
I think this is good news...and I confess to liking the sound of the word 'reboot' connected with this character B-)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Comments
Continuing the trend from the past few direct to home video presentations, Under the Red Hood really earns its PG-13 rating. It begins with a pretty grisly scene of the Joker beating Jason Todd to a pulp with a crowbar and features more than its fair share of violent deaths. While there is action aplenty, this story also spends a lot of time on story and character development and is fairly faithful to the comics storylines that inspired it.
The animation style largely follows the art of the comics that inspired the story, going for a more realistic look in favor of the classic Bruce Timm design and consists of mostly hand-drawn animation along with the occasional CG object to give it a more three-dimensional look at times. The look of Gotham very strongly hearkens to The Dark Knight and we get to see plenty of Batman's toys in action.
The voicework is uniformly solid, though no one really stands out other than maybe Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing. Bruce Greenwood is almost unrecgonizable as Batman/Bruce Wayne.
Overall we enjoyed this one quite a bit. It tells a darker more adult story than most of these direct to video offerings and doesn't offer up a neat and tidy happy ending, qualities in keeping with the Batman mythos.
We checked this out using the VuDu video streaming service, which is now available on a lot of internet enabled devices. The picture quality was outstanding, rivaling a BluRay disc even though it was being streamed in real time over a wireless connection. We'll definitely be adding the BluRay to our collection in the not too distant future.
http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/soni-pictures-selects-new-spider-man/
Full article is here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1310329/Roaring-English-countryside--Captain-America-Motorbike-scenes-comic-book-film-shooting-London.html
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I doubt Clayface, Poison Ivy, or Mr. Freeze would ever show up in a Nolan bat film; He wants the series to remain as down to earth as possible, to a fault. If Nolan decides to continue after this film, he dosen't have much left to choose from.
Black Mask is another possible candidate for pretty much all the same reasons stated above.
Catwoman would be another doable choice for Nolan since he really hasn't had a strong female antagonist and exploring the physical and emotional attraction between Batman and Catwoman might be something he'd find interesting, especially if you work in the angle of Batman's guilt over what happened to Rachel in Dark Knight.
Batman has one of the deepest Rogue's Galleries in comics, full of obscure but still interesting characters. I'm sure Nolan can find one or two villains from the batch.
Yeah I was thinking of all those characters. I get a kick out Blackmask mostly because of his dark sense of humor and not as a strong villian. Scarface and Ventriloquist would probably work but it's hard to see. I agree that Catwoman should make an appearance eventually because Nolan's films desperately need a strong female character, Rachel Dawes was nothing more than a talking head.
I also thought of Dr. Hugo Strange but again, I am having a hard time grasping how he could make a strong central villian without his trade mark monster men running about. The only thing I can see him doing is taking over Arkham and imprisioning Batman in the institution but then people will say they are ripping off the video games.
Thanks for posting the pics!
Joe Johnston continually diasspoints me. The Wolfman looked good to but...meh. Hopefully he'll turn things around.
That's really cool. I stumbled upon these by way of Yahoo. There's 5 pictures in the series
http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/collections/gallery/2944/spotted-on-set--chris-evans-as-captain-america#photo0
Pic 4 is my favorite.
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
Also, several reports have Warner Brothers strongly pressuring Nolan to shoot the movie in 3D. While Nolan isn't a particular fan of the medium, he has said in the past that he did like some 2D>3D conversion tests that were done for Inception and the main reason he didn't go 3D with that film was the lack of time to properly convert the entire movie to his standards.
There really is no reason (canon-wise) for Stark to have Cap's shield (unless we're talking post-Steve Rogers assassination). The original Captain America Shield was not round, but a more traditional shield shape, but Marvel ditched that style shield when they ran into trademark issues with another comic book hero. It was replaced with the current round shield which was originally a unique vibranium creation from Wakanda. Assuming that Cap is lost and frozen in ice along with his shield, maybe what Stark has is some type of experimental re-creation that Stark Industries was contracted to design and that was intended to replace the one that is MIA along with Cap. Conjecture, of course.
S/B:A is a pretty good entry in the series of animated features. It takes a little while for the story to ramp up and I could have done without the section early on where Kara starts to act like a typical human teenager. The show improves dramatically in the second half, which is pretty much wall to wall action, including an explosive surprise coda just when you think its all over.
The animation is pretty good, though all the male characters have a blocky angular look to them and the strangest looking lips. Wonder Woman actually is the best looking character (she actually looks better here than in her own animated feature). The voice work is generally competent with Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly again voicing Batman and Superman. Summer Glau is OK as Kara and only Andre Braugher comes across as a little weak as Darkseid. While the tenor of his voice is fine, he sometimes delivers his lines very flatly, almost as if he's just reading instead of emoting. The producers might have been better off bringing back Michael Ironside, who brought real menace to the character. In an inspired move, Ed Asner does the voice for Granny Goodness.
While not the best of the bunch (Green Lantern: First Flight and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths are still tops in my book, with the recent Batman: Under the Red Hood being another strong entry) this is still a very entertaining show that I'll be picking up sooner rather than later. Definitely recommended for all the comics fans out there.
Anyone see Requiem for a scarlet speedster on Batman:the brave and the bold?
What a great episode, and John Wesley shipp as Zoom to top it off
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
I loved First Flight. It does condense the GL mythos somewhat and paints certain characters in a different light (which is what most GL fans were bothered by) but overall I thought it was a great Hal Jordan origin story.
I was going to bring that up as well since I know you're a Flash fan. My brother and I saw it over the weekend and had a ball. We really loved all the little touches like Flash's rogues gallery and the treadmill.
I don't always love the animation style on that show but Brave and the Bold have told some really good stories, especially this season.
Holy double entendre
How did they get away with that?
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
I can't stream videos at work but based on the name in the link - it's Aquaman, everybody makes fun of him.
EDIT: I just saw this, looks like they take little digs at everyone ("sometimes Flash is just too fast"). Yeah, I don't know how that one got by the censors.
"I've been a big fan of the character for a long time, he's definitely the king of all superheroes, he's the one. It's early yet, but I can tell you that what David [Goyer] and Chris [Nolan] have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I've always felt he was kind of awesome. I'll finish 'Sucker Punch' and get right at it."
It is rumored that General Zod will be the main villain of the movie. Full story is on numerous sites including this one.
http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/108271-zack-snyder-confirmed-for-superman
Personally, I'm really happy with Snyder being given the reins. I thought he did a great job with Watchmen and I'm hopeful that he'll bring the same respect for the material to Superman. He can also definitely frame a good action sequence.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM