Batman: Under the Red Hood

"[We see an Robin symbol and the camera reveals a wounded Robin as the Joker knocks him across the face with a crowbar] Wow. That looked like it really hurt. [Hits him three more times] Whoa, now, hang on. That looked like it hurt a lot more. So, let's try and clear this up, okay, pumpkin? What hurts more? A? [hits him again] Or B? [hits him again] Forehand? [hits him again] Or backhand? [hits him again, and laughs. Robin then mumbles something, and Joker leans in, imitating the noise] A little louder, lamb chop. I think you may have a collapsed lung. That always impedes the oratory. [Robin spits in his face; Joker slams his head into the ground] Now, that was rude! The first Boy Blunder had some manners. [Robin grins at him as Joker wipes the blood away] I suppose I'm going to have to teach you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps. [pause] Nah. I'm just gonna keep beating you with this crowbar. [Joker laughs as he continues beating Robin]"

"[after finishing beating Robin] Okay, kiddo, I gotta go. It's been fun, though, right? [silence from Robin] Well, maybe a smidge more fun for me than you. I'm just guessing since you're being awful quiet. Anyway, be a good boy, finish your homework, and be in bed by nine. And, hey, please tell the big man I said..."hello". [laughs hysterically]"

"[tossed to the floor in an apartment in Crime Alley, after being captured by Red Hood] So, what's the plan? Slumber party? Charades? A little Truth or Dare? Yes! I'll start with "dare"! [Red Hood unzips his gym bag and pulls out a crowbar] Or maybe I'll just go with "truth"..."

"[Batman, having refused to shoot either the Joker or Jason, has thrown a batarang into Jason's gun barrel, thus causing it to backfire and disarming Jason. Joker begins laughing maniacally] I can't believe you got him! You expert, rootin'-tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth-loving marksman! I love it! You managed to find a way to win, and everybody still loses! [laughs] [Jason presses a detonator that trigger a pile of explosives in the fire place. Batman spots them and rushes to disarm them.] [grabs Batman from defusing the bomb] NO! Don't spoil it! This is better! I'm the only one who's gonna to get what he wants tonight! Yes! Big bang boom! We all go out together! Don't you just love a happy ending?! [Begins laughing until Batman punches him out cold. Attempts to grab Jason and escape, but the detonator goes off. Batman fruitlessly searches for Jason but finds nothing.]"

"[Talking from afar] It's gonna be a sleepover, right?, I packed my toothbrush."

"Take note of the PG-13 rating. This is not a film for children. It starts out showing the Joker beating Robin to death with a crowbar, then ultimately blowing him up and killing him. This is straight out of the classic "Death in the Family" comics right down to the imagery. The violence continues as we see the Red Hood deliver a bag full of severed heads to mob leaders, characters getting shot point blank by Joker, red blood spatters on walls as people’s heads are shot, and more. It’s nothing you don’t see in the movies, but it’s kind of surprising if all you’ve ever seen of animated Batman is Timm’s revered TV series."

"The movie has some spectacular action scenes. It seems like there’s an explosion every 10 minutes. We see great chases between Batman and Red Hood, a great pursuit joined by Nightwing, and a fantastic fight scene with some cybernetic bounty hunters. But it’s not all batarangs and kung fu fighting. There’s a surprisingly strong character drama here. We see Batman tortured by the loss of Jason Todd and the appearance of Red Hood making matters even worse. I was also quite impressed by the final showdown between Red Hood and Batman. In it, Batman is confronted with the ultimate question – why did he never kill the Joker? His answer is emotional, dramatic, and perfectly defines the character. Bat-Fans will enjoy it."

"Jason Isaacs: This role is a bit unusual for Ra's al Ghul as he's been Batman's nemesis a lot in the past. But this time he is actually full of regret for a mistake that he has made, and his inability to control the Joker. A lot of what happens for Ra's in this story is him explaining to Batman how things went so badly awry, and how Robin ended up quite so dead."

"Under the Red Hood finds Batman caught up in an underworld mystery; the ruthless Black Mask has murdered his way to the top of Gotham City's underworld and reigns as king - that is until a mysterious (and even more ruthless) vigilante called Red Hood shows up and starts taking apart Black Mask's empire, piece by piece."

"Red Hood is as smart and well-trained as Batman himself - the only difference is that Red Hood has no qualms whatsoever about killing "underworld scum." The Red Hood mantle is something of a tradition in Gotham's underworld, so Batman's first guess is that this is just another crook looking to make a name for himself. However, after each subsequent encounter with Red Hood, Batman begins to suspect that the murderous vigilante may have a direct connection to a dark chapter in the Batman and Robin Legacy."

"And because this is a PG-13 animated feature, the DCU team isn't afraid to keep things a little more adult in tone - good decision when you have villains like Black Mask, Red Hood and The Joker all in one film. You just know some blood is going to be shed, and the filmmakers manage to get in the adult themes without the cartoon being too scary for youngsters to enjoy as well."

"The big thing about the story is that it's a sequel to a big event in the history of DC comics - the death of Robin that happened back in the 1980s - and I didn't see how we could set that up, because it all hinges on being a sequel to that story. Furthermore, the way the pitch was arranged, we were in a room in Burbank and Judd was in San Francisco and had to pitch over the speakerphone. But amazingly, every single problem I thought we'd have trouble making into a movie, Judd had fixed in the pitch. Judd had already clearly put a lot of thought into the entire film - how to stay focused on the main story, how to clean up the death of Robin thing, and how to eliminate all the extra baggage. He pitched for about 45 minutes and when he was done, Alan and I looked at each other and said, "Yeah, that's a movie. Let's do it." And away we meant."

"Seeing that this was going to be our first full-length Batman movie in the DC Universe line, we thought we really needed to have a strong story that wasn't just another adventure story or a caper that Batman foils. We wanted it to be something that truly needed to be told in a PG-13 venue that had a fair amount of, for lack of a better term, adult content that you couldn't normally do on television. And this story is loaded with it. It's also a personal story to Batman - it does have an adventure plot and a crime plot, but the emotional arc of the story is rooted in Batman's messed up history with family relations. And especially in our animated universe, Batman always had a kind of dysfunctional family dynamic going on. He's famously an orphan, he's got Alfred as his surrogate mother/father, he's always bringing in surrogate sons to mentor, and it always kind of goes badly."

"In Batman: Under the Red Hood, Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when The Joker falls in the balance between the two, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened."

"“Judd Winick’s and Doug Mahnke’s story of a Robin gone wrong introduced Batman’s most personal enemy to date. It’s unbelievably cool to see it brought to life like this,” said Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment."

"“This is absolutely a Batman story,” he emphasises. “It’s about Batman facing his greatest fear, and it’s a fear he was unaware of: failure. All Batman is trying to do is win a war. All he’s trying to do is right wrongs, beginning with the death of his parents and followed by another seminal event in his life, the loss of his partner, Jason Todd [who replaced Dick Grayson as his sidekick, Robin]. It was a major mistake in his life, bringing another kid into this war. So for Batman, it seems like one horrible mistake after another.”"

"Bruce Greenwood as Bruce Wayne/Batman"

"Jensen Ackles as Jason Todd/Red Hood"

"John DiMaggio as The Joker"

"Neil Patrick Harris as Dick Grayson/Nightwing"

"Jason Isaacs as Ra's al Ghul"

"Wade Williams as Roman Sionis/Black Mask"

"Jim Piddock as Alfred Pennyworth"

"Gary Cole as Commissioner James Gordon, Bobo, Shot"

"Kelly Hu as Ms. Li"

"Carlos Alazraqui as Chi-Chi, Thug 1, Baton"

"Robert Clotworthy as Leon"

"Kevin Michael Richardson as Tyler Bramford"

"Alexander Martella as Young Jason Todd/Robin"

"Vincent Martella as Teen Jason Todd/Robin"

"Brian George as Ra's al Ghul's Assistant"

"Phil LaMarr as Rick, Bulk"

"Andrea Romano as Reporter 1"

"Dwight Schultz as Freddie, Yurp"

"Esteban Matos as Sexy Guy 1"

"Fred Tatasciore as Amazo, Mercenary 1, Guard"

"Bruce Timm as The Riddler"

"Keri Tombazian as Reporter 2, Fearsome Hand Leader"

"Michael Villani as Reporter 3"