Batman: Death in the Family [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray] [2020]

Warning! This is not a movie, but a collection of shorts.

If you like Under the Red Hood then you will like this. It is a prequel of sorts. The interactive part was unexpected because apparently I don't read but it was fun. You will have to redo the selections multiple times to get all the story and all the endings but it kept me entertained. I definitely recommend it.

It is some different history and same movie from Batman Under the Red Hood. Red Hood (Jason) was second Robin and my carácter favorite.

A very cool cartoon movie. I brought the comic book in the eighties and you had to call your choice in,now this one is interactive and you choose your choice and see the results, very cool a must have for all Batman fans.

Even though the price has dropped, this still came up short of expectations. There’s really one new story (Red Robin). NOTE: the interactive features only work with Bluray disc!!! Will not work with digital copy.

The DC Animated movie franchise is a quiet juggernaut in the world of animation. It gets next to no recognition, and the quality of these is around the same as the reviled Disney D2V sequels of a few years ago...yet they MUST make money because warner animation keeps cranking them out. To the tune of 4-5 a year! Take a look at what came out in 2020: Superman Red Son Justice League Dark: Apocalypse War Superman: Man of Tomorrow Deathstroke Knights and Dragons Batman: Death in the Family So this last one bills itself as an interactive movie (that sounds cool) and it uses a storyline that was an interactive comic book (that also sounds cool). What what sounds cool, and what is cool, can sometimes be two different things. Quick history lesson: DC Comics used new 1-900 number technology (pay for a call) in 1987 / 1988 to allow readers to decide the outcome of a Batman story. The story...? Death in the Family. Robin's REAL mother (not Dick Grayson, Robin II: Jason Todd) turns out to be a doctor who was corrupt and indebted to the Joker for Mr. J covering up her drug smuggling issue. She was before her time, since the opiod crisis wouldn't hit for a few more decades. Anyway, the whole issue with Jason Todd is that Dick Grayson was aged and turned into Nightwing during the Judis Contract over in New Teen Titans a few years earlier and a NEW robin (Jason Todd) who was an EXACT clone of Dick Grayson was put in place. Than Frank Miller produced Dark Knight Returns and a throwaway line in that about Jason being killed by the Joker set the stage for Death in the FAmily. But first, Crisis on Infinite Earths reset things and Jason Todd now turned into a street-wise homeless punk who became Robin after Batman caught him trying to boost tires from the Batmobile. Now Jason was a grumpy, rude, insolent kid who wouldn't follow orders. And fans didn't like him. So the Death in the FAmily was set up as a promo stunt and...kids called in and voted to have Robin killed. So he was, although it set off a fervor at the time about kids calling in and spending money on 900 numbers to kill a kid superhero... Anyway, that's the history. This movie has the benefit of hindsight which is that nobody ever stays dead in comics and Jason Todd came back YEARS later as Red Hood. Wait, you say, wasn't there a Red Hood movie? Sure was...one of the earliest DC Animated Movies: Batman Under the Red Hood. That's cannon with this, emphasized by the fact that Batman is voiced by Bruce Greenwood here AND there (and in Young Justice, but eh...let's not complicate things...lol). So now you have a 30 some odd minute "film" that allows you to pick different endings. Which is cool. So...why not say that? Well, because BEFORE you get to the endings what you get is a narrated (by Batman, because he's awesome) clip show of Under the Red Hood. Budget cuts? The endings are new (mostly) but the lead up is recycled and it was much MUCH better the first time when it was called Batman Under the REd Hood. Still, the interactive feature IS cool and dovetails nicely into history so...this Blu Ray gets credit for that. And the other Showcase label shorts (Adam STrange, Death, Sgt Rock and the Phantom Stranger) are excellent...but they all appeared on other Blu Rays during the last year so they're not new either. That follows history as well, since the first time the Showcase program was animated (Spectre, Jonah Hex, Green Arrow) they were paired with a longer short in a compilation DVD (Superman / Shazam: REturn of Black Adam) 10 years ago. And...these DC Direct to DVD movies are fun. They're rarely good anymore and clearly coasting, but they are fun comic book movies that KNOW they're nothing more than funny books come to life. They are short, inoffensive and entertaining while you're watching ( and forgettable immediately afterwards). Nothing wrong with that and the only way we keep getting more is to support the current line. So there you go...clip show tips to the "barely recommended" side of the scale, but it's a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you haven't seen the other four shorts. And if you HAVEN'T Seen Under the Red Hood, please go do that right away. It's one of the best Batman movies (live action or animated) that have ever been produced right up there with The Dark Knight and Mask of the Phantasm. The ending alone hits you in the "feels" which, for a superhero movie about a guy dressed as a bat...well.. :)

Good film for what it is, but doing all of the various paths and endings will take less than two hours. One choice in particular just gives you a rehash of "Under The Red Hood" from Bruce Wayne's point of view (which is still good but not what most viewers are looking for). Good animation and voiceover but those expecting to spend hours viewing every possible outcome may be disappointed that there are only so many.

I enjoyed the idea behind this interactive film and the new content it presented. My only negative critique would be that I wish it had more new content. If DC does more of these in the future I hope they can extend the run time and content. Still was not disappointed.