Batman: Hush (2019)
One of the great Batman stories ... Batman Hush comes to life as the latest entry in the DC Animated Film Universe. While the story has more to do with the recent Batman comics where DC promised Bruce Wayne (Jason O'Mara) and Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (Jennifer Morison) would get married than the titular graphic novel; Its spirit does still holds true to the original story.
Two things of note upfront: IMDB gives away the big mystery of who the mystery bad guy (Hush) is and just because this is an animated movie it doesn't mean it's aimed at kids. There's a lot of swear words flying around in this and some sexually suggestive imagery mainly due to the fact that Batman and Catwoman share an "adult" relationship in this.
With that said, Damien Wayne (Stuart Allen) has an unfortunately small role in this but what they do with it is indeed the most memorable part of the whole film. It got a good chuckle out of me.
And that's pretty big achievement with this film because there are lots of great moments and action scenes. I wish that DC would make these a theatrical release instead of direct-to-video so we can get some better animation to go along with this awesome story. As of right now, I think it's a pretty good contender for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm which is the best Batman movie of all-time.
What makes this film so great is that it holds everything true to Batman. He's a fighter (ninja) and he's a detective with a plan for everything ... even Superman. He uses his brain as well as his brawn.
His battle with Superman did feel a little forced. It's like the writers of this movie wanted to make a comment on the live-action Batman v Superman movie that came out in 2016. His weapon of choice to take on Superman made me rich with delight as I know that idea came from a popular YouTube channel called RedLetterMedia.
And his solution to get Superman to stop was perfect.
The fight is definitely in there to pad the runtime, but it's good fanservice to people who wanted to see these two fight logically and didn't get it in Zack Synder's version. Just because it's filler doesn't mean it's not good.
I also love that this was a who's who of Batman villains: Poison Ivy, Joker, Bane (The dumb version), Clayface and everybody's favorite second-hand Joker The Riddler
I think I loved every minute of it. And then the big reveal of who Hush was a nice dessert to finish off the main course. I couldn't believe this movie was only an hour and a half long. If anything even with that Superman fight padding the runtime, it's a quick-paced movie.
The only low point of the movie is the ending, I think. Remember this is based more on the current Batman run than the Hush book. If you read that comic you know the ending of this movie in a sense. And just to give you a hint, it left a bad taste in comic book fans mouths. I imagine for many it would probably still sting. I braced myself for it so I didn't mind it but I can see people taking issue with it.
I hope that with the recent success of the Teen Titans Go to the movies making five times its budget back that maybe future Batman animated projects can come to the big screen.
In my opinion, it's worth getting.
FORMAT: DVD/ Blu-Ray/Digital FROM: WARNER BROS/DC RATING:PG-13 [US] 12 [UK] RUNNING TIME: 1h 21m
IN A NUTSHELL: If you're a Batman fan this is the movie you've been waiting for.
