It’s that time again to review the movies you want to see before seeing them. So keep your money. Bring up your YouTube app, and let’s watch “Batman: Hush.” This one is another animated tale from DC Comics. The comic was written way back in 2003, a time when everything was a lot simpler. Gas prices were a buck sixty-four, and we had something called trade paperbacks making a second emergence.
“Batman: Hush” is a little… well… kind of like one of those variant cover books. You’d hope by picking it up you’d be judging it solely on its art work, and that would be sufficient. “An almost, ‘oh don’t tell me,’ but this cover is rather… nonexistent.”
I was immediately drawn in by Catwoman being entangled with Batman on the cover. It’s just… well… this story is chock-full of the usual. And, I mean, down to Superman saving Batman’s ass again, but that’s way, way down the line. You wouldn’t expect to see Poison Ivy and Bane working together again, but you do. You got Harley Quinn, the Joker, the Riddler…and it goes on, and on. Damien is in here too; we just don’t know what the hell is going on with him. No action! Damien is Bruce Wayne’s son. He’s Robin, by the way, if you didn’t know. This would all be fine; a bit much if you’re jumping into the franchise. Seeing this many characters, is like some hyperactive child who doesn’t know how to write a storyline. I like how it’s history-driven, but it loses continuity with relationships that would evolve with a bit more responsibility if simply written by someone else. You just want the main characters to bring more to the screen. You know Batman, Hush, and… Hush. The main characters in this graphic novel. Maybe give a history that’s somewhat introductory, but factual, with the entire Batman franchise. It very well may do this if you read everything, and have seen everything, and, I mean, everything. Like, live-action Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, everything. What you don’t want to do is take all these wild story lines, grab your girlfriend, and bore her to death with this stopgap writing technique.
DC doesn’t skip out on the animation, though. Batman has gotten a lot better than in previous movies. This is a Batman we like when visually comparing him to the other double big chin guy from the 90s. Same voice, but without the mask, he looks like he sounds. Which is cool. Expressive with the serious tones, and no real facial expressions, which is also cool. Oh, and Selina Kyle is just hot, hot, hot. Throughout, they get a little hot and bothered. Like I said, though, the story needs some work. A little weak, if you ask some readers; with additional help from a video game, and an additional writer, apparently, this somehow became a set of two books. YouTube just featured the first movie for free, with its second book on the way later this year. Time Warner has to clean up, though. Too much of the same thing at the same time: three bats, two and a half jokers, two Supermans, and far too many payouts! We trust that James Gunn, as DCs pseudo CEO of comic book adaptation to screen, has had a handle on things, because things do look good; we just don’t know how they’re coming, and when they’re coming, since there’s so very much coming all at once. Gunn was brought in to produce “Creature Commandos,” an animated series of the monster Suicide Squad, and that went pretty well. Gunn got Robert Pattinson’s “The Batman” greenlit, directed by Matt Reeves. We still don’t know the creative control percentage that each director has, but if it’s anything like “Hush’s” run, DC should fire them all.
This movie series has a lot of hope riding on it. I just hope they put some serious thought into the production. Rumors have been hinting that they may even capitalize on the Court of Owls series. In the series, Batman is faced with this entirely creepy and mysterious family. It’s quite the riddle of movie chronology. No Riddler puns intended, or maybe intended. If he does do the entire series, Pattinson has a contract that looks something like Spiderman’s Tom Holland’s! That could be four to five movies out. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s truly seamless. You know how things go. Hopefully, it’ll suffice a lot better than its animated counterpart.
