Batman: Death in the Family

I bought this movie the instant it was available, and after the first ten minutes I knew I wasted my money. This movie was so disappointing in that it was nothing but a recap of "Under the Red Hood" and very little else. If you're going to make a Death in the Family movie, make the movie and not some half-assed attempt at it. I really wish I could get my money back. I only gave it five stars because the animation was good and I like the voice actors. Storywise, this was a complete and utter failure.

I want my money back, DC! You tricked me!

I'm annoyed at myself for buying this movie. First, the digital version doesn't allow for making interactive choices as was advertised in all of the previews. Only the physical copy of the movie allows for interactive choices. Second, this movie starts with Batman retelling the story of the movie "Under the Red Hood" for a half hour. Batman just narrates throughout most of a half hour short story. Boring!!! Then credits roll and another short story begins. I'm not sure why they decided to make a movie retelling the story of a previous movie, but it's a dumb move on DC's part, and worse, it's misleading to the consumer who thinks this movie is a coherent original story. I should have read the reviews before I purchased it. Waste of money, in my opinion. I would say this movie isn't even worth renting. Just go ahead and buy "Under the Redhood" instead. With DC movies, sadly, ALWAYS read the reviews first!

This is a series of 30 min cartoons, felt like you were watching Sat morning TV. We get the redundant RED MASK story, a Hawkman story, a weird artist cartoon, a Sgt Fury story ... it is like DC had a few cartoons laying around and thought they'd tos them on a disc for a cash grab. Disappointing.

I love interactive stories and I love Batman movies. Coincidentally, I was able to get the best of both worlds when this was announced. Especially considering Under the Red Hood is one of my favorite Batman movies. Sadly though, this was clearly a rushed idea that could've been amazing but ended up just being alright

As the marketing suggests, there's 3 paths the story can go. Robin dies, Robin cheats death, and Batman saves Robin. All 3 options had the foundations for incredible stories, and some even stuck the landing. The ideas worked well and I could see any of them happening in an actual Batman story. It's also pretty entertaining sometimes! It's super interesting to see Batman under the red hood with different outcomes and R rated violence. It's also REALLY cool to see just how dark Jason's life could've been, be it for the better or the worse

That being said, let's talk about its weaknesses. For starters, only one of the options has further choices to make, and the other two are mostly straightforward stories, which isn't really what was promised. One of them was what I watched when I rented on itunes, and was basically just a condensed version of UTRH. Also, a lot of the stories end up lacking in some of the writing or line delivery. It's kinda awkward at times, especially for the intended tone

A big red flag was obviously the absence of Jensen Ackles, but I found Vincent Martella's performance surprisingly strong at times. He did a really good job carrying the story, even if he couldn't do it flawlessly all the time. Which I attribute more to the writing and directing, considering he's proven time and again he's a competent voice actor, especially in Phineas and Ferb

A big problem I also noticed is one I have with Telltale Games, with a lot of the decisions ending up in relatively the same place, just with slightly different details. A lot of the endings are very different to be totally fair, but not devoid of what I'm calling the telltale effect. It would've been much cooler to see something along the lines of Detroit where decisions always have consequences, for better or worse

Overall I'd say it wasn't as good as some of DC's finest work in the animation department, with not a whole lot of rewatchability. However, I definitely thought it was worth checking out and would consider it worth loaning to my friends so they can experience it for themselves

Sadly, with it sitting next to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and not far away from The Dark Knight on my blu ray collection, it won't be my first choice anytime soon.

Digital version doesn't have interactive features. I want my fifteen bucks back.