Batman: Hush Review
Here’s my Batman: Hush review which is now out on DVD and Bluray from WB and DC Entertainment and based off the classic storyline written by Jeph Loeb with art by Jim Lee. It features the voices of
– Not a fan of switching Killer Croc for Bane. Although thanks to that, the story becomes a lot easier.
– No Killer Croc means that when they mentioned Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller makes her brief appearance in the story, it doesn’t mesh well. I mean come on, we’re doing Suicide Squad already so why the hell is Killer Croc not here? Oh right, because they want a cohesive story.
– I lliked how they swapped out the Green K ring from the original story to Kryptonite studded knuckles. Made the fight more dynamic to watch without going all “BvS” on us. This also made the fight a lot fair as opposed to the comics.
– Still on the Green K knuckledusters, we miss a bit of dialogue where Batman says that his hand is broken from throwing that strong a punch on the Man of Steel’s face.
– We don’t have Huntress in this story but we do get Batgirl. Would have still liked to see Huntress because that also connects her back to Hush who supplied her with the money to buy the new gear including that purple motorcycle. Having Batgirl stand in felt wrong on a few levels.
– Damian Wayne standing in for Tim Drake also was so-so. His interaction with his father though was writing gold. Could have had something like that back when Batman: Hush was still being written. Good props to that.
– No krypto for this one, which would have been a good thing. But alas, the DC Animation arm is still stuck with the New 52 era while the comics are slowly gearing away from that reality/ imprint. Would have made my day really to see the wolf version of Krypto too.
– The movie wanted to connect too much with other goings-on. Like they wanted to flesh out the Hush storyline while at the same time making Lex Luthor a “probationary” member of the Justice League. They wanted to connect this Batman story with whatever they plan on adapting next for Suicide Squad and all that.
– Catwoman and Batman hooking up through out the story is something Batman fans want and at the same time could trigger some viewers who were turned off by how Tom King handled “The Wedding”. Seeing them kiss repeatedly? Made me want to see a “happy ending” for Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.
– Again, a bit of naughty dialogue courtesy of Harley Quinn. Nice costume “update” too.
– Catwoman’s name is Eartha. Nice.
– Developing a scene in Catwoman’s scene was a better choice than that subtle flirting they did in the books just before they saw the opera. Again getting hints of Tom King’s run on Batman with Bruce making some “confession” before Selina. And again, the cat’s name is Eartha.
– A fleshed out fight scene between Catwoman and Harley Quinn was good. Great animation for that segment and totally wanted to see more of that fight.
– LOVED that scene with Batman and Joker. Seriously that was cathartic. The last time I enjoyed seeing this kind of fight was back in Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm. It was brutal and ruthless and that made it more impactful. Too bad we lose Batman’s internatl monologue again. Where he says that he could end it once and for all while remembering what was done to Batgirl and Jason Todd.
– Extended character moment for The Joker after almost being killed by Batman was good. Jim Gordon actually throwing a punch makes him more human and breaks the traditional two dimensional character.
– Not having flashbacks to the childhood between Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Thomas Elliot (Hush) made the story have more soul.
– The Nightwing segment makes for a whole lot of fun. We still get that nice dynamic (duo) taking on The Riddler while pushing the story forward. Too bad we did not get that scene with the Batmobiles…
– I like my villains being potty-mouther so this one also gets a good nod.
– There’s a nice team-up montage here too, again, great if you’re a Bruce/Selina shipper. We also get to see some of the villains in the movie including Two-Face who does not figure in this story at all. This was of course not the case for the comic book storyline where Dent even played attorney for Joker.
– Moving some elements from the book’s third part makes the book more of an action flick rather than a whodunit it was supposed to be. Or its like a near emulation of the Arkham city games with all the various rogues making an appearance in some for or another.
– Having no Jason Todd in the story also sucks. A chance graveyard scene between him, Nightwing and Batman could have made significant impact for future stories to be adapted.
– That twist in the story at the end is a mixed bag for me. On one end, that’s a nice twist and simplifies the story that had been very convuluted towards the end. It also makes sense why that one new character who died early on didn’t even get sometime to shine.
