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If I was a writer, I would not want to be in charge of writing a mystery thriller. Not only that, but one that has to revolve around Batman and the DC universe. When I think about the process of writing a mystery thriller, you have to be a few steps ahead of the audience. You don’t want to be too complex for the viewers to not follow along, but you don’t want to be so predictable that everyone gets the twist before it happens. This sounds so stressful, and it’s even more nerve-wracking when you are then tasked with adapting a well-known Batman story and having to make it work in a film format. This is why we are talking about Batman: Hush.
Directed by Justin Copeland, and released back in July 2019, Batman: Hush is based on the famous comic of the same name, but upon release, the reviews were generally positive, but not as glowing as other animated films released under this series of DC properties. So, what do I, a casual comic book and Batman fan, think about it? Well, let’s look under the cape and find out.
Our story follows Superman. Nah, I’m kidding. It follows Batman, voiced again by Jason O’Mara, as he’s doing his usual Batman business of taking care of crime in Gotham City and going through his social life as Bruce Wayne. During an evening party, he encounters Selina Kyle, voiced by Jennifer Morrison, and his friend Thomas Elliot, voiced by Maury Sterling. After getting a call that Bane, voiced by Adam Gifford, is holding a kid hostage, Batman then runs into Selina Kyle as Catwoman, who took the ransom money that was for Bane. While on this pursuit, Batman is almost killed by a new masked antagonist, and after recovering from a near-fatal fall, learns that the villains of Gotham are being threatened by this new villain named Hush, voiced by Geoffrey Arend. Supposedly, Hush has dirt on every single villain in Gotham, and that includes Batman himself. Can Batman find out who Hush is and stop his nefarious scheme?
One of the elements about this film that stood out to me was how much time we see Batman as Bruce Wayne. Seriously, the film does take a lot of time from the mystery of who Hush is to have Bruce and Selina’s relationship be a focal point of the story. Normally, I worry when a superhero film decides to not be about the superhero elements, because then you have to work hard on the rest of the story to justify keeping the characters out of their hero suits. The chemistry between Bruce and Selina is fairly cute. I like seeing Bruce let loose of being this stone-cold stoic individual, and his sidekicks reacting to the situation at hand. Even Damian, who is consistently the worst part of this new iteration of DC films, has a few funny lines. Since I never read the original comic, I was judging how the story was told, and I was kept invested due to the script being stronger and the character dynamics being more amusing than previous films. There were even fun sequences where Batman and Catwoman travel to Metropolis and fight Superman, and an amusing sequence with the Joker. In terms of action, I mean, you have a film where Batman fights the big hitters of his rogue’s gallery, a new villain that was able to almost cripple the Batman, and a stellar Superman fight. It checks off my boxes for a superhero film to be entertaining. The fights are intense and mostly satisfying. You have to try hard and make fight sequences with Batman look bad.
Animation-wise, while I try to keep my criticisms limited to the next segment of this review, Batman: Hush looks okay. I know that due to releasing so many of these films a year, the animation takes a hit, but if you like how Young Justice or the new Harley Quinn look, then you know what to expect with these films. When the action is going, the animation is great, but when it’s not, it’s simply doable. I still think I would rather have DC stop releasing so many of these films a year, if that meant they could put a bit more of the budget into the animation. At least Batman vs. TMNT and Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans had visually distinct looks. The voice cast for Batman: Hush, while still the same as previous films, are elevated by the tighter script. Seriously, this is probably some of the best voice work done for these films in a long time.
Sadly, while the first two-thirds of this film are clunky, but charming, the third act is what drags this film down for me. From what I have read and what people have told me, the twist on who Hush was in the comics was wildly different from the film, and they changed who he is in the film, and to me, the film didn’t properly execute the new twist. It felt very last minute on who Hush was, and the film’s mystery element wasn’t as compelling during the last act of the film. It didn’t even have those nice details you see on the second time around like Knives Out did. The film felt like it forgot that this new villain was wandering around and was able to blackmail other villains into helping him out. The non-hero stuff is great, but it makes me think Bruce forgot (even with the head injury he took) what was going on. It also made Hush way less interesting when you found out who he was. It didn’t kill the entire mood of the film, but it almost did for me.
While better in many ways compared to the previous DC animated films, Batman: Hush still disappoints. I don’t know if I could fully recommend it if you were a fan of the comic, but if you need to own every one of these films, then go ahead and check it out. For now though, let’s move away from the grimy Gotham City streets to a magical realm as we jump into Netflix’s first animated feature purchase with Ni No Kuni.
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Rating: Rent it.
The Other Side of Animation 