Director: Justin Copeland
Cast: Jason O’Mara, Jennifer Morrison, Geoffrey Arend, Jerry O’Connell
Have I Seen it Before: I’ve certainly read it a couple of times.
Did I Like It: Really, truly, an adaptation of the Hush storyline from the Batman comic books of the is a wonderful idea, not necessarily because of the events surrounding the new enemy Hush, but because the sprawling storyline manages to make the lions share of the Dark Knight’s rogue’s gallery vital supporting characters to a larger story.
But that story took the better part of a year to tell correctly and give everyone their due. Jamming it all into a package less than 90 minutes allows for the film to go through a halfway decent plot synopsis, but the magic of those books is gone.
This has been an ongoing problem with the ongoing slate of direct-to-video DC animated films. Hush suffers from many of the same problems that dragged down both The Death of Superman (2018) and Reign of the Supermen (2019), and it’s no wonder why, as this appears to be a spinoff of those two films, featuring much of the same cast reprising their roles. The film also wastes several minutes of its screen time apparently setting up some Ra’s al Ghul storyline for a future film that—by the time it becomes available for streaming on the DC Universe app—I’ll have long since cancelled my membership. As it turns out the brief turn into the world of the Lazarus Pit turns out to be a quick way to tie Hush, the Riddler, and the final act together in as few minutes as possible.
Unlike the wobbly and problematic adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke (2016), this film can’t even offer voice talent that has become ubiquitous with DC animation over the last thirty years. All of those present are game and give the characters the needed distinctive tone, but I’d be far more forgiving of the film if Kevin Conroy played Batman and Mark Hamill returned to play Joker. Granted, the Clown Prince of Crime is not much more of a cameo role in this story, but it would have given Hamill far more to do than he had in either Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) or Star Wars – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). It doesn’t help matters much that the actors who are playing the roles are trying their best to sound like the people who have been iconic in the roles in the past.
Every time Warner Bros. announces an adaptation of one of these beloved storylines, I allow myself to get a little bit excited by the prospect. As I type this, The Long Halloween is in development. I should probably surpass my inner Charlie Brown, opt not to kick Lucy’s proffered football, and just re-read the original comic book instead.