When DC Entertainment announced its animation projects would focus on single stories based on some of the best in DC Comics library, we’ve gotten a mixed bag of results. While Superman: Red Son was a fantastic film experience, Man Of Tomorrow felt like a rehashed episode of the animated series. To honor the story of Batman’s greatest failure, DC animation decided to go into a place they’ve never been before on home video, interactive storytelling.
Batman: Death In The Family
Directed By: Brandon Vietti, Jim Krieg
Available on: Blu-Ray, Digital on Demand Services (Interactive elements only available currently on Blu-Ray editions)
Batman: Death In The Family is an animated short that adapts the 1998 four-part comic book event. For those that don’t know; in the comics the this is the moment second Robin, Jason Todd, runs off to the middle-east in search of his real mother. Meanwhile, Batman tracks an escaped Joker to the same region in order to stop him from selling nuclear materials capable of mass destruction. If you believe, I’ve spoiled the animated movie plot for you…yes. But reading this paragraph actually takes the same amount of time the short took to set its plot, even with the animated version dropping major story points such as the mother. Yet what I’ve written is more concise.
This is a movie for die-hard fans because they’re the only ones who can fill in the blanks from the introduction. The movie is said to tie-into the animated film Batman: Under The Red Hood. You’re either expected to know comic book history or a movie from ten years ago. But to be fair, the big selling point of this animated short is branching story paths where like in 1988, the audience can choose whether Robin lives or dies.
It is a fun little tech test for DC animation. Viewers can unlock up to seven different endings while some paths diverge greatly others simply change character skins in scenes. Think of the same experience as watching Black Mirror or the Kimmy Schmidt choose your adventure on streaming. I won’t spoil all the endings but I will say one of the few that’s actually worth saying “oh daaaamn” to is made by simply letting Robin survive. The after will take you to a fate where Jason Todd essentially becomes a hybrid of Hush, Red Hood, and Red Robin with a great twist that ties in Damion Wayne.
Batman: Death In The Family animated feels like more of a tech test than a venture in storytelling because it tries to cram one of the most iconic comic book moments in history into a matter of minutes. While the payoff of choice is meant to add more story to that moment, very few of the paths you can go down feel like territory worth going through. Even one path simply leads to an accounting of the details from Under The Red Hood.
What makes the package worth checking out is the other animated shorts packed in with it. Featuring tales of Adam Strange, The Phantom Stranger, Sgt. Rock, and Death these other shorts are incredible slices of what makes soo many characters in DC Comics great and just how beyond the trinity this animated world can go. The Phantom Stranger short directed by Bruce Timm is eerie in the best way possible and it brings a tear to my eye to see Bruce Timm direct anything DC animated again. Perhaps the best of all of them is the Death short. Based on the character from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman universe; this short is simply haunting, raw, and beautiful.
It’s strange that the marquee feature on this collection of shorts is the smallest reason to pick up the Blu-ray. Death In The Family feels like a good idea that didn’t have enough time in the oven. Yet I’d still recommend this simply based on the overall collection of short animated stories it contains. The only way to take full advantage of interactive features at the moment is buy this on Blu-Ray. At the moment we don’t know if that will change but if you’re one of the many who have made the jump to solely digital streaming media, you aren’t missing much from not being able to make the Death In The Family choices. This way of audience engagement is not a bad idea and I hope DC and WB will produce more of these and if they do I’d like to see them take wilder swings with the material while taking more time to get the details right.
