Batman: Hush – Nah Batman, Make Some Noise!

Calling all Batman fans! A new movie has just been released. Not a live-action one though, even better – animated. When it comes to DC they have multiple universes, but 2 different movie universes. The DCEU, DC Extended Universe, and the DCAMU – DC Animated Movie Universe. The DCEU is for live-action movies, and as I’m sure you can guess, the DCAMU is for animated movies. The biggest difference between the two is that the DCAMU has amazing content almost the whole way through. So when word gets out that there’s a new animated movie coming out, it’s best to get excited. So when Batman: Hush was announced, the fans definitely made some noise of excitement, and when it was released I hopped right on it. One thing to note going into the movie is that while this is based on the Batman: Hush arc of comic books, it’s a slightly loose adaptation so not everything will be the same. I was okay with that as I’ve never even read the arc. But I’m here to review the movie, not the comic book.

So, the first thing that’s done differently than the previous Batman movies, and that I actually prefer, is the fact that we start the film off with Bruce Wayne instead of Batman. I know, they’re the same person, but every Batman movie in the DCAMU thus far has started with some sort of action scene and Batman fighting an iconic villain. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that, but to not see it is a welcome change of pace. That’s not to say that the action the rest of the way through isn’t good and entertaining. It’s amazing! Almost every action scene/fight scene in the movie is top-notch. Looking back at the film, I think there was only one scene that I didn’t fully enjoy. My favorite was, of course, the last fight scene with Batman and Catwoman vs. Hush (his true identity was revealed which will be spoken about more in detail as I go on). The way that Batman and Catwoman were fighting in sync was too beast! It was like they could read each other’s minds. They knew where to connect after the other had landed a hit to continuously keep the upper hand. It was truly magnificent.

Now if you’ve read the comic book arc of Batman: Hush, then you wouldn’t be surprised to see Batman and Catwoman coming together as they do in this movie. It’s a concept that’s been explored many times in the comics and it was good to see it come to the DCAMU. Not only do they come together to fight crime, they come together romantically. I knew that was something just by reading articles here and there. It seemed like everyone close to Batman wanted him to pursue things with Catwoman – Alfred, Robin, and even Damian – in his own way. The DCAMU decides to take things a step further by exploring this relationship and having Catwoman move in with Batman. Now it seems the real reason that the movie is called Batman: Hush is because Catwoman is always silencing Batman with a kiss. Of course, those two aren’t the only ones sharing a kiss. Poison Ivy seems to be able to control others with a kiss, which she uses to control Bane, Catwoman, and Superman himself. She got Superman good if you asked me. Another fun and welcome change to see the almighty savior show he’s just as capable of being taken control of and succumbing to weakness.

With Superman showing up, the movie of course ties into the DCAMU by bringing up past events in previous movies, most notably the fact that Lex Luthor is an honorary member of the Justice League thanks to his actions in Reign of the Supermen. Another callback is Damian Wayne aka Robin. The last time we saw him, he was hanging out with the DCAMU Teen Titans and establishing his place on the team. That was 2 years ago. When we see Damian in this movie, he’s grown a bit, which is great. It shows that time is progressing instead of just staying where it’s at like most animated projects. Although Damian has grown, his personality is still the same, self-important and brooding, using lingo that kids his age just don’t use. It’s a funny part of the movie and sure to have most entertained by his cameo.

The comic book arc of Batman: Hush is notable for the appearance of a good amount of rogues from Batman’s gallery and the movie seems to be on the same spectrum. You know that Joker has to show up in some form, and when he does, it keeps your attention. He gets beat down by Batman and almost choked to death due to it being made to look like Joker shot Batman’s close childhood friend. This was something else that I enjoyed seeing. We’re so used to seeing Batman as calm and collected in these movies, so to see him lose control and almost murder Joker was something that’s appreciated. Now where there’s Joker, Harley Quinn is sure to be following closely behind. And she follows in a big way. Her fight scene with Catwoman was exciting, to say the least, and definitely let me know that she can have the upper hand when she wants to. Clayface shows up in Arkham Asylum, which I’m sure every Batman fan is familiar with, and he does a good job of overpowering Batman. Joker’s bit while Batman is fighting Clayface is comedic gold – the writers knew exactly what they were doing with his character. Scarecrow shows up, but doesn’t end up fighting Batman. His scuffle is with Catwoman and Nightwing, and it’s a rather mundane fight in my eyes. He gets the jump on Nightwing, but Catwoman easily puts him out of commission. But Riddler? He shows up in a big way in this movie.

So on to the real reason that the movie is called Batman: Hush. It’s because the main villain’s name is Hush. He’s an imposing villain who seems to be obsessed with ruining Batman/Bruce Wayne’s life from afar. He’s also new to Gotham. Cue Bruce’s close childhood friend, Thomas Elliot. As mentioned before, I didn’t read Batman: Hush, but I do know that Thomas Elliot had a big role in this comic. So here I am thinking that Elliot was Hush, and there’s a scene in the movie that truly makes you think so. There’s even the fact that Elliot shows up in town around the same time as Hush. I couldn’t have been more wrong though. Once again, he was killed, but not by Joker – by Hush. But just who is Hush? Batman figures it out and I was shocked to find out that it was Riddler. He’d turned into a big-time villain! If he had actually succeeded then he most likely would have been Batman’s new arch-enemy in place of Joker. He almost got the best of Batman, too, until Catwoman came to his aid. Not to sound like a broken record, but it was a nice change of pace as we’re usually subject to someone like Bane or Joker as the big bad with Batman.

The only issue that I have with this movie is the way it ended. Needless to say, Batman and Catwoman don’t work out – who didn’t see that coming? But it was the way they broke up. Catwoman isn’t happy with Batman’s moral code. Batman doesn’t kill. But since he’s not willing to do whatever it takes, she can’t accept it and breaks things off. It’s implied that they’ll pause things presently, but who knows what could happen in the future? As Catwoman walks off, Gotham is shown once again, part of it on fire, then the credits roll. It’s not a bad ending, don’t get me wrong, but the way the dialogue was set up – it wasn’t captivating or easy to follow.

I really have no actual qualms about the movie, besides how it ended and the boring fight scene with Scarecrow vs Nightwing and Catwoman. It was, otherwise, another amazing entry into the DCAMU that had a captivating storyline and stayed mostly true to the source material while building upon the continually growing universe that it’s set in.