Batman: La broma mortal

Batman goes on the hunt for The Joker who is kidnapping and torturing Commissioner Gordon and his family in a similar way to his own descent into madness.

One thing that immediately stands out about this film is how much it seems to want to be like the graphic novel that it is adapted from. This is because the dialogue seems like it has literally been taken from the novel itself and copied word for word, this is accompanied by animation that looks like it's just a moving version of panels from the original comics/ Killing Joke graphic novel. It basically seems to be a direct literal adaptation of Alan Moore's famous, classic novel. This might majorly stand out at the start of this film adaptation because the first 30 minutes of the film seem to be a bit slow and just a long build up and introduction to the lives of Batman and Batgirl/ Barbara Gordon and so later plot details are further understood or emotional pain for certain characters is deepened because of this connection with the characters. In fact the connection with the characters in this film isn't really that strong and at times they just seem to be there ,even Batman has this feeling when he is present in some scenes, this can also be said for the character of the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) he might be one of the best things about the film but he doesn't seem very understandable in his actions and motives until later in the film when his backstory ,if it is even his real one due to the character previously making up many different backstories making him more mysterious and in some cases creepy, is revealed and we see what his life was previously like and what drew him into the state of madness that has made him one of the most famous and iconic on-screen and comic book villains ever. As this is done the character of The Joker gets better and better and more enjoyable and the same can be said for the rest of the film as more is revealed and as more events unravel/ occur the pace gets quicker and the film gets better and more entertaining pulling the audience in and providing a more detective style superhero film which at times feels fresh, new and different.

If you ignore the first 30 minutes then Batman: The Killing Joke is a fresh animated superhero film that not only shows a new side to the character of The Joker but puts him centre stage as the star of the show. Overall it might have a dodgy script and seem like a literal direct lazy adaptation at times but it's an enjoyable film with some highly entertaining moments.

*** <-- Three Stars (Out of Five)

OK... I'll be honest: I was waiting something great and I didn't get it. Maybe because of the very high expectations that the movie just couldn't reach. There was a couple of things that bothered me. I think the important part was too short (about 45 minutes), they gave too much emphasis to the Batgirl prologue, I mean, the Joker appeared 30 minutes after the movie initiated, for God sake! Yes, there was some things from that part that I thought were interesting, I'm sure some people will hate them though. I was very uncomfortable with the inconsistency of the art style, sometimes The Joker looked amazing, sometimes... not very good; besides, the animation was very weak in several scenes, I mean like 10 fps and that's unacceptable Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy's work was the best of the movie, I can't complain about that. It was OK. But they could do it a lot better.

I have read the graphic novel from which this film comes, but it has been years and I did not bring anything to this film version other than the hope that it would be a good film. I also didn't care that it got an R-rating in the US; I cannot think of a film that was 'good' simply because it was graphic, and those excited that a franchise got such a rating are really missing the point. Anyway, watching the film was a serious disappointment. The first half was dull and lacking anything that really linked to the second half in a satisfying manner. I really do not care whether or not it is in the source material, for me it was more that it was dull and disconnected. The second half I the film proper and to be fair it is better, but not as good as it needed to be.

There is a real lack of grit and atmosphere in the delivery. For all the time spent with Batgirl, the film could have fleshed out dialogue, horrors, and conflict between the characters. Instead this felt truncated and lacking roots. For all the potential in the led two, there was little delivered but yet just enough to indicate what it could have been. It felt rushed, which may have been true because the film as a whole has a cheap feeling. The animation has little character or depth, and looked basic in both detail but also in movement. Searching online as to why, it seems that the animation was every 4 frames, which contributes to a choppy feel despite reducing cost. The voice work is good throughout, just a shame not to have a better product to deliver.

The Killing Joke had a lot of hype, most of which I ignored. Even with no preconceptions and reasonable expectations though, the film didn't deliver, and feels cheap, rushed, and poorly filled out.

One of the most acclaimed graphic novels of all time has now come to the big screen. Not only is this one of the most acclaimed novels ever but it's one of the most controversial. The story is basically an origin tale for the infamous Batman villain, The Joker. When this movie was initially announced back at the beginning of 2016 there was some serious hype surrounding it. Especially when it received an R rating. One thing that really made me nervous though was how quickly this actually released. Obviously, it could've been in production long before it was announced back at the beginning of the year, but after seeing the film, I don't think that's the case.

The first thirty minutes of the film is a kind of prelude involving, mostly, Batgirl. It talks about how she came to quit being said superhero and draws a thread between her and Batman. Now, this story is controversial for a reason. Not only does it explore tough themes but it shows the details of these horrible things. The story in the graphic novel is brutal, uncompromising, and pretty tough to get through.

However the film is just the opposite. It tries hard to retell the story seen in the novel, yet any emotional drama is all but lost. This mainly has to do with the length of the film itself. Being only 80 minutes, it's rather short. As I said, the first thirty minutes revolves around Batgirl. And this segment of time is absolutely the worst to sit through. It's tedious, overly long, and so cliché and predictable that there's nothing remotely enjoyable.

While, this part of the film is undoubtedly the worst from a storytelling standpoint, there are a number of things that remained consistently bad throughout. Most notably was the animation. From a studio like Warner Bros you'd expect some decent art work, but not here. The back drops nor art design is well put together. It's clunky, with no style to be found.

It looks like they took the animation from a rough draft of the animated series and colored it in. This issue becomes even more clear whenever it attempts 3D animation. The other blaring issue that continues through the film is the music. Which is completely contrived and formulated to the point of it being so cliché that is, in fact not cliché.

As the film ended, a crowd that once cheered for the lights dimming, was left in stunned silence. Not a good stunned silence like you get after watching 'Gone Girl', this type of silence is the kind where people don't know what they just saw. For me, this had to do with the complete lack of any emotional resonance. When it attempts to recreate the power of the novel it fails.

It doesn't commit enough to the drama of the story. Even with its R rating it doesn't draw the same toughness the novel does. It lacks the rawness that the novel has to make it's audience queasy. It's not graphic enough to be disturbing and it's not lighthearted enough to be fun. It just bounces from scene to scene with little connecting one to another. The best way to describe it is that it goes from this scene to that scene and than it ends. That's about it. ​This is one film that should have been great. All the pieces are there. It has a great studio behind it, an excellent voice team, and a brilliant story. But it lacks the emotional power that the novel has. Even though it has its R rating it doesn't fully commit to it, or anything for that matter. Without coherent direction and the overall first draft vibe of the film it's hardly the experience we've been lead to believe it is.

It may seem like this is a high rating given the backlash DC animated The Killing Joke has received, however this is an averaged out rating.  In honesty this isn't a very good movie, despite the fact that when the filmmakers and adapter Brian Azzarello (do I hasten to call him a 'screenwriter' after this one credit?) stick to the original Alan Moore source it's a dark and involving delight. It's what comes before it, how they make it into a "full movie" that things fall apart.  This is a schizophrenic experience full of high highs, generic lows and some what the almighty Jesus bloody hell for good measure.

And I get what they tried to do or felt they had to do as far as making it a complete experience as a 75 minute film.  Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, is more of a plot device in the comic (spoiler? Joker shoots and paralyzed her before kidnapping Commissioner for his amusement park nightmare games), so to flesh out her backstory with Batman is good. On paper.  Actually, not on this paper, as it turns into a half hour story where Batgirl is chasing after a ho-Hum "charming" criminal who I don't even recall in the comics (if he was in it he's certainly not memorable) and it's all here to make it a Batgirl story with Batman mostly as the ornery father figure...

Which makes that 'thing' that happens between them so jarring; if this was squarely a batman/batgirl story theoretically it could go somewhere )I'm not saying it's a good idea in most any context, again those like Robin or Batgirl are more like the kids to Batman not those he gets uh down n dirty with).  But Azzarello crams it in where it doesn't fit and if anything makes the motivations for what comes in the actual Killing Joke story hamfisted.  Not to mention how it's presented is silly especially given what room is open with an R rating (the first for any Batman film, ironically you could show this to most kids 12 and up and it'd be fine).

Despite this troubling and/or just typical Batman/Batgirl story that squanders potential with really delving into backstory the comic hinted at, or because of it, when that second half of the film kicks in to gear and we get the story of the comic it'S presented largely faithfully and the genius and power of that story comes through; the Joker as a 'sympathetic' being with his own origin story which, by the end, is satisfying as its own story and is brilliant as a circumspect narrative from an unreliable storyteller.

I may also be a sucker for Hamill as the Joker but how can one not be when he always sinks his teeth in and makes him a real PRESENCE in a room?  Adding to this he creates a good, relatable voice for pre.transformation Joker in the flashbacks and we get drawn in to his story in large part because that voice acting comes through.  The animation is also top notch (as far as the limited budget allows), and some moments in that fun-house/amusement park are shown to be iconic for a reason; if you get any allusions to the Burton 89 Batman there's a reason for that.

I think my high rating is due to finding that main story so compelling - what a hero or villain means when they have to face existential questions and how they relate to one another through "one bad day" (interestingly though Moore recently says he doesn't like his own work here I find he underrated it, that he got under the skin of these iconic figures to show them as people).  So I  wanted it to be great, and it flirts with being as strong as the first part of the Dark Knight Returns movie or even Mask of the Phantasm.  But that first half hour drags it into a murky, middle feeling where overall you come away saying 'it's alright, I guess,' with an ambiguous ending not landed with the weight that's required either.