Batman y Harley Quinn

I had a feeling that if they were going to make a movie where "Harley Quinn" is about half of the title, she would steal the show. And I was right! Unfortunately, the show which Harley stole was not not a very good one...

At first I didn't know how to feel about this movie. I grew up on the "Batman the Animated Series" cartoons which this movie spawned from. Those cartoons always took themselves very seriously, and explored themes that were pretty dark and complex for kids shows at the time. However, that show ran in the '90s, and it's 2017 now, and Batman has been pretty thoroughly explored and picked apart on TV and in film since then (see The Lego Batman Movie).

Maybe because of this, I think Paul Dini and Bruce Timm decided they would try a different route than what one might expect from the original cartoons: this movie DOES NOT take itself very seriously. Harley Quinn is good for that, she is making jokes and acting silly throughout. Batman and the main villains take themselves very seriously, but literally no other character in the movie does. About half of the jokes and antics are funny, and the other half fall pretty flat. Comedy was never the original series's strength though, in fact jokes falling flat was the norm. That normally wasn't a problem in the original series though, because the story, mystery, or character development was the focus, not the humor.

In this movie though, the story is pretty generic, there is no mystery, and there aren't very many new or interesting characters to develop. On top of that, the focus of this movie is shifted more onto the humor and to Harley Quinn's various antics, which makes it feel, well... really CAMPY. Honestly though, many of Batman's iterations over the years have been quite campy (RIP Adam West) so I would bet there would be many fans of Batman who would not see this as a problem.

Where it does become a bit of a problem is when some characters act VERY out of character with minimal explanation as to why. Without spoiling anything, one scene in particular has a character act EXTREMELY out of character for what I have to assume is only for the sake of "fan service" (if you see the movie you'll know what scene I'm talking about). Combine this fan service with the campiness and you come away from this film feeling as if you just saw someone's fan fiction brought to life. Admittedly it's not really BAD fan fiction, but it is very AVERAGE fan fiction.

Truthfully, even with all of that I could easily justify giving this movie a 7/10, or maybe even an 8/10 if you really enjoy camp. However, THAT ENDING THOUGH!!?!?! Without spoiling anything, the movie's ending is abrupt, overly silly, and anti- climactic. They really build up a character appearance and an epic fight, but the payoff is instead that the character leaves as soon as they arrive, a silly moment happens, and then the film pulls with a Looney Tunes-esque moment. It felt like suddenly Harley Quinn became the director and directed this final scene. It felt like I was trolled by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. They might as well have played the movie out to the tune of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". I knocked two whole points off of my rating just for that ending!

It should also be noted that there are two stingers in the credits: one that happens a few minutes into the credits, and another that happens after they have ended. Both are pretty silly. In addition, after the final stinger, there is a short interview/behind the scenes look in which Bruce and Paul and others are asked about the origins of Harley Quinn, a look at what her real-life sociopathic disorder would be, and just a description of her as a character. It's good, as good as or possibly even better than the movie that came before it... In fact, I added a point back onto my score because it was good. Admittedly it did feel a bit like they were justifying some of the poor decisions being made in this movie (including the fan service one...) but still cool to know!

So overall, it's a very okay movie with some problems, but was still fun to see. 6/10

With the new mainstream popularity of Harley Quinn it was inevitable they were going to cash in, and with the forthcoming movie coming out were teased a future Quinn/Ivy team up with this animated DC venture.

Immediately I was struck with the inconsistency of the tone, it looks and sounds like the old Batman animated series but blood, swearing and over sexualisation of Quinn was present. But then the opening credits was like a Pink Panther movie, half the sequences were camp comedy and the whole thing felt like the original series on acid.

That's not saying it wasn't watchable, but its like that Family Guy/Simpsons crossover. It was like a Simpsons episode, with blood violence and rape jokes. Something about it just felt wrong.

Batman and Harley Quinn is a Saturday Morning cartoon with content thrown into keep adults entertained and they've been doing that a lot lately. What with Batman sleeping with Batgirl in the huge letdown that was Killing Joke (2016), Deadshot hooking up with Killer Frost in Assault On Arkham (2014) and here we have another such encounter.

Due to the mixed tone I really didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. It was like mixing the Adam West series with the Nolan Franchise and blending it with the animated TV show.

The Good:

Great voice work

Nice to see old school Harley Quinn again

The Bad:

Inconsistent tone

Most jokes fall flat

Ridiculous opening credits

I didn't take this movie quite as serious as some who've reviewed it here on IMDb. Their views are perfectly valid and insightful and I for one appreciate their efforts; I guess I just assumed this movie was going to be offbeat (due to the title) and went in just hoping to be entertained not to have a life-changing experience. Guess what?! I really was (entertained that is)! In my opinion, it was just the right amount of nostalgia for Batman The Animated Series (BTAS) of the 90's with a bit of modern WTF & OMG thrown in for good measure. I was genuinely shocked a couple of times (you'll know when you get to THAT scene) and laughed out loud at others (keep your eyes out for the Batusi!!) Thought I must admit, I really missed Arleen Sorkin's voice as Harley. Not sure what happened there WB?! I mean, it seems like a no brainer to bring her back if you bring everyone else from BTAS back (just sayin').

One way you might be able to enjoy 'Batman & Harley Quinn' more is if you just look at it as a really long "lost episode" of BTAS, not an addition to the DC Animated Universe. That's what I found myself doing. I didn't love every single episode of BTAS (gasp!) but I did love the entire series overall. There are people who will trash this film, stating that it somehow destroyed their childhood, but honestly, if that's the case then they took it WAY too seriously. It was exactly what the title implied; a crazy hybrid story that intertwines Batman (and Nightwing) with a Harley Quinn story. My suggestion is this: if you are hankerin' for an animated film, want to be entertained and maybe kill 75 min., watch this quirky, sometimes shocking flick.

Lighten up people, or as a great clown once said..."Why so serious?!"

Well - i was not bored.

That is about the most positive thing i can say. The movie is drawn in the style of the old animated series - and the style does hold up well.

In terms of characters - i really cannot say much, because i am not into comics and my knowledge of those characters does not go beyond having occasionally watched some of the batman and justice league shows.

I like the design of Harley and Poisen. I guess the tree guy was meant to be menacing, but i never felt like he was. He was just a strong guy made of wood.

To me - Batman felt a little out of character. I did not know he would kind of conscript a criminal in his investigations. But then again - i am not really familiar with him.

All in all - it did not feel like a feature length "movie" - but rather like an extended Saturday show. Probably a must have for a completionist - but quite forgettable otherwise.

So I saw the movie yesterday and I've gotta say that I was pretty disappointed. I've been a DC fan for almost 15 years and Harley Quinn is one of my favorite characters. This movie didn't really do her justice. She was constantly on edge and very snappy. Now I understand that this was a different take on her but since it was a Bruce Timm movie I had hoped to see his version of her (gleeful, naughty, goofy and aggressive when needed). I understand that this was aftermath Harley, she's been through a lot and will not let anyone walk over her. I suppose that's realistic. But it wasn't enough for me to truly enjoy the movie. This was because of multiple reasons.

The script writing was meager and kept going from serious to gag. I wasn't sure what this movie wanted to be. It could have been both but it just switched it up too fast and often. The plot was pretty generic and there were a lot of OOC moments for some of the characters. I could have given this movie much more credit but sadly the abrupt and anti-climatic ending made me seal the deal. This movie was okay, not great.

To prevent being a complete sour puss I will add what I did like about the movie. I loved the animation style, it made me feel very nostalgic.Some of the jokes were pretty funny and I did enjoy the fight scenes.There's also a fair amount of easter eggs referring to Adam West his Batman. So should you watch this movie? My answer is yes, because this is just my opinion and you might like it either way ;)