Batman: The Killing Joke

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.

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.

So obviously when i first heard about this movie, i was really pumped, and kept up with updates as it came closer to the release.

I've always loved the PG-13 animated Batman movies, and of course I hear about this one's R rating I'm wow this is going to more amazing than any ever before it.

So the time finally comes and of course I go to the one night theater showing.

Strong start, love it, some good action, funny moments. But then I notice that all the bad guys say "freaking" quite often. Was this a prelude to the rest of the movie?

Yes. It was. The R rating was a total scam. There's some brief bloody shots, like 2 actual curse words (mild too), an IMPLIED sex scene, an even what was to be considered the most controversial part of the original comic...was completely censored as well. It was PG-13 by my standards. "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Assault on Arkham" were both PG-13 and had WAYYY more blood, violence and language than this did. (Assault on Arkham also had more sexual scenes and still remained PG-13). It was just really disappointing.

The plot was really loose too. When the movie ended I was like..."wait what?" There was no climax. The rising action just quickly crashed into the falling action and ended. This just goes to show that not every comic looks good on the big screen.

Really the only thing I liked was the fact that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were in it.

Would I recommend it? It's worth a watch, I guess. Just as long as you go into it thinking, "This is a PG-13 movie."

If you want to watch something better as far as PG-13 Animated Batman goes, "The Dark Knight Returns" (not to be confused with "The Dark Knight Rises"), "Assault on Arkham", and "Under The Red Hood" are all three very amazing movies.

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.

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

*** (out of 4)

An already bad situation for Batman turns even worse when he realizes that the Joker has escaped and is on the streets again.

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE pretty much came out of nowhere and become a huge hit to fans and critics. I guess it's easy to see why so many positive vibes would go towards this animated film and especially since so many people were unhappy with BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. With that said, as good as this film is I still think it has been overrated by some who are calling it a masterpiece.

Still, there's no question that this is a highly entertaining movie that manages to keep you glued to the personal drama effecting Batman and there's also the great rivalry with the Joker. These aspects is what keeps the film moving at such a good pace and I really thought the Joker character was highly entertaining and sinister just the way he should be. Mark Hamill does a very good job with the vocal work on the Joker and I thought Tara Strong was also very good with Batgirl.

The animation is top notch as you'd expect and the screenplay allowed the darkness of the city to blend in with the characters. This darker approach is something that "some" people don't like but I thought it was perfectly suited for the animation. BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE is a darn good film and one that more people should check out.