Batman of the Future - Il ritorno del Joker

In the year 2040, Terry McGinnis continues to fight crime of Neo Gotham under the mantle of Batman, however, after stopping the Jokerz gang from stealing high tech equipment, he gets suspicious of their actions. However, the Jokerz returned with the console's memory board and gave it to a man sitting on a throne, who reveals himself to be The Joker, who has come back from the dead (as an episode had his remains). After his return as CEO is crashed, Bruce relieves Terry of duty, not wanting him to face Joker due to how dangerous he is, but after the Jokerz attack Terry in a nightclub, and Bruce is hospitalized after an ambush by The Joker leaves him poisoned with the clown's signature toxin, Terry decides to don the Batsuit to find out how the clown prince of crime is back from the grave and what he is plotting for Neo-Gotham.

Yeah, this movie had an interesting development time. Having to be delayed and re-edited after the Columbine massacre started a new backlash against violence in films and video games (because it's easier to pass the buck to those two industries instead of going after the real cause), the film had some scenes changed to avoid mentioning death, change or remove lines of dialogue, and even shorten some fight scenes. However, fans hated the change, and in 2002, after countless petitions, the original, uncut version of the film was released with a PG-13 rating.

And I have to agree that the movie is best watched uncut. Being a film, it could do anything that KidsWB would never allow an episode of the cartoon it's based on to have, giving it the tone that the fans would expect from Batman. Also, the voice actors return to reprise their respective roles (even Mark Hamill comes back to voice Joker), and they do a fantastic job, and the story is awesome, with many twists, and even a flashback telling the tale of Joker's death (the cause being different depending on which version is being watched, edited or original uncut). This is a good film for any Batman fan, and one best watched uncut (unless you have kids, in that case, the edited version is also good).

When I bought the unedited version of this movie on DVD, I had never watched Batman Beyond in my life, so I knew nothing about the storyline. I wasn't even sure about buying the movie before having seen it, but I am a great fan of Mark Hamill's Joker, so I was sure that even if the movie sucked, I would at least like the Joker.

What I found was a great bit of animation with a surprisingly awesome storyline. I was expecting the comic book cliche of a clone replacement, but the fresh twist had me guessing all the way through. And I was right about loving the Joker, he was still as great as he always was.

If you haven't seen it yet, don't wait. It won't disappoint you.

I'm about 47 minutes into it, and all i can say is..wow. The voice acting is top notch, the animation well done, and the music and action well paced. It's also the darkest of the batman beyond episodes, given it's pg-13 (unedited version) rating. I bought this for $1 at the local library and it's a good bargain. Definitely not for kids but for cartoon fans of all ages.

I watched this not having seen a single episode of the show, and much to its credit, I had no trouble at all following the film. The plot is excellent, interesting, well-thought out, and develops rather nicely throughout, with a twist that will keep you guessing. This is well-paced, and there is an immense amount of the awesome, well-choreographed action. While quite intense and exciting, this doesn't overwhelm or overstimulate the viewer. The characters are well-written, credible and consistent. Every acting performance is great, with Hamill's take on the Joker taking the cake, as always, with the sheer maniacal quality to it, and his endless enthusiasm. The psychology is all accurate. This has well-done 2D animation and marvelous design. This builds the mood expertly, and the bleak atmosphere of Gotham is captured beautifully. The music is cool, and in general the audio is spot-on, with every effect sounding just right. There is a bit of violence in this, and I understand that it is stronger in the Director's Cut. I recommend this to any fan of Batman. 8/10

A lot of the Batman cartoon versions are better than the live versions, and Return of the Joker is one of them. Set in the Batman Beyond universe (between twenty and thirty years later from when Bruce was in his prime), this movie introduces a young boy named Terry who is given the honor of becoming a Batman for a new generation. At the same time, the Joker, who was long thought dead, resurfaces and causes no end of trouble for our heroes.

I've also had the chance to watch a big chunk of the series, and it's always neat when a video release like this is a continuous piece of the series. The voice acting is well done, the story is compelling and dynamic, and the physical limitations of the real world are easily evaded with the animation medium. This makes Batman a lot more agile, swift, and sneaky then he ever could be in the movies. Anybody who's followed the show has probably seen this, but if you haven't, it's definitely worth a watch.