Earlier this year it was announced that the people at Warner Bros. Animation were working on an animated adaptation of Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, an R-Rated one at that. Fans everywhere went nuts, not only is The Killing Joke one of the most iconic and controversial Batman stories ever, but Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were set to return as Batman and The Joker respectively. Along with this, veteran voice actor Tara Strong was set to play Batgirl while Twin Peaks star Ray Wise would play Jim Gordon. With such an established voice cast, iconic story and that R-Rating under its utility belt it seemed impossible for this film to fail, which is why it is so surprising that it did. Batman: The Killing Joke left me feeling somewhat disappointed, I was expecting so much more but unfortunately it just did not deliver.
This films biggest weakness is undoubtedly the first half hour, a prelude of sorts which acts as a means of setting up Batman and Batgirl's relationship to provide more depth to their characters. This could have worked, this could have really set things up for a heartbreaking second act but unfortunately it falls flat. Aside from taking up almost half of the film with a story that has nothing to do with the rest of The Killing Joke, the film completely ruins the character of Barbara Gordon. She is no longer the strong, spunky sidekick looking to prove herself to Bruce, instead she is more of a swooing fangirl whose sole reason for joining Batman is because she fancies him? Not only that but the writers take that subplot as far as the duo doing the nasty which is completely unnecessary and almost disturbing for Bat Fans everywhere. Instead of growing to like this version of Barbara, we feel nothing for her as she basically spends the entire first HALF AN HOUR of a 75 minute film moping about her unrequited love for Batman. Their mentor/pupil relationship becoming more romantic than necessary is this films biggest weakness.
For a film with so much hype that it gained a theatrical release in select cinemas, the animation in Batman: The Killing Joke isn't exactly movie quality. Not to say it's terribly drawn, but compared to previous animated bat flicks such as Year One and The Dark Knight Returns this film just looks a bit amateurish. The Joker looks a bit worse for wear and that iconic scene where he emerges from the polluted water and laughs maniacally after seeing his new appearance just looks like a bad gif that is completely out of place. It would not have been a problem if it were a series, but the fact that it even got theatrical releases makes it deservant of a higher quality of animation. Having said that, there are a number of scenes that look fantastic such as that in the Joker's funhouse and the iconic scene in Barbara's apartment.
One of the films redeeming qualities by a longshot however, is its voice cast. Once again Conroy and Hamill have proven themselves to be the definitive Batman and Joker and hearing the latter recite The Joker's iconic lines from the comic is goosebump enducing. As expected Conroy shines as well, not many people could make Batman laughing actually seem okay. Tara Strong and Ray Wise also give great performances as the Gordon's and they share a nice chemistry in their scenes together, it half makes up for the whole Batman/Batgirl thing in the first act. Once that first half an hour is over and the actual story finally kicks in things start to pick up, it's just as twisted and disturbing as its source material and the R-rating is put to excellent use. The scenes where Gordon is mentally tortured by The Joker are particularly chilling and almost hard to watch at times. It was comforting to see that despite messing up Batman and Batgirls relationship, the writers still managed to get the story of The Killing Joke right.
Uneven, underwhelming and downright mediocre, Batman: The Killing Joke feels like quite a let down. It was a film that had so much potential, the source material, the voice cast, it looked as though things were falling together perfectly but sadly this was not the case. While the voice acting is superb and the last 45 minutes are a pleasure to watch, the film just can't make up for that dreadful first half an hour that feels extremely out of place and downright wrong. In fairness, The Killing Joke is only a short story but surely there are plenty of other ways this could have been dragged out without having Batgirl and Batman having sex? It has some great moments and a wonderful cast but not even Mark Hamill reciting The Joker's infamous flashlight joke can save this film.
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