Review of Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) by Keandre' S — 16 Oct 2016

The Killing Joke isn't just one of the most famous graphic novels in Batman history, its one of the most famous graphic novels in the world. A dark, sinister psychological story of madness vs sanity. I had only read bits and pieces of the Killing Joke but I knew this was a major tragic moment in the vigilante career of Batman. I was very excited to hear that this story was being brought to life. It turned out pretty good however it was to me a little bit tame for an r rated film but still very good.

The movie brings to life this episode in Batmans life where The Joker escapes Arkham Asylum and attacks Jim Gordon and his daughter Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl. Joker shoots Barbara causing her to become a paraplegic and kidnaps Gordon and subjects him to mental torture in an amusement park. It is up to Batman to search and stop his arch enemy. The movie also does what the book did an gives us the official backstory of the iconic/notorious clown prince of crime.

Although tame for an R Rated animation flick it was pretty decent. Not as bad as people made it out to be. I was surprised at first at the time length but then upon actually reading the novel later I realized it made sense. It was a pretty faithful adaptation to the book I was impressed. The writing and directing as a whole was done well.

The sex scene with batman and batgirl was sooooo incredibly random and poorly built. It's without a doubt the worst part of this film. Batman is like any other superhero he cares not just about one person but about every person in the city, he doesn't need extra motivation to stop the joker. Plus him and Barbara already have a bond from the escapades as their costumed identities. Its just not neededthe prelude itself was terrible it should not have been in the film. The movie should have been just the killing joke right from the start and they could have extended or added scenes in between not some ridiculous prelude.

Kevin conroy hasn't missed a beat! his voice acitng as batman is as gritty and hardnoised as ever. I've always enjoyed hearing his voice acting of batman since it fits the animated version of the character like a glove. mark hamil is the exact same. He brings to life the iconic words of the joker from this novel with pure excellence and remarkably fun madness. it's really interesting hearing hamil voice joker when he wasn't joker, its really refreshing coming from him. Hamil and conroy's chemistry as animated adversaries still remains as great and legendary as ever.

The editing could have been a tad bit better it seemed rushed at times but it wasn't too bad that it hindered the movie. good sound design too.

This film is deserving of a solid 3 out 5 stars. As long as you skip past the first 30 minutes you will enjoy this film.