Review of Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) by Kj P — 06 Aug 2016

A classic Batman tale brought to the big screen in animated form. I've not actually read the original, so a lot of the comparisons I make are based on my only passing familiarity with it.

This was good, but while this seems a reasonably faithful I'd hesitate to call it a substitute. Even with an R rating, this still appears toned down, especially with the musical number where Gordon learns what Joker did to his daughter. The opening act with Batgirl, while technically related to later events, felt out of place with the later, Joker centric story.

Animation wise while it has some scenes that are fantastic, other parts seem somewhat simplified, and the mouth animation was slight off sync at times.

Still, this was a fun watch. The story itself is still enjoyable and appropriately dark despite the toning down, the musical score was excellent, and it's always awesome to hear Kevin Conroy, Tara Strong, and Mark Hamill reprise their animated roles.

As an event screening it was a special one-time theatre showing, but I do recommend checking it out on video.