Review of Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) by Douglas Y — 22 Jul 2016

Having never read the graphic novel I was excited to see this, however the film seems a case of too little, too late. The themes of the novel inspired The Dark Knight, and while Joker in that film didn't have a clear tragic backstory, the rest of main theme is thoroughly explored - and done far better by Christopher Nolan and his cast.

This film takes a long time to get started. And if people had an issue with Batgirl being used objectively as nothing more than a plot device in the comic - the changes, according to some research of the original content, are going to enrage long time fans and previous protestors.

Aside from that - for boasting the R-rating, the film packs too little punch. The subtleness of Batgirls victimization along with the added subtleness of Gordon's torture - has no gravity. Regardless of the great voice acting - the scenes itself just don't pull at your emotions.

The Jokers tragic backstory is a half measure that quits right when you're starting to feel something. The musical number is hokey and takes away from seriousness of what's supposed to be a story "so dark they could only do it as an animated feature.

" The worst part though is the punchline falls flat. The light from comics and it's important visual role in understanding the ending, and connecting the significance of the joke is completely absent and therefore doesn't give the controversial outcome that the graphic novel is so famous for.

Again I had to go back and research what the ending meant - read the original final pages to come to the conclusion that they botched it - badly. Still it is a Batman story, it was entertaining at times, the animation is decent - Batman's ears are a bit strange, but acting is good, especially Mark Hamill - whose Joker is top notch.

Overall they should have stuck closer to the novel on key scenes and pushed the R rating a lot harder. This is 2016, like it or not, we're pretty desensitized to violence and horror on an R level.

What worked when the graphic novel was published way back when, just isn't as shocking as it was before, and the studio should have compensated for that.