Review of Killing Salazar (2017) by Moviebuffreview — 26 Jul 2016

When it is adapting the graphic novel of the same name, Batman: The Killing Joke is phenomenal. Although its art style is less haunting, the script itself is very faithful to the script of the comic. This not only keeps all of the interesting ideas intact, but surprisingly, the structure of the story also makes for a relatively well paced and entertaining animated film.

Unfortunately, The Killing Joke is not long enough to fill out the runtime of a feature length film. As a result, an extended, thirty minute prologue was added to help flesh out a character whose treatment in the original source material was often criticized. While the intent is commendable, this extended prologue is abysmal. It feels far too disconnected from the main narrative, but it is also extremely rushed and horribly written on its own terms. It not only suffers from not adding anything significant to the story; the things that are added clash thematically and tonally with everything that the rest of the film stands for.

If you skip the prologue, Batman: The Killing Joke is absolutely worth your time, whether you love the original graphic novel or have never heard of it. However, with the prologue included, it's pretty poor. A shame, considering how good the source material (and half of this movie) is.