Batman: The Killing Joke is an adaptation of the iconic graphic novel of the same name, by Alan Moore. In The Killing Joke, The Joker submits Commissioner Gordon to horrific trauma that mirrors his own fall into insanity, in an attempt to prove that all it takes to drive someone mad is one bad day.
This is the comic that many consider to be the definitive Joker story, as well as the definitive representation of the Batman-Joker dynamic, and it's a story that DC has been trying to bring to life for years. Now, it's finally been adapted to animated form (which has been a consistently great format for DC stories) with Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy on board as the Joker and Batman (both of whom many fans, myself included, have seen as the best possible voices of their respective characters since Batman: The Animated Series) and an R-rating (which meant that the dark tone and disturbing imagery wouldn't have to be subdued in any way). Everything seemed perfectly aligned for this to be the best possible version of the story on film.
Unfortunately, this adaptation turned out more on the negative side than the positive one. For the most part, it's because some stories simply don't work in other mediums. The most distracting element of this adaptation is the dialogue, which has been a problem in previous DC Animated films like Batman: Year One. Some dialogue works on the page, but when you hear characters say it out loud, it just doesn't sound right. The animation was also wildly inconsistent, with some scenes looking as good as any of the other animated films, and some scenes looking distractingly bad. Another problem is that only half of this film is actually an adaptation of the Killing Joke comic. To be fair, that's because the comic is relatively short. It makes complete sense to expand the story, and a 30-minute Batgirl-centric prologue is added in an effort topad out the run time give more depth to her character. Ironically, this method of making the story serve the film medium better is the biggest problem that it faces.
The Killing Joke has always been a large source of controversy, mainly because of how Barbara Gordon is paralyzed and subsequently abused (with some mild implication of sexual assault) for no other reason than to make her father and Batman feel bad. I never saw it this way, since the Joker does terrible, evil, horrific things to everyone (that's kind of his gimmick). Still, the creative team clearly wanted to try to subdue some of that criticism for the film, so to combat it, they devoted the first half-hour of the film to Batgirl. Unfortunately, it actually makes her character less sympathetic, since she's essentially made into a dumb teenage girl who pines after Batman.
The entire prologue section was just baffling. I don't know who thought that making Batman and Batgirl have a sexual relationship was a good idea, but seeing it happen was jaw-dropping. Barbara's also given what is essentially a gay sidekick, who delivers some of the most hilariously stereotypical "quips" I've ever heard. The story of this section is about Batgirl facing off against a villain named Paris Franz (yes, seriously), who becomes dangerously obsessed with her, and she starts to become just as obsessed with catching him. Since a key element of The Killing Joke is parallels, this seemed like a clever idea at first. But Paris Franz was such a simple and boring villain that he didn't make any impact, and the metaphor was so overt that it really took me out of the story.
Get it? It's just like the Joker with Batman. GET IT? DO YOU GET IT? DO YOU GET IT?
Overall, all that the prologue did was make me even less sympathetic to Batgirl, and it definitely didn't succeed in its goal to make her character more important to the story. In fact, saying that Batgirl sleeping with Batman on a rooftop one time is the reason why he wants to go after the Joker is a borderline insulting change to the story. The prologue would have been far more effective if it had focused on the friendship and partnership between Batman and Batgirl, even if they kept the same plot with Paris Franz. Not everything has to dumbed down to a romantic relationship, especially when it feels so thrown-in, and frankly, pretty creepy.
I find it hilarious that the attempts to avoid controversy lead to even more vehement backlash from fans. The prologue even begins with a voice-over from Batgirl saying "I know this isn't the beginning you were expecting." No, it certainly wasn't, but I expected at least something good to come out of it.
When the film finally gets around to actually adapting the story it's based on, it gets much better. It does a very good job of translating some of the most iconic imagery from the comic into animation, even if the style of animation is visually different. The very different visuals give a very different tone, although it is, for the most part, tonally consistent with the comic. There isn't a lot of sweeping, exciting music; everything is more subdued and low-key, which matches the scale of the story and the eventual showdown. The scene that the film absolutely nailed was the ending, keeping the ambiguity and humanity of that moment perfectly intact. For versions of Batman and the Joker that seem so ruthless, there's a heartbreaking futility to their constant battles, and the fact that we don't get to see how it all truly might have ended is very effective.
The best element of the film is without a doubt the voice cast. Mark Hamill is at the top of his game as the Joker, and he brought iconic lines to life very well, even if the final monologue was done very strangely, and in a way that kind of ruined it. He also nails the "Loony" song, a scene in the comic that I'd forgotten about until it happened, and it was glorious. Kevin Conroy is as perfect as he's always been as Batman, even though this Batman is much darker than we usually see from him. And even if this version of the character isn't the best, Tara Strong does a great job as Barbara Gordon.
As for the R-rating, I'm not sure it was entirely necessary. There was some cursing, and there was some blood, but never so much that it felt shocking. There's been blood and cursing in past DC animated films, and this didn't go too over-the-top.
In the end, Batman: The Killing Joke is an unfortunate disappointment. There are certainly moments that work, but the good is far outweighed by the bad. Many things just translated to animation awkwardly, whether it was the dialogue or the animation itself. If you're a die-hard fan of the comic or the characters, it is worth watching, but then again, it's likely to make you angry if you're a fan of the story that the comic tells. It was probably a better idea to just leave this story as a comic, since this film doesn't even stay true to the spirit of its source material with the changes that it makes. It's not the worst of the DC animated films, but it's definitely one of the weaker ones.
Man, it's been a bad year for Batman movies.
This is the comic that many consider to be the definitive Joker story, as well as the definitive representation of the Batman-Joker dynamic, and it's a story that DC has been trying to bring to life for years. Now, it's finally been adapted to animated form (which has been a consistently great format for DC stories) with Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy on board as the Joker and Batman (both of whom many fans, myself included, have seen as the best possible voices of their respective characters since Batman: The Animated Series) and an R-rating (which meant that the dark tone and disturbing imagery wouldn't have to be subdued in any way). Everything seemed perfectly aligned for this to be the best possible version of the story on film.
Unfortunately, this adaptation turned out more on the negative side than the positive one. For the most part, it's because some stories simply don't work in other mediums. The most distracting element of this adaptation is the dialogue, which has been a problem in previous DC Animated films like Batman: Year One. Some dialogue works on the page, but when you hear characters say it out loud, it just doesn't sound right. The animation was also wildly inconsistent, with some scenes looking as good as any of the other animated films, and some scenes looking distractingly bad. Another problem is that only half of this film is actually an adaptation of the Killing Joke comic. To be fair, that's because the comic is relatively short. It makes complete sense to expand the story, and a 30-minute Batgirl-centric prologue is added in an effort to
The Killing Joke has always been a large source of controversy, mainly because of how Barbara Gordon is paralyzed and subsequently abused (with some mild implication of sexual assault) for no other reason than to make her father and Batman feel bad. I never saw it this way, since the Joker does terrible, evil, horrific things to everyone (that's kind of his gimmick). Still, the creative team clearly wanted to try to subdue some of that criticism for the film, so to combat it, they devoted the first half-hour of the film to Batgirl. Unfortunately, it actually makes her character less sympathetic, since she's essentially made into a dumb teenage girl who pines after Batman.
The entire prologue section was just baffling. I don't know who thought that making Batman and Batgirl have a sexual relationship was a good idea, but seeing it happen was jaw-dropping. Barbara's also given what is essentially a gay sidekick, who delivers some of the most hilariously stereotypical "quips" I've ever heard. The story of this section is about Batgirl facing off against a villain named Paris Franz (yes, seriously), who becomes dangerously obsessed with her, and she starts to become just as obsessed with catching him. Since a key element of The Killing Joke is parallels, this seemed like a clever idea at first. But Paris Franz was such a simple and boring villain that he didn't make any impact, and the metaphor was so overt that it really took me out of the story.
Get it? It's just like the Joker with Batman. GET IT? DO YOU GET IT? DO YOU GET IT?
Overall, all that the prologue did was make me even less sympathetic to Batgirl, and it definitely didn't succeed in its goal to make her character more important to the story. In fact, saying that Batgirl sleeping with Batman on a rooftop one time is the reason why he wants to go after the Joker is a borderline insulting change to the story. The prologue would have been far more effective if it had focused on the friendship and partnership between Batman and Batgirl, even if they kept the same plot with Paris Franz. Not everything has to dumbed down to a romantic relationship, especially when it feels so thrown-in, and frankly, pretty creepy.
I find it hilarious that the attempts to avoid controversy lead to even more vehement backlash from fans. The prologue even begins with a voice-over from Batgirl saying "I know this isn't the beginning you were expecting." No, it certainly wasn't, but I expected at least something good to come out of it.
When the film finally gets around to actually adapting the story it's based on, it gets much better. It does a very good job of translating some of the most iconic imagery from the comic into animation, even if the style of animation is visually different. The very different visuals give a very different tone, although it is, for the most part, tonally consistent with the comic. There isn't a lot of sweeping, exciting music; everything is more subdued and low-key, which matches the scale of the story and the eventual showdown. The scene that the film absolutely nailed was the ending, keeping the ambiguity and humanity of that moment perfectly intact. For versions of Batman and the Joker that seem so ruthless, there's a heartbreaking futility to their constant battles, and the fact that we don't get to see how it all truly might have ended is very effective.
The best element of the film is without a doubt the voice cast. Mark Hamill is at the top of his game as the Joker, and he brought iconic lines to life very well, even if the final monologue was done very strangely, and in a way that kind of ruined it. He also nails the "Loony" song, a scene in the comic that I'd forgotten about until it happened, and it was glorious. Kevin Conroy is as perfect as he's always been as Batman, even though this Batman is much darker than we usually see from him. And even if this version of the character isn't the best, Tara Strong does a great job as Barbara Gordon.
As for the R-rating, I'm not sure it was entirely necessary. There was some cursing, and there was some blood, but never so much that it felt shocking. There's been blood and cursing in past DC animated films, and this didn't go too over-the-top.
In the end, Batman: The Killing Joke is an unfortunate disappointment. There are certainly moments that work, but the good is far outweighed by the bad. Many things just translated to animation awkwardly, whether it was the dialogue or the animation itself. If you're a die-hard fan of the comic or the characters, it is worth watching, but then again, it's likely to make you angry if you're a fan of the story that the comic tells. It was probably a better idea to just leave this story as a comic, since this film doesn't even stay true to the spirit of its source material with the changes that it makes. It's not the worst of the DC animated films, but it's definitely one of the weaker ones.
Man, it's been a bad year for Batman movies.
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