Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) Review

The Killing Joke was a one-shot comic book that was well-known for exploring the Joker's backstory and psychology. It portrayed him in a more sympathetic manner, showing that "one bad day" was enough to ruin a man. Just recently, there was a film adaptation that was shown in theaters for one night only and I happened to attend. I've never read the comic, so I'm judging the film purely on its own merits. So what did I think?

The actual Killing Joke story doesn't start until a half-hour in. Before that, we have a prologue centered on Batgirl. She is helping Batman out in catching some criminals, but Batman wants her to stay out of it. What does she do? Defy him, predictably so, as she tries to track the leader down who is coming onto her.

The problem with this prologue is that it is entirely pointless. It doesn't benefit much for what is to come next. If it was taken out of the movie, then no difference would have been made. It's like if the animation studio was working on two Batman projects and then decided to have them bundled together and tried to make some coherent plot out of it. I heard that the film was trying to expand Batgirl's role more so than the original comic did, but the film is structured rather poorly for it to work.

Also, there's supposed to be some romantic overtones in it that feels tacked on. It shows that Barbara Gordon donned the Batgirl persona to get romantically and sexually close to Batman. Batman, however, is more distant towards her. They have a controversial lovemaking scene (the naughty parts being off-screen) that just comes out of nowhere, making it hard to take it seriously. When I walked out of the theater, I heard from this group of guys saying that the scene feels like the writers' fan-fiction. I couldn't agree more.

The actual Killing Joke story also didn't work for me, shockingly enough. I know it's supposed to look at the Joker in a more sympathetic light. During the film, it provides flashbacks of his previous life before it went downhill, presented with faded colors to give the illusion of a fading, somber memory. I was actually on board with it because it humanized him more. The ending even follows up on that. However, the way the flashbacks were edited in didn't seem natural enough to flow with the story.

What I couldn't get behind as well are the other characters. I know I'm supposed to feel for Commissioner Gordon after what Joker did to his daughter, but something about it just didn't feel right. Maybe it's the way the film is paced. I couldn't even get invested in Batman's character. He's Batman and that's it; he doesn't add much other than just getting involved.

I suppose the voice acting is okay, but nothing about it strikes me. It's cool to hear Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill voice Batman and Joker again, respectively, but I felt that their performances were pretty phoned in. I loved them in Batman: The Animated Series and the Arkham games, but this is a step down from what they have done in the past.

The animation makes me wonder why Warner Bros. even bothered to release it in theaters. It was originally supposed to be released straight to video, and it really shows. It's not very fluid like something out of Disney or Don Bluth and instead comes off as a little stiff in some places. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm had superior animation, and that was on par with The Animated Series. The only positive thing I can say about its presentation is that it knows how to look grim and unsettling thanks to its dark and minimal lighting in certain scenes. I will also give credit where credit is due in which it does provide some good imagery.

Honestly, this was a pointless experience. I don't even get why it had a limited release in theaters, because going straight to video was good enough for something like this. Besides that, the way it told its story was poorly handled, especially with its out-of-nowhere prologue and lack of emotional weight. On top of that, again, the voice acting was pretty phoned in. Seriously, Conroy and Hamill did much better than this.

With that said, I find Batman: The Killing Joke...

HEAVILY FLAWED