Batman: The Killing Joke - directed by Sam Liu
*** mild spoilers ***
Starring: Mark Hamill, Nolan North, Kevin Conroy, Tara Strong, Robin Atkin Downes, John DiMaggio, Ray Wise, Kari Wahlgren, Fred Tatasciore, Maury Sterling, Brian George, Andrew Kishino, Rick D. Wasserman, Bruce Timm
Screenplay: Brian Azzarello (from the graphic novel by Alan Moore)
Some of the finest Batman material to date has been the DC animated stuff.
That is impressive given that they are up against and compared to Christopher Nolan's excellent trilogy, at least two very fine games courtesy of Rocksteady and of course the massive number of printed comic books to boot.
I particularly like "The Dark Knight Returns" - released on blu-ray as parts and 2.
Continuing in that style is the one screening only release of "Batman: The Killing Joke".
I am not familair with the source material but from what I understand it is a highly regarded book.
After the usual host of adverts and trailers before the feature today I was surprised to see a the simple title '1976' followed by an image of George Lucas and Mark Hamill standing in the Tunisian desert filming "Star Wars".
But after some discussion about his casting in that movie an on-screen Hamill begins talking about how he came to be cast as the voice of the Joker in the animated tv show.
It is an interesting interlude covering the games and the other voice actors whose work as Batman he admires.
Soon enough though we are straight into the main feature- "Batman: The Killing Joke"
I mentioned a lack of knowledge of the source material for this and accordingly I was surprised to find the movie opening with not Batman but Batgirl.
The big man appears soon enough but it does provide an early clue that this movie will spread its attentions across three characters - the bat duo and of course The Joker.
The animation is very similar to the other animated DC Batman shows which while not state of the art suits the property and makes them all 'fit' together as belonging in the same universe.
Like the others it has a nice balance of character development and action.
In this case that means we get a pretty decent look at the origins of The Joker.
This version has a backstory that is spread across the running time and while familiar to the origins we've seen before there are a few extra details that work really well.
As nice a job as the script does the real treat for me was once again Mark Hamill's voice performance.
His talent at voicing this character is well known and it is the key to the character in these movies and shows.
He even gets a singing scene which works really well.
Kevin Conroy is every bit as good as he always is as Batman of course and there is very good support from Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl.
Now- on the subject of Batgirl ....
There is a controversy of sorts brewing with this character.
It is relatively well known that Barbara Gordon has a major character moment in this story.
So far so good.
(skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid some minor spoilers here)
What is apparently getting right up the noses of some people is a sex scene between Batgirl / Barbara Gordon and Batman.
Now as I have stated I don't have much knowledge of the source material but even so- this seems like an unlikely occurrence.
If not for Barbara then certainly for the very serious Batman.
There follows a time of awkward avoidance for the pair and then the other major event happens.
Whether the first event is in the original comic book or not I don't know but as much as I think that both scenes are missteps (the first one I mentioned much more than the second) they don't do too much damage to a very enjoyable movie.
We get that brilliant Mark Hamill performance, an abundance of action, some slick dialogue including a killer final line and a story that adds to the already very dense mythology of a character that shouldn't really have any surprises left for us.
I liked this movie a lot.
I found that it flew by and the harder edge that it has makes it quite tense in places.
On that point - this isn't for young kids.
That R13 is there for a reason.
It is bloody in places and there are some very adult themes and events going on.
RATING: 75 / 100
CONCLUSION: Another great voice performance from Hamill is the highlight here but all in all this a a very good, very entertaining movie. Be warned that it isn't for kids though.
*** mild spoilers ***
Screenplay: Brian Azzarello (from the graphic novel by Alan Moore)
Music Score by: Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion & Lolita Ritmanis
Cinematography: NA
Edited by: Christopher D. Lozinski
Running Time: 105 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R13 - bloody violence, sexual content and dark tone and themesCinematography: NA
Edited by: Christopher D. Lozinski
Running Time: 105 minutes
Language: English
Some of the finest Batman material to date has been the DC animated stuff.
That is impressive given that they are up against and compared to Christopher Nolan's excellent trilogy, at least two very fine games courtesy of Rocksteady and of course the massive number of printed comic books to boot.
I particularly like "The Dark Knight Returns" - released on blu-ray as parts and 2.
Continuing in that style is the one screening only release of "Batman: The Killing Joke".
I am not familair with the source material but from what I understand it is a highly regarded book.
After the usual host of adverts and trailers before the feature today I was surprised to see a the simple title '1976' followed by an image of George Lucas and Mark Hamill standing in the Tunisian desert filming "Star Wars".
But after some discussion about his casting in that movie an on-screen Hamill begins talking about how he came to be cast as the voice of the Joker in the animated tv show.
It is an interesting interlude covering the games and the other voice actors whose work as Batman he admires.
Soon enough though we are straight into the main feature- "Batman: The Killing Joke"
 |
| Batman - darker than previous editions |
The big man appears soon enough but it does provide an early clue that this movie will spread its attentions across three characters - the bat duo and of course The Joker.
The animation is very similar to the other animated DC Batman shows which while not state of the art suits the property and makes them all 'fit' together as belonging in the same universe.
Like the others it has a nice balance of character development and action.
In this case that means we get a pretty decent look at the origins of The Joker.
This version has a backstory that is spread across the running time and while familiar to the origins we've seen before there are a few extra details that work really well.
 |
| Barbara Gordon / Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon |
His talent at voicing this character is well known and it is the key to the character in these movies and shows.
He even gets a singing scene which works really well.
Kevin Conroy is every bit as good as he always is as Batman of course and there is very good support from Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl.
Now- on the subject of Batgirl ....
There is a controversy of sorts brewing with this character.
It is relatively well known that Barbara Gordon has a major character moment in this story.
So far so good.
(skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid some minor spoilers here)
What is apparently getting right up the noses of some people is a sex scene between Batgirl / Barbara Gordon and Batman.
Now as I have stated I don't have much knowledge of the source material but even so- this seems like an unlikely occurrence.
If not for Barbara then certainly for the very serious Batman.
There follows a time of awkward avoidance for the pair and then the other major event happens.
 |
| The shadowy, shooting, singing, scheming star of the show |
We get that brilliant Mark Hamill performance, an abundance of action, some slick dialogue including a killer final line and a story that adds to the already very dense mythology of a character that shouldn't really have any surprises left for us.
I liked this movie a lot.
I found that it flew by and the harder edge that it has makes it quite tense in places.
On that point - this isn't for young kids.
That R13 is there for a reason.
It is bloody in places and there are some very adult themes and events going on.
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