Batman the Killing Joke Review
Batman the Killing Joke is a new animated batman film based off the classic comic by Alan Moore titled the Killing Joke.
The comic is about the relationship between Joker and Batman and was released to universal acclaim, still ranking as one of the best Batman comics of all time. In the comic Batman visits Joker in Arkham Asylum and has a heartfelt conversation with him. Batman reveals that he knows the only way their relationship can end is by one killing the other. Batman then attempts to reach across the gulf to Joker, offering his help in rehabilitating the pyschopath.
Joker however has other plans. Believing that the world is crazy and that insanity is the only rational response, Joker kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and proceeds to psychologically torture him, trying to break him into madness and prove his point.
Notably Joker does this by savaging attacking his daughter Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, permanently paralyzing her and sexually assaulting her, then forcing Gordon to view images of the attack over and over again.
The film version is a home run in the second act. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil reprise their roles from Batman: The Animated Series as Batman and the Joker respectively and they hit every note perfectly. Hamil’s Joker in particular benefits greatly from his film debut as the mature rating allows him to be the kind of frightening unpredictable sociopath he was always presented as in the comics.
The film’s biggest flop is how much time it spends focusing on Barbara Gordon. Batgirl is a great character but the film’s focus on her unrequited affection for Batman feels too “been there, done that” to take seriously. Tara Strong delivers as the character but the focus on her love for Batman makes it hard to get invested in these scenes.
Seriously, I don’t mind Batgirl and Batman having a relationship. There is nothing wrong with two heroes turning to each other for comfort or affection. My issue with it is that this is permitted to define Batgirl’s character. Her love for Batman is why she became Batgirl and why she quits being Batgirl when she understands the relationship she wants isn’t going to happen.
Batgirl and Batman do consummate their relationship in a very tone deaf time and manner. The entire relationship is something a teenage girl might have come up with as fanfiction.
In the animated series, Barbara becomes Batgirl to save her father from being framed by a mob boss, not to get a boyfriend. While her romance with Batman is canon, there is also significant tension between them as Barbara eventually grows up to become a police commissioner like her father. It just feels like the writers felt the only way to differentiate Batgirl from Batman was to point out that one was female and have her deal with “female problems.” It’s a real shame too because Barbara Gordon is a fertile area for character growth. The fact that she ultimately becomes a cop shows that she eventually rejects Batman’s ideology and starts working within the system. This is not given any attention in the movie.
The first villain we encounter in the movie is a young mafioso who falls in “love” with Batgirl. The villain is a textbook example of an abusive boyfriend archetype and it feels like the movie is trying too hard to justify a feminist posture.
That being said, the movie is gorgeous. The animation is beautiful and the cast delivers a stellar performance. The movie hits its strongest points when it is directly copying Alan Moore’s famous comic and gets weakest when injecting its own material.
When I reached the ending I was very curious how the movie would handle it. The Killing Joke is famous for its ending. Because the panels become unclear there has always been an urban legend that the Batman has finally given into the inevitable and killed the Joker before he can do anymore damage. I was wondering what the movie would establish as the canon ending but the movie managed to find a way to keep it ambiguous.
Did Batman maintain his integrity and show that a man can’t be dragged into evil against his will or did he finally snap and give the Joker what he deserves, proving the clown prince’s point? There’s no clear answer, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Final Score:
8/10