Review: Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) · 7:16am Jul 29th, 2016
Well that was a let down.
Yes, after quite a long wait, and much hype, we finally get an animated adaptation of Alan Moore's incredibly influential graphic novel The Killing Joke, and, while it certainly tries, it simply fails to truly capture the raw, visceral impact of the original, a fact not helped by an awkward, thirty minute diversionary prelude focused on Batgirl, that, try as it might, does little to flesh her character out in a meaningful way, or truly contribute to the overall plot.
The first thirty minutes of this film are, by far, the worst part of the movie, and really go a long way towards undermining the overall narrative and structure of the film. See, in the original Killing Joke comic, The Joker (here voiced by Mark Hamill, whose voice defined him in the DC Animated Universe), being his typically evil self, broke out Arkham Asylum, and set out to take longtime Batman ally Commissioner James Gordon (here voiced by Ray Wise of Twin Peaks), and push him to the complete breaking point, proving that no man is really ever actually good, and are just waiting for "one bad day" to completely drive them mad. As part of his elaborate scheme to drive Gordon to the edge, The Joker shoots Gordon's daughter, Barbara (here voiced by Tara Strong), who was also Batman's sidekick Batgirl, crippling her.
So, in order to hopefully give Barbara Gordon a more developed role in the story other then "Girl who gets shot by Joker" (a move that Alan Moore himself regrets), the creative team behind this film, consisting of producers Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett (best known for the stupendous Batman: The Animated Series), and screenwriter Brian Azzarello (New 52 Wonder Woman) decided to have the first half hour focus on Barbara Gordon while she investigates an up-and-coming mob boss Paris Franz (Maury Sterling), who also seems to have a perverse sexual lust for Batgirl (to the point of hiring prostitutes to expressly dress as her for role playing). As the investigation goes on, Batman tries to have Barbara step away from the case, but she refuses, and after they have an argument that results in an actual physical altercation, they have sex.
Yes. You read that right. Batgirl and Batman have sex here. Like, unambiguous, right-there-on-the-rooftop sex.
It probably doesn't take much to figure out why this is such an obvious issue, one not helped that, less then ten minutes after the #Batsex scene, we wrap up the Paris Franz subplot and head straight into a near shot-for-shot reproduction of The Killing Joke comic.
The worst part, really, is that this sequence is entirely unessicary. One could have easily just fleshed Barbara Gordon out by focusing on her daily life as Batgirl, while complimenting it with some sort of original story material to set up The Killing Joke stuff. Hell, you can even just have the original opening sequence of The Killing Joke, then cut back to Barbara, and then back to The Killing Joke, until the stories converge, and lo-and-behold, Barabara is crippled.
But instead of that, we're treated to an awkward, thirty-minute long adaption of a really bad fanfiction, where Barbara feels a constantly emotional, impulsive teenager instead of a woman, Batman feels like a borderline self parody of himself in how stand-offish he is, and an unlikable, uninteresting Tony Montanna-wannabe with a creepy fetish, who is there exclusively to pad out the running time. All in all, the opening sequence feels like a pointless diversion, and makes things worse since it defines all of Babara's actions as stemming from her dysfunctional "romance" with Batman. So instead of making her feel like a fully realized woman who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, she ends up coming across as a whiny brat, who has a weird sexual tension on her mentor figure, who treats her like dirt. Batman comes across as a jerk as well, since he always steps on Barbara's desire to get rid of Franz, regardless of the fact that it's implied that Barbara has been Batgirl for at least three years now, and is very experienced, or the fact that Batman is always getting personally entangled with villains as well (Catwoman anyone?)
Suffice to say, it's quite a bit infuriating for me as a Batman fan.
Moving on to the actual stuff I wanted to see, namely, you know, The Killing Joke.
Sadly, try as they might, they cannot recreate the incredibly unique atmosphere that the original comic had. Instead of nightmarish, almost Nicolas Winding Refn-esque color scheme, we're treated to a rather stale, well worn "Batman grey" look. On top of that, the attempt at recreating Brian Bolland's artstyle in an animated format is awkward at best, and inert at the worst. The expressions don't carry the same vivid impact, and the performances, while arguably rather solid, don't quite elicit the same rawness that the original comic had.
The original comic felt like a fever dream nightmare noir version of Batman, a world dominated by carnival neon and pitch black shadows, with the Joker's wild eyed smile dominating his appearance, and vivid imagery and dynamic action to acompany it.
This, however, desaturates the color, making the world more normal, and therefore, removing that unique nightmare tone the original book had. Now, it just feels like I'm watching a normal Batman movie, albeit one that follows the comic almost shot for shot, but without the same sense of stylism or dynamic energy. In fact, the film feels almost robotic in it's slavish devotion to copying panel after panel, and since it lacks the colors, or energy, I just feel like I'm watching a reenactment, instead of the real thing.
It really is a shame, since the original comic is a brilliantly written psychological break down of the Joker, and his philosophy, while also contrasting it with Batman's. But here, it just feels stale and inert, a fact not helped by it's terribly awkward and cringe worthy opening.
Just go read the original comic, really. And by original, I mean the original 1988 pressing, NOT the "deluxe edition", which desaturates all the colors and therefore ruins a key component of the comic's visual style.
This is a sad waste of a good comic, and only magnifies whatever flaws the original had, while creating a whole slew of new ones, that are arguably, even worse.
1 star.
When doing an adaptation of one of the most renowned comics of all time, it is most likely not going to live up to expectations.
That being said, it surprised me how savagely this movie got torn apart. I was expecting a few negative bits here or there, but almost all the reviews I've seen have said it was mediocre at best, god awful at worst.. Most of which stems from the first thirty minutes which I have to agree is beyond stupid and character derailing (and misses a great opportunity to adapt a second comic where Babs, Zatanna, and a few others go clubbing/beating up bad guys because Zatanna had a vision that Barbara was going to get crippled and wanted her to enjoy her last few walking moments).
Probably the only two moments I liked were the song (because I found it catchy and always wondered how it went) and the final scene (because it was exactly how I envisioned an adaptation of that scene would go). Everything else is take it or leave it, and in this case probably leave it.
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