Directed by – Sam Liu
Starring (Voiced By) – Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong and Ray Wise.
Running Time – 87 Minutes (1 hour 27 minutes)
★★½
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When news broke out that we’re going to get an animated film based on "Batman:The Killing Joke", one the most popular graphic novels ever told, and we were getting the foundations that made "Batman: The Animated Series" returning, fans were right to get excited.
It was a match made in heaven; however, the 28-year-old Alan Moore and Brian Bolland story is pretty short. So having a Batgirl backstory seem a good idea to help push up the story.
If you’ve never read Batman: The Killing Joke, it centres on the dark psyche of the most popular villain in comic book history, The Joker (Hamill). From his humble beginnings as a struggling comedian, to his encounter with Batman (Conroy) that changes both their lives forever. After escaping from Arkham Asylum, The Joker wants to prove that one bad day can make anyone as crazy as him.
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That’s the base of the story, but as I said above, it’s pretty short and would have been told in 15-minute short film. However, made it should have been.
I understand why Bruce Timm (executive producer) wanted to add the Batgirl/Barbara Gordon (Strong) prologue at the beginning, but instead of making the character a strong woman, girls can look up too, they turned her into some clinging, abusive teenage fangirl. To be honest, 30 minutes is too long to give her the backstory they showed us.
They were just hurdles for the main story and from the second Hamill’s iconic Joker voice comes on screen, I smiled in relief of finally we can actually see the proper story.
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It was an important element to get Hamill voicing The Joker and as always he knocks it out the park and it was brilliant seeing him play a truly dark version of the character. Plus, having Conroy returning as Batman it feels right for those who grew up loving the animated series can finally hear these two icons read these famous lines.
It’s just disappointing the beginning was so pointless and may have done more harm to the character of Batgirl/Barbara Gordon and sometimes while the animation was beautiful it wasn’t as well done as previous DC animated films. Also, can someone tell me why there was a Joker sing and dance number?
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Verdict
When we finally get to The Killing Joke, the film picked up and there's no one better than Hamill when it comes to The Joker. It was just the Batgirl beginning that loses all steam.
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