Disclaimer: This review contains a ton of spoilers for the movie and book by the same name. If you haven’t read The Killing Joke, do yourself a favor and read the book (or watch the movie) and come back.

Last night I was able to catch an advanced Fathom screening of the highly anticipated animated superhero film, Batman: The Killing Joke. Coming into the theater I couldn’t have been more excited as The Killing Joke is not only my favorite Batman comic but my favorite comic in general. In a mere 40-50 pages writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland were able to construct a masterpiece that broke new ground for superhero storytelling back in 1988 and gave future writers a basis for Batman-Joker stories to come. Before I start discussing my personal history with the novel and its theatrical adaptation I’d just like to say that The Killing Joke gets the highest recommendation possible from me. It’s not that expensive and it’s an incredibly short read (clocking in at only about 20-40 minutes). The Killing Joke was my first Batman story ever; it’s what made me the obsessed comic geek I am today. Naturally when I heard that DC was adapting this story with the cast of Batman: The Animated Series (another review for another day) with the same animation team coming back to mount a revival I naturally flipped out. An adaptation I’d waited years for was finally coming to fruition with the perfect cast and crew to make this something really special.

As I walked out of the theater I couldn’t help but ask myself, was it something really special? Did this adaptation live up to the hype or is it another Batman v Superman? The end result is a bit of a mixed bag but I’m proud to say that I can absolutely recommend this movie to you, more so if you’re a casual fan. This movie spends a lot of time setting the stage for the actual Killing Joke tale which allows those who don’t know these characters or the source material to get invested. One of my friends who tagged along with me had never read The Killing Joke and barely knew anything about the novel whatsoever but the added context really helped him get on the same geek level as my other friends who had read it. As I said earlier the film is a mixed bag and hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen it, it’s really the type of movie you need to form your own opinion on as a fan. It’s a tale of two movies; one half being a romantic drama focused on Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and the other half being The Killing Joke. As much as the writers try and connect these two story lines they never feel connected and the movie feels disjointed even in its best moments which weighs it down a bit.

The film opens with Batgirl (voiced by Tara Strong) explaining her relationship with Batman to the audience while the two go after a group of generic goons. It’s a pretty harmless opening sequence that lets you get to know these characters before The Joker rolls into town and ruins everything. While it’s cool to see Batgirl in action and it’s even cooler to see the fluid animation pushed to its limits during a well done fight scene you’ll immediately wonder what’s going on with The Joker and it completely takes you out of the scene. After a few scenes of banter between crime bosses, goons, Batman, and Batgirl we get to see Barbara Gordon’s day-to-day life. She has a job at the local library, she’s romantically interested in Bruce Wayne/Batman, she goes on morning jogs, etc. All of this is interesting stuff, especially given what happens to her later on in the story, but it still feels like a waste of time compared to the awesome Joker stuff you know is coming. At this point one of my friends almost left the movie because he was too bored. One of the biggest problems with this movie lies in the Batgirl subplot/prologue which lasts roughly 28 minutes but feels like an eternity.

This subplot gets even more off the rails when Batgirl learns that one of the goons from the opening (ingeniously named Paris Franz) is in love with her and starts committing over the top crimes to get her attention. It’s obvious that the writers were trying to draw an early parallel between Batgirl/Franz and Batman/Joker given that in both cases the villain does crazy things to draw the other out so they can keep on “dancing.” Batman even roughly compares Franz to The Joker at some point. As Batgirl gets closer to Franz Batman takes her off the case which prompts her to fight him which leads to a sex scene between the two. Given that Batgirl had always been seen by Batman as a daughter/student figure (and that Batgirl is his best friend’s daughter) it’s a little weird and unsettling to see, my entire audience erupted in laughter when it happened. From here we just get a stereotypical “will-they-won’t-they?” thing going on between Batman and Batgirl with the latter calling the caped crusader on his Bat-phone late night when she needs his love only to get immediately rejected. It does a huge disservice to her character as both established in the movie and comics while simultaneously making Batman look like a complete emotionless jerk. The prologue finally comes to its conclusion when Batgirl gives up her cape and cowl and leaves the dark knight for good which sets the stage for The Joker’s daring return.

Given that it took forever to reach the actual comic adaptation the entire audience around cheered the second Batman pulled up to the infamous Arkham Asylum. From here the movie is basically a panel-for-panel recreation of the graphic novel and it translates so well to screen. Even though the Batgirl stuff doesn’t connect to anything else in the movie it made the Killing Joke stuff more satisfying, kind of like getting a huge dessert after eating your veggies as a kid. It’s not something you really want to do but it’ll lead to something good later so you just have to bear it. That’s not to say the prologue is particularly terrible, I understand why they had to add something else to it. Without the additions to the original story the movie itself would only be about half an hour. The creative team knew they needed to add something new which is how the Batgirl prologue came to be. However, compared to the far superior and better constructed/written second half it makes you wonder why that part was even needed in the first place. Whenever I watch this movie again (which I certainly will) I’ll most likely skip the first 28 minutes given that they have absolutely no bearing on the story.

When the movie is actually doing The Killing Joke story line it nails it to a tee with some new additions thrown in that only enhance the story overall. From the second Batman steps into Joker’s prison cell to talk about their relationship the entire movie shifts. The voice acting, the atmosphere, the animation, everything just feels vastly superior as you can see where this team put their time and effort. Kevin Conroy kills it and is still the quintessential Batman as you can really feel the desperation in his voice when he’s trying to reason with his archenemy. The story of The Killing Joke book is kicked into gear when Batman visits The Joker to try and reason with him before the two inevitably kill one another. The scene works great in the movie especially when it’s revealed that the clown prince of crime has already escaped and is putting his next plan into motion. Using a carnival as a base of operations and a group of circus freaks as his henchmen The Joker plans to kidnap Commissioner Gordon and push him to his breaking point in order to prove that anyone can be like him under the right pressure.

Mark Hamill steals the show as The Joker (what a surprise) but his performance really shines during flashback sequences where we get to see the super-villain’s history. These flashbacks are sprinkled throughout the movie in the same way they were in the book but Hamill’s stellar performance as the washed-up loser comedian really hammers it home. You feel the guy’s pain and even when things start to look up you know that he’s going to become The Joker eventually; it’s just a matter of time. During every flashback sequence you learn more about the man The Joker used to be which makes you feel bad for the guy even when he’s doing some of the most evil stuff he’s ever done. In this film he cripples Barbara Gordon for life while her father watches, takes pictures of her bleeding body, kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, and proceeds to subject him to physical and mental torture for hours on end all to prove that someone else can snap like he did. In a weird way the flashbacks humanize Joker and make you feel bad for him despite everything he’s doing all of which is accomplished by Hamill. There’s one sequence where music and sound effects are just tuned out and all we hear is Mark Hamill delivering a Joker laugh and it’s enough to send chills down your spine.

Batman is given more to do in this movie than he was in the graphic novel as he gets to track down The Joker which leads to one of my favorite lines in the movie, “we may be scared of you, but we’re terrified of him.” Tara Strong’s Batgirl is given more to do in the purgatory prologue than the film’s second half but her material from the graphic novel is delivered nicely. What was great about this adaptation was that the cast just had to read what was already written in the comic, when scenes are ripped from the book the voice acting is done to near perfection. My only complaint comes from Ray Wise who plays Commissioner Gordon, starting out okay but getting weaker as the film goes on. Gordon is given one of the most powerful lines in the entire movie near the finale and Wise botches it a bit which gives it less weight. While I can talk about the adaptation all day it’s the last 10-12 minutes that really drives this movie home and ties everything (not including the prologue) together beautifully. Batman gets a cool fight scene in the carnival, Joker’s origin is revealed through one final flashback, and our hero-villain final battle is played out short and sweet. Hearing Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy deliver the final lines of this adaptation though was the biggest treat of all and is all I really wanted out of this adaptation. Seeing Batman and The Joker laugh together was just as poetic and beautiful in the comic as it was on screen. Seeing it with an audience kind of enhanced it too, when the “killing joke” was delivered everyone in the theater was laughing with Batman and The Joker and it was awesome. There’s nothing more contagious than laughter, as the clown prince of crime would say.

In the end, despite all of the prologue stuff that weighed the movie down a little bit I still got everything I wanted out of a Killing Joke adaptation. Some may think it’s too low-key and uneventful but some also forget that the graphic novel wasn’t a big thing when it came out either. The Killing Joke wasn’t meant to be some groundbreaking story that everyone had been waiting decades for, it just came out of nowhere and left a lasting impression on everyone it reached. There’s no way an adaptation of this book can live up to everyone’s expectations but it did live up to mine; short, sweet, and to the point just like the comic it’s based on.

Pros:

• Mark Hamill’s Joker

• Kevin Conroy’s Batman

• Tara Strong’s Batgirl

• The entire second half of the movie

• JOKER’S LOONEY SONG!! CHEESY OR NOT, IT WAS AWESOME!

• Flashbacks

• Book done justice

• Animation looks great when it has to

• The Killing Joke material feels earned

• Bonus: All of the cool Joker Easter eggs on the Bat-Computer

Cons:

• The prologue

• Paris Franz

• Batsex

• Batgirl’s “yoga” story line

• Animation looks poor in the first half

• First half can just be skimmed through with no overall effect on your understanding of the plot, especially if you know the story already.

Final score: 7.5/10