Fish and Cherries Productions

Synopsis: Gotham City would be a far grimmer place without the presence of Batman (Kevin Conroy), but the students under his wing shouldn’t be discounted. Enter Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl (a.k.a. Tara Strong), who has helped Batman in his quest to clean the streets for a while. She and Batman start conflicting with one another when she gets too fixated on Paris Franz (Maury Sterling), an up-and-coming mobster who overthrows his uncle and sends ripples throughout the criminal underworld. Among those who respond to these ripples is the Joker himself (Mark Hamill), who’s back with a mission: find Commissioner Gordon (Ray Wise) and use his family to teach him a lesson that he himself learned in the past*: that all it takes for the average person to become like the Joker is one bad day.

*But then again, how Joker remembers things may not have been right. By Joker’s own admission, he prefers his past to be multiple choice.

Review: Batman: The Killing Joke was incredible, the best an animated DC movie has been for a while. This adaptation of the classic Alan Moore story of the same name feels like it takes its audience more seriously, delving into a lot more character depth and study rather than focusing primarily on the action like its recent predecessors. Hearing the alumni from Batman: The Animated Series is an amazing treat as they all fit right into their old roles, while Ray Wise holds himself high alongside them as the newcomer. The dialogue is excellent, most of it taken straight from the graphic novel and the new additions coming out excellently as well, which isn’t surprising when they come from a talented writer like Brian Azzarello.

But let’s get the big point of contention out of the way: does this story treat Barbara Gordon in a progressive way? In the original comic, Barbara has a minimal role, having barely a scene before she is (SPOILERS THAT THE COMIC IS FAMOUS FOR!) shot, crippled, and violated by the Joker. (SPOILERS OVER!) This film adds a load of new material devoted to developing Barbara’s character and giving her more of an arc so that she’s an actual presence in the story rather than a footnote. However, as some people have pointed out, a lot of her character arc is focused on the men in her life, including one scene with Batman that goes in a… more carnal direction, which director Bruce Timm seems to have a fixation with. As many academics will tell you, a woman’s arc revolving around a man is not exactly progressive.

So as to whether or not the film is feminist, I’m here to say… it’s both. Yes, I can have that viewpoint. This is one of those times where both arguments have completely valid points and I can see people taking either side. It is kind of a shame that so much of Barbara’s dialogue is devoted to men. On the other hand, she maintains her agency. That is to say, all of her decisions are her own and even her rough treatment doesn’t keep her down, resulting in an amazing stinger that’s bound to have longtime fans punching the air in triumph. It’s important to remember, in art and in life, that something can have sexist elements in it without being sexist overall

On top of that, Barbara feels like more of a character than she’s ever been on the screen. It doesn’t hurt that Tara Strong brings her A+ game and shows the world that she’s more than a package of funny voices. But that doesn’t compare to the new depths of the Joker that Mark Hamill delivers, showing a more humanized Joker before he became the Clown Prince of Crime. In his (possible) backstory, he comes across as meek, dejected, frustrated, and even genuinely happy, but unmistakably a voice that will evolve into the sadistic criminal we know today.

For fans of this comic who always hoped this story would get an adaptation to screen, this is the movie for you. I’d even recommend it to some outsiders too. The acting and animation are superb and I can only think of some minor nitpicks. For those starved for a movie that looks at the psychological aspects of Batman’s world, you are bound to enjoy this. Granted, I can see some of the graphic subject matter turning a few people off, but I think you should try to look past it to see a mature Batman story that takes its audience seriously and therefore they take it seriously.

Welcome back, Bruce Timm. You were missed.

Fun Tidbit: When Batman is looking at a collage of past cases involving the Joker, two pictures of note are a collection of fish that look like the Joker and a dead audience in an auditorium with grins on their faces. The first is a reference to the Batman: The Animated Series episode, “The Laughing Fish,” where the Joker infects the fish in Gotham harbor to look like him so that he can gain royalties from people catching them. The second harkens back to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, where the Joker, while being interviewed on a primetime talkshow, pumps a gas into the studio that cause the audience and the host to literally die laughing.