Batman: The Killing Joke
2/4
Starring (voices): Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong, Maury Sterling, Ray Wise
Rated R for Some Bloody Images and Disturbing Content
I suppose it should come as no surprise that I'm not a superhero fan. I see each new Marvel movie simply because I'm a film critic and I could care less about canon or Easter eggs or in-jokes. Evidently there are people who eat this stuff up, because clickbait is filled with links to sites that say things like, "Only TRUE Batman fans will recognize these Easter eggs!" or "Stan Lee confirms a fan theory we've all thought since day one." And as wretched as "Teen Titans GO! To the Movies" was, it was made infinitely worse because I had to listen to diehards down the aisle from me call out every reference. "Oh! There's Catwoman!" "Oh! There's Stan Lee!" "Oh! There's Joe Somebody from issue 626!"
It's not like I haven't tried. Really, every few years I get the urge to see what all the fuss is about. It's not comics that I hate. After all, I love the funnies and "Saga." But superheroes seem impenetrable. Maybe be with the years of canon it really is impossible to figure it all out. Or maybe it's the fact that they're all sci-fi now (Batman leaping between dimensions and planets is hard to swallow). Or that everyone knows each other and is constantly referencing things in the past and there's no payoff without previous knowledge.
Anyway, I did read "The Killing Joke," the famous comic written by Alan Moore. Honestly, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. It was certainly bleak, which is the "in" thing to do with the character, I suppose, but nihilism without substance is pretentious and depressing. More importantly, I didn't think it would be inherently cinematic, as it was more of a stream of consciousness diatribe rather than a narrative. Nevertheless, director Sam Liu and writer Brian Azzarello have tried to massage the story into a narrative. I'll give them points for the attempt, but it isn't really successful.
"The Killing Joke" is a pretty short comic, so to stretch out the running time to feature length (which at 76 minutes is still very lean), the filmmakers have added a prologue that features a student/teacher relationship between Batman (Conroy) and Batgirl (Strong) that adds romance into the mix as they pursue a "narcissistic psychopath" by the name of Paris Franz (Sterling). Once that's over, the film turns into Batman's pursuit of the Joker (Hamill), who has kidnapped Commissioner Gordon (Wise) and has invited Batman to play his game.
I suppose it is ironic that the prologue created by the filmmakers is the most interesting part of the film. The plot has an arc and Paris is easily the most interesting character in the film. He's like a psychotic version of Lupin the III. After that, the film tells a verbatim version of the comic, and that turns out not to be a very good idea. It stalls for the better part of an hour spouting poorly communicated and cliched philosophy that feels like it was written by some hipster who just got his heart broken. Life is meaningless, existence is pointless, and the only way to make sense of it is to embrace it. Christopher Nolan used "The Killing Joke" as inspiration for "The Dark Knight," and he communicated these ideas in ways that were much more compelling and less pretentious. Not to mention more cinematic.
The voice acting is adequate, but certainly not standout. Not that the sitcom-level script helps, but never mind. Kevin Conroy adds machismo and intensity. Tara Strong's performance feels like it was lifted from Saturday morning cartoons. Mark Hamill is having a grand time playing a truly demented Joker and the sad sack the guy was previously. It's fine for a no-budget animated film, but it's nothing special.
The animation befits a movie of such limited ambitions. Which is to say, it's not very good. It looks like a cartoon for kids, and doesn't have the energy or the artistry that "Mask of the Phantasm" did. It's a rush job. You get what you pay for, I suppose. But it doesn't have the atmosphere that the comic did. There is one exception, and that's the bizarre musical number that the Joker has, but the writing is shallow and it doesn't last very long. If they had just pushed it a bit farther than it would have been more memorable.
Then there is the ending, which is unlikely to satisfy anyone. It has no closure. In fact, the film (and the comic) ends on a joke that cuts out the punchline. I was left thinking I missed something. Maybe there was some subtext I didn't pick up on. Or possibly it's a reference to a previous comic or something. Who knows.
"The Killing Joke" feels like the emperor with no clothes. Its ideas are commonplace. The action is pedestrian (it's certainly nowhere near intense enough to warrant an R rating...compared to "The Dark Knight," which squeaked by with a PG-13, it's child's play). The characters are too thin to be interesting. You get the idea.
This is for fans only. Everyone else should just watch "The Dark Knight" again.
Starring (voices): Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong, Maury Sterling, Ray Wise
Rated R for Some Bloody Images and Disturbing Content
I suppose it should come as no surprise that I'm not a superhero fan. I see each new Marvel movie simply because I'm a film critic and I could care less about canon or Easter eggs or in-jokes. Evidently there are people who eat this stuff up, because clickbait is filled with links to sites that say things like, "Only TRUE Batman fans will recognize these Easter eggs!" or "Stan Lee confirms a fan theory we've all thought since day one." And as wretched as "Teen Titans GO! To the Movies" was, it was made infinitely worse because I had to listen to diehards down the aisle from me call out every reference. "Oh! There's Catwoman!" "Oh! There's Stan Lee!" "Oh! There's Joe Somebody from issue 626!"
It's not like I haven't tried. Really, every few years I get the urge to see what all the fuss is about. It's not comics that I hate. After all, I love the funnies and "Saga." But superheroes seem impenetrable. Maybe be with the years of canon it really is impossible to figure it all out. Or maybe it's the fact that they're all sci-fi now (Batman leaping between dimensions and planets is hard to swallow). Or that everyone knows each other and is constantly referencing things in the past and there's no payoff without previous knowledge.
Anyway, I did read "The Killing Joke," the famous comic written by Alan Moore. Honestly, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. It was certainly bleak, which is the "in" thing to do with the character, I suppose, but nihilism without substance is pretentious and depressing. More importantly, I didn't think it would be inherently cinematic, as it was more of a stream of consciousness diatribe rather than a narrative. Nevertheless, director Sam Liu and writer Brian Azzarello have tried to massage the story into a narrative. I'll give them points for the attempt, but it isn't really successful.
"The Killing Joke" is a pretty short comic, so to stretch out the running time to feature length (which at 76 minutes is still very lean), the filmmakers have added a prologue that features a student/teacher relationship between Batman (Conroy) and Batgirl (Strong) that adds romance into the mix as they pursue a "narcissistic psychopath" by the name of Paris Franz (Sterling). Once that's over, the film turns into Batman's pursuit of the Joker (Hamill), who has kidnapped Commissioner Gordon (Wise) and has invited Batman to play his game.
I suppose it is ironic that the prologue created by the filmmakers is the most interesting part of the film. The plot has an arc and Paris is easily the most interesting character in the film. He's like a psychotic version of Lupin the III. After that, the film tells a verbatim version of the comic, and that turns out not to be a very good idea. It stalls for the better part of an hour spouting poorly communicated and cliched philosophy that feels like it was written by some hipster who just got his heart broken. Life is meaningless, existence is pointless, and the only way to make sense of it is to embrace it. Christopher Nolan used "The Killing Joke" as inspiration for "The Dark Knight," and he communicated these ideas in ways that were much more compelling and less pretentious. Not to mention more cinematic.
The voice acting is adequate, but certainly not standout. Not that the sitcom-level script helps, but never mind. Kevin Conroy adds machismo and intensity. Tara Strong's performance feels like it was lifted from Saturday morning cartoons. Mark Hamill is having a grand time playing a truly demented Joker and the sad sack the guy was previously. It's fine for a no-budget animated film, but it's nothing special.
The animation befits a movie of such limited ambitions. Which is to say, it's not very good. It looks like a cartoon for kids, and doesn't have the energy or the artistry that "Mask of the Phantasm" did. It's a rush job. You get what you pay for, I suppose. But it doesn't have the atmosphere that the comic did. There is one exception, and that's the bizarre musical number that the Joker has, but the writing is shallow and it doesn't last very long. If they had just pushed it a bit farther than it would have been more memorable.
Then there is the ending, which is unlikely to satisfy anyone. It has no closure. In fact, the film (and the comic) ends on a joke that cuts out the punchline. I was left thinking I missed something. Maybe there was some subtext I didn't pick up on. Or possibly it's a reference to a previous comic or something. Who knows.
"The Killing Joke" feels like the emperor with no clothes. Its ideas are commonplace. The action is pedestrian (it's certainly nowhere near intense enough to warrant an R rating...compared to "The Dark Knight," which squeaked by with a PG-13, it's child's play). The characters are too thin to be interesting. You get the idea.
This is for fans only. Everyone else should just watch "The Dark Knight" again.
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