A few weeks ago I got to see the Killing Joke in theater during it's limited release. I am going to treat this movie like two separate movies. It's the only way I can reconcile what I saw.
For those that don't know, the graphic novel that this movie is based on was really short. So in adapting it, they had to add some filler. They felt that Batgirl needed to be fleshed out, so about thirty minutes was added to the film. While I can understand what they were trying to do, they failed so miserably that it detracts from the movie.
That first section dedicated to Barbara Gordon was so disjointed from the rest of the movie, it is completely jarring. It's why I made the two separate movies comment earlier. You have Batman and Batgirl chasing after some mid-level thug. Batgirl makes some very un-Batgirl like mistakes. Batman chastises her. That's the crux of this backstory. Where the outrage comes in over this section is what happens that has nothing to do with the crime stuff.
Batman and Batgirl get into an argument that has the anime trope of them happening to fall on top of another. Just when you think, "Hmm, that's weird, let's move on from this", they kiss. Normally you would think that Batman would push her away, seeing as this is pretty weird. He is a mentor to her and that would be taking the teacher/student relationship into a place you don't want to go. Then they go there. Batgirl takes off her shirt, Batman pulls her close and then it's on.
We could spend a paragraph talking about all the ways this feels wrong. I will keep it brief. I know they hint about a possible relationship between these two, but that's all it should ever be. A will they/won't they kind of vibe. What happens afterwards is worse. Now it's the day after and Batman won't call her. Barbara devolves into a love sick school girl, which doesn't ring true to the character we know. You spend the first twenty minutes of this movie trying to show how capable she is, albeit hard headed and then you do this. The sex scene between the two is bad enough, but the after effects are even worse. None of this felt right in any shape or form.
All this leads to Barbara giving up the mantle of Batgirl and then that dovetails into the real story.
The Killing Joke was one of many dark chapters in the Batman mythos. This story is near the top for me. There is brutal stuff that happens here. Not so much with the violence as the psychological terror the Joker inflicts on Barbara, Commissioner Gordon and Batman. Everything here was fantastic. We get the wonderful Mark Hamill back as the voice of the Joker. As always, he does an amazing job. We get more Kevin Conroy goodness as Batman. The voice acting was top notch. This is what the movie should have been without the first thirty minutes that were tacked on with little care.
The only thing I haven't liked about a lot of these DC animated movies lately is the art style that is used for the animation. It's always this third rate looking anime style that they seem to be in love with. At parts it detracted from the movie.
Would I recommend this movie? Yes, if you cut out those first thirty minutes. Otherwise, watch at your own peril. I guess you can see it as getting two movies for the price of one.
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