Film Review: Batman: The Killing Joke

The prelude is called “Batgirl: The Azzarello Joke”.

 

MAJOR Spoilers Below

It’s ironic that Batman: The Killing Joke has a quick two second cameo of popular rogue villain Two-Face as Batman walks the halls of Arkham, because this adaptation for one of the most popular graphic novels of all time is just that…two-faced.

On one hand, 75 % of this movie is a tour-de-force adaptation of what is one of the most revered comic stories of our generation, Batman: The Killing Joke. Kevin Conroy’s ‘Batman’ and Mark Hamill’s ‘Joker’ are the two required chess pieces that certainly encapsulated the magic the guys had back during the animated series of the nineties. Seriously, if a genie granted me one wish and it was for Heath Ledger or Jared Leto, I would politely decline and take the performance that Mark gives as not just the Joker that we all know and love, but of the man Joker was before he became the most terrifying villain in the history of comics.

Conroy is also excellent as Bats, showcasing depth to the character that he never really had the opportunity to show before like humor and apathy. And yes, Tara Strong is back as Batgirl, and does her role justice…even if Brian Azzarelo didn’t.

That’s right…the gorilla in the room. The 30-minute Batgirl prelude to the comic adaptation. Quite frankly, it was utter shit and for more reasons than just the fact that Batgirl fucks Batman. With Tara touting how feminist the character had become in this role in the panel that preceded the Comic Con screening, note the only reason why Batgirl showcases any power in this film is because she has a vagina, and guys want it. Whether it was the Joker, Batman, heck, even the shit villain aptly named ‘Paris Frans’, the only reason anyone showed any sort of attention or care towards Batgirl after she gets cut in half by the Clown Prince of Crime, is because she was the lone woman in a sea of horny dudes. Remember when you thought Batman was more of a fatherly figure to Barbara Gordon? Welp, that gets ruined here.

By the way, the ending gets altered a bit from the book as well and again, Brian Azzarelo misses a wide-open layup by trying to be cute in the last scene. As a matter of fact, Brian I think wrote certain parts of this script, JUST because he wanted to be edgy. The stuff that comes from the book, he’s spot on, and he does an outstanding job of gluing the scenes together to make a seamless adaptation that leaves you at the edge of our seat. But, the build up with Batgirl can only be defined as character assassination veiled as controversy which, by the way, that’s about as controversial as Killing Joke really gets. Other than the scenes with Commissioner Gordon, I don’t even know why this was an R-rated feature. There isn’t THAT much violence, and for the most part everyone’s language is kept at a PG-13 rating anyway as is the Batman/girl sex scene (or so says Skeet Ulrich), so what the fuck was the big deal? Even the Gordon scenes weren’t THAT R-rated.

Suffice it to say, Brian Azzarelo has officially handed us the worst Batgirl story ever which now replaces Joel Schumacher’s bizarre attempt with Alicia Silverstone (don’t worry, Joel still has crimes against him in the areas of wardrobe when it comes to the Batman franchise). So, do yourself a favor, if you want to enjoy this take on Batman: The Killing Joke, show up 30 minutes late.

SCORE
7/10