I saw the preview and I'm still not feeling it. I'd rather they dumped a shit ton of money on it and actually animated Bolland's art....and if that meant old style pencil drawn animation, so be it. If Raymond Briggs could do it on a shoestring, so can Warners.
which looks insanely awesome and may be the best look into the Batworld ever put on film, animated or live action...
Give m Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil any time and I'll buy it. Just like Bruce Timm said, in my mind, those are the voices I hear for Batman and the Joker.
I really wish Timm was in charge of the DC cinematic universe. He understands who these characters are in his bones.
This isn't the end for Hamill Joker and Conroy Batman. http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/hamill-assures-fans-theres-more-joker-in-his-future-2016
Not even released yet and it's already available on your favorite streaming site (and I assume torrents as well). Pretty good. Drags a bit in the beginning, but over-all a good watch.
It was garbage. I am not a huge comic book reader. I only really read Superman and Batman as a kid. But Killing Joke remains my all time favourite comic/graphic novel. I thought it missed the boat in multiple ways. The animation was stilted (though given the series it is part of I understand why). I don't understand the Batgirl prologue. While good by itself, it just didn't mesh with the latter half of the picture. You build up all that emotional investment in her point of view, and then it vanishes. Worse still, you become invested in her instead of Batman, The Joker or Gordon. Then there's Hamill. Now, I know folk love his Joker, but I have never been a huge fan. But that aside, I thought the delivery of the final "punchline" that Killing Joke was known for was atrocious. I don't know if that's Hamill or the direction, but damn. It was baaaaaaaad. Either Hamill, the director or both didn't get the structure of the comic panels and line delivery and I was gutted. That's the big payoff of the whole story of The Killing Joke, and it just stank. Worst of all, I felt the film failed to truly convey the menace inherent in TKJ, which I would have thought is crucial to any adaption. So all in all, thoroughly disappointed. Would rather they had thrown big budget money at it and truly pulled out all the stops. It's what the story deserves.
Saw it. Have not read the graphic novel so no expectations going in. It was okay, but the first part of the movie (which was added on) definitely felt disconnected from the second part. Some of the Joker backstory was interesting, although I am aware that the Joker has multiple different backstories. I think I prefer some of the other DC animated films over this one.
Yeah. Zero relevance to the original story. Frankly they should have done a loosely connected Batgirl film if they wanted to tell that story.
Sounds like they took the "women in refrigerators" trope the original was accused of and turned it up to 11. Idiocy. Also, Batgirl is a lot closer to Dick Grayson/Robin in age... She's traditionally looked at Batman as more of a father figure. It's a disgusting change to have them sleeping together now.
The sex issue doesn't bother me too much before I'm not a weekly comic reader. Having said that, I did feely it was shoved in to try and compliment the "edgy" quality of the original story, which is even more annoying given that the didn't execute the latter well.
I heard about this and am not happy. She's supposed to be a lot younger--in some versions a teenager--and a student of sorts to Batman, to say nothing of her being the daughter of his closest ally. She shouldn't be riding the Batpole. I don't like this "innovation" and I hope it isn't continued beyond this.
This one fell rather flat for me. Some of the positive notes were the brief glimpses into the Jokers past. The carnival ride was sort of fun. Also that the animation, although nothing to be proud of at least wasn't the stilted and choppy 2000s era flash animation it looked like in the trailer. Unfortunately you could cut this movie in half and not miss anything important. Batgirls romantic plot with Batman and the plotline involving the obsessive mobster have absolutely no bearing on the later half of the film. So if you want to watch The Killing Joke start it at the 28 min mark. With the later half compressed down due to the Batgirl half of the movie there's no time to build up the story or create any emotional investment. I'm willing to forgive this because in the flashbacks we see that the Joker is a shitty comedian that just isn't funny. It's also a point in other works that although he's the clown prince of crime he just can't get people to laugh at his jokes unless Joker gas is liberally applied. So although Joker botched the delivery as he always would Batman still appreciates the joke and finds it genuinely funny.
Yes, but that's the whole point of it all. That Batman and The Joker aren't that different at the end of the day. They are just two sides of the same coin who essentially have the same destiny. Both are twisted and live in the world of the absurd, and that's why Batman gets and laughs at the joke. There needed to be a pause in the delivery before the punchline....as the panels in the original book effectively present that pause.
Saw it. Like @Zor Prime said, I never read the comic so I had nothing invested in this. The story outside of the prologue was shorter than I expected. The fight at the end reminded me of the fight at the end of TDK. The joke at the end did fall flat. The Joker's origin was the best part, but I liked it better in Batman 89. This was not my favorite DCAU, but it's not the worst. It's probably my least favorite one featuring Kevin Conroy. I still think Justice League: Doom is my favorite. As a collector of the Bruce Timm DCAU I'll end up getting the blue ray, but I wouldn't if I were a casual viewer. I also agree with everyone else that the Batgirl stuff was completely useless and creepy. It's unfortunate that for the firtst time DC out did Marvel at comic con, but still managed to squeeze out a turd. They've been so good with animation, I don't know how they missed the mark on this one.
You know what would help the Batman/Batgirl sex scene? The 60's Batgirl theme. *Picture her bouncing on Bruce's crotch* Batgiiiiiirl!! BATGIRL!!! Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh, BATGIRL!!!
Just saw it. I liked it, though I could see why some wouldn't. Suffers from the same problem as "The Dark Knight Returns", all these decades I've had to imagine a different soundtrack, scarier ambient noises, different voices, different line delivery, etc. Plus with a comic you can stare at the art as long as you like to drag out the pace to your leisure, whereas, it's jarring to suddenly see it pace out at normal movie speed, and see how fast the story really goes along. But, how much is that the movie's fault, and how much is mine? Tough call. "Batman: Year one", nailed the movie in my head, so it can be done. But, one does have to temper one's expectations. The Batgirl prequel? Meh. Didn't add or take away for me. I'll add it to the DVD collection, for sure. It'd still be a good marathon along with "Dark Knight Returns", "Under The Red Hood", and "Year One".
Still planning on getting the Blu-Ray when it's available (next week), but a little grudgingly given what I've heard.
One thing they did great, they actually got that goddamned SONG to work. I could never get that fucker to meter out right in my head, and sound like anything good.
