Movie Review: Batman: The Killing Joke

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever it is you've come across this movie review.  I am back with a review, obviously, this time with the latest animated Batman flick:  The Killing Joke.  I am writing this on 8/20 and it has an IMDB rating of 6.7 (really?  That is low in my opinion). It stars  Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Tara Strong.  "As Batman hunts for the escaped Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime attacks the Gordon family to prove a diabolical point mirroring his own fall into madness."

• ITS BATMAN!  I mean the real Batman...its like I'm back the Animated Series
• Well at least with Batman and hopefully Joker!
• Wow...Batgirl is not good and horrible lines
• Did Batman just hit that guy with the Batmobile?  Did this become a videogame suddenly?
• Really?  Is he flirting with Batgirl?
• Batgirl just got beat by a common thug, how embarrassing...is she now sulking?
• Why a stereotypical gay character
• Did Batgirl learn nothing from the various incarnations of Robin?  Batman knows best
• THE ELEVATOR?!
• Partners not equals...yeah that sounds right
• Are...are they going to kiss....good grief they did!!
• Are...are we going to have batbabies?

Not a good idea kids

• I already regret not seeing this at the one day screening in the theaters
• This is bad Batman, it is going to cause issues.  You can't have feelings and do what you do...and you know that don't you Bats.  I can't wait to hear the Joker mess with you about this one!
• Why do they even try to use guns on Batman?  Don't they learn?
• Gotham people are much stronger then others, if I got hit in the head with a hook from a motorcycle I think I'd be dead!
• Wow a period joke, foolish young man
• The next Joker?  I wonder if the Joker is more a moniker instead of one person
• Why do they always hold up the tape, can't people duck under?
• That isn't the right Bullock voice...damn I was hoping for a full reunion from the Animated Series
• Did Michael Bay just direct that random side boob shot of Barbara
• Seriously wish it was the voices from the Animated series all around.  Would have made this perhaps perfect
• Is it...could it be...is it him....wait...that isn't even Joker!  

• IT IS HIM!  THE CORRECT JOKER!!!  *does the happy Snoopy Dance*

• Is...is this the legit Joker backstory?
• Not a huge fan the art design for Joker but a minor complaint
• Is it wrong that I just laughed at Jokers joke?  

Insert joke about the spine of a book here

• Well that was creepy with the unbuttoning...even for Joker
• Just like that?  Never walk again....wait...are they implying...that he...wow! 
• I love that they booed the courtroom joke!
• I wonder if Seal-Boy is in this group of freaks...also are they based on American Horror Story

• A musical number?  Wow
• I love the Joker!!
• I wonder if Bats is going to beat up the Fat Lady, I hope so!
• HE IS!, She is like The Blob from X-Men
• HA HA HA!!  BANG!

Oops...wrong pocket

• Wait...is this a moment of sanity for Joker

Is that sanity I see in your eyes Mr. J?

• That was a pretty good joke, even Batsy laughed...which is a REALLY weird sound
• But...why does Joker stop laughing...do you think...that Batsy...you know...delivered the final punch line?

Okay that was amazing.  I mean simply amazing!  I've never read the comic but I am going to find it right away.  

I mean honestly the only complaint I have for the flick is that it wasn't all the original voice actors one last time.  That is just the fan boy in me though it hardly hurt the film.

I am shocked at how low a score this has on IMDB.  I give it a 9/10.  I think this is my favorite Batman flick at this point or right up there with The Dark Knight

Honestly I loved this flick because it is the darkness and grittiness that I like about Batman.  The characters are darker then most other superheroes.  The subjects are darker.  It feels, in a sense, more real.  I mean who doesn't feel for Joker now and then or understand.  I mean if we lived in a world where superheroes and villains roamed I don't know if I wouldn't be the Joker.  My grip on reality isn't the greatest at times or the fact that I'm willing to admit that mean that I am grounded in reality! I guess that is the question the Joker is asking Batsy there at the end.  

The other question, which I mentioned in my blow by blow above, is does Batsy kill Joker?  Jokers laugh stops while he keeps laughing.  Now I imaging Joker looking at Batman like he is crazy because he knows that joke isn't very good but that is just in my mind.  Batman and Joker can't exist without each other in my opinion.  They are the opposite side of the same coin.  Always have been and always will be.  Ying and Yang so to speak.  I look at it that Joker keeps Batman grounded because he knows, deep down, that he is just one step away from Joker.  Seeing the madness in Joker is what keeps Batman from going there.  Without him, what would stop Batman from going into that abyss he mentioned early on in the flick.

Every time Mark Hamill says he wont' do Joker again I get sad but he keeps coming back for "One more" and I hope that always happens.  I know everyone loves Luke but to me Mark will always be the Joker and if there is an animated Joker and Batman it should be Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy. Just like Peter Cullen and Frank Welker will always be Optimus and Megatron in my head even with they aren't, the same goes for Hamill and Conroy.  If/when they don't do the voices I feel something is missing.  Yeah, call me a fan boy but I know what I like.  That'd be like someone else doing Kramer on Seinfeld, its just wrong!

If you're a Batman fan you need to watch this flick!  If you enjoy a good story watch this.  I know I'll be going back and watching this again, and it made me want to watch the Animated Show all over again!

Until next time, I'm off to see if Netflix has the Animated Series!