Read Mixed User Reviews for Batman: The Killing Joke

5

AbeMCJul 31, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. If you're a fan of the other Batman movies, give it a watch. It's dark, depressing, and moody – and (perhaps purposefully) unsatisfying. Conroy, Hamill and Tara Strong are great as always. The animations looked a little stiff sometimes, but usually as good as Under the Red Hood. Good direction and decent music.

But the writing. Oh, man. It didn't really hit me until I had reached the ending (SPOILERS follow). Usually the "bad guy" tries to decrease the height of his crimes by pointing out similarities between himself and the “good guy.” Instead Batman is the one saying that he and the Joker are very alike. Joker gets the tired line, “It's too late to help me,” while sounding all too sane. He tells a joke, and they laugh like two old friends. Batman not wanting to give a “moral high ground” speech was strange. The fact that he laughed was stranger. Is Bruce beginning to go insane? The ending scenes would have been amazing in that case, but it's never established or built up. The one-night-stand with Barbara could even have played into that (I always thought they “did it” anyway, so I wasn't surprised by it). Would it have been THAT hard to play up a Batgirl v. Joker vendetta in the beginning, instead of using a throwaway gangster character as a vehicle for Batgirl angst?

Average movie that never earns the empathy it demands. 5/10… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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5

pyrocloud7Sep 1, 2016

As a longtime Batman fan I went into this wanting so bad to like the movie. Unfortunately, the first half of the movie is completely pointless and 100% inaccurate in the portrayal of the characters. The latter half of the movie is aAs a longtime Batman fan I went into this wanting so bad to like the movie. Unfortunately, the first half of the movie is completely pointless and 100% inaccurate in the portrayal of the characters. The latter half of the movie is a relatively decent portrayal of the characters and story.

The appearance and voice-acting are all very subpar and feel very rushed.

5/10 only because of fantastic the source material.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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5

Ecto1Jul 29, 2016

The first half was dull and done before. It also did not portray batgirl or even batman well. The second half was a mostly faithful adaptation, minus some missing subtext and batman killing a few people.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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4

stone_houseAug 3, 2016

Alan Moore may be the greatest writer in the history of comics. The Killing Joke is no exception, as it is still one of the most surprising, subversive and darkly funny graphic novels ever published by DC. And yet, like just about every otherAlan Moore may be the greatest writer in the history of comics. The Killing Joke is no exception, as it is still one of the most surprising, subversive and darkly funny graphic novels ever published by DC. And yet, like just about every other attempt at bringing his brilliant work to life, this adaptation is inadequate in every conceivable way. I couldn't even sit through the whole thing. I can't help but ask: why continue to slap the man in the face? Haven't you done enough, DC? Just stop.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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4

marcmyworksAug 1, 2016

It was really hard trying to figure out how I could enjoy this movie. I wasn't so much put off by the additional plot added with Batgirl and her background with Batman as I was with how lame the animation, story and acting (besides MarkIt was really hard trying to figure out how I could enjoy this movie. I wasn't so much put off by the additional plot added with Batgirl and her background with Batman as I was with how lame the animation, story and acting (besides Mark Hamill) was. Overall this is probably an even bigger disappointment than Batman v Superman.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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6

RalfbergsAug 16, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't know, I was expecting something more interesting or with better story. First part of the story doesn't even make much sense as it really didn't affect much, while second part and the whole Joker stuff, while at first it seemed interesting and of course Mark Hamill is great at voicing Joker, still felt like it lacked something. Wanted to see something a bit different here… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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5

SecretS1xAug 4, 2016

The movie overall was pretty meh - but then again, after re-reading the graphic novel, why IS this touted as one of the best Batman stories? The graphic novel is only around 60 pages, and outside of a couple of key scenes, there really isThe movie overall was pretty meh - but then again, after re-reading the graphic novel, why IS this touted as one of the best Batman stories? The graphic novel is only around 60 pages, and outside of a couple of key scenes, there really is nothing special here. And this is why the movie isn'y overly entertaining either, in fact the Batgirl prologue (not in the graphic novel) had more character than those in story proper.
The animation was decent and voice acting was great, however the movie could of fleshed more using the original story as a guide. I mean, the Joker's "origin" makes sense to some extent, but he wasn't overly upset the circumstances that led to that "one bad day," nor took the time to even grieve.
Those that loved the movie have every right too, but I have heard many state "facts" about certain scenes from the book and why they were so unique and disturbing. I'd suggest re-reading it (it won't take long) - there isn't as much there as you may remember...… Expand

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6

tigerskin84Jul 26, 2016

Well this movie gave me mixed feelings, the first half hour i was thinking what the hell is this childish romance??? on the other hand it nails the comic book but i dont know why i finished the movie with a bad taste on my mouth

5 of 6 users found this helpful51

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5

EpicLadySpongeJul 27, 2016

Move along, people. Nothing to see here... now I can actually see why the story on the comic that this film is based on probably had a good reason to overstay its welcome.

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

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5

MoviebuffreviewJul 27, 2016

When it is adapting the graphic novel of the same name, Batman: The Killing Joke is phenomenal. Although its art style is less haunting, the script itself is very faithful to the script of the comic. This not only keeps all of the interestingWhen it is adapting the graphic novel of the same name, Batman: The Killing Joke is phenomenal. Although its art style is less haunting, the script itself is very faithful to the script of the comic. This not only keeps all of the interesting ideas intact, but surprisingly, the structure of the story also makes for a relatively well paced and entertaining animated film.

Unfortunately, The Killing Joke is not long enough to fill out the runtime of a feature length film. As a result, an extended, thirty minute prologue was added to help flesh out a character whose treatment in the original source material was often criticized. While the intent is commendable, this extended prologue is abysmal. It feels far too disconnected from the main narrative, but it is also extremely rushed and horribly written on its own terms. It not only suffers from not adding anything significant to the story; the things that are added clash thematically and tonally with everything that the rest of the film stands for.

If you skip the prologue, Batman: The Killing Joke is absolutely worth your time, whether you love the original graphic novel or have never heard of it. However, with the prologue included, it's pretty poor. A shame, considering how good the source material (and half of this movie) is.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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5

MattBrady99Jul 29, 2016

Well this was a flat joke.

Batman: The Killing Joke is one of the best graphic novel ever written by Alan Moore. It's dark, haunting and really engaging. It took two iconic characters Batman/Joker and dissects the relationship between theWell this was a flat joke.

Batman: The Killing Joke is one of the best graphic novel ever written by Alan Moore. It's dark, haunting and really engaging. It took two iconic characters Batman/Joker and dissects the relationship between the two and how both of them tick. It's such an interesting storyline that was pulled off so magnificently. I'm not a comic book reader myself but I do consider the graphic novel to as brilliant. Word quickly spread that a movie adaption was on it's way and I sure was excited for it.

Bruce Timm and Sam Liu were directing. Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy Tara Strong and Ray Wise are set to star. It's based on the most beloved graphic novel ever.

What's not to get excited.

And then I saw the movie and I wasn't impressed. This was very disappointing since it had so much going for it, but somehow fell so short.

Barbara Gordon 30 minute prologue was by far the weakest part of the film. I know the creators wanted to add some character to her since didn't have that much in the comic. If so, It could have been so much better, because it added nothing to the movie and it did drag it down. I don't care about Barbara Gordon, I'm here to watch "The Killing Joke". At one point I was wondering when the actual film was going to start and it eventually dose. It would have been cool if we saw how the Joker broke out of Arkham, having extra scenes of Joker torturing Jim Gordon, or creating the death of Joker's wife that the book never showed, maybe even add a few more investigation scenes and conversations with Alfred. That would have easily covered the extra 30 minutes that was added.

Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill both are once again brilliant as the characters. Their voices are so iconic to the character's that nobody could top the brilliance of Hamill & Conroy. It's no surprise that both are the best parts of the movie.

The animation doesn't look that good and I can't be the only one that thinks that. How much better would it have been if the animation was visually striking and more effort was put into it. There are parts in this where I thought the animation was pretty damn good and also parts when the animation was pretty bad.

Now lets talk about the most controversial scene in the movie that involves Batman and Batgirl having sex. Yes, that actually happens in this movie and it dose nothing with the main plot. The sex between them had no real emotion to it and it's only thrown in there to get Batman angry when Barbara gets shot. The Batman and Batgirl sex scene was like a creepy fan fiction that some die-hard fan would write or draw to satisfy their fantasy.

Overall rating: Batman: The Killing Joke is basically a giant middle finger to the fans who loved Alan Moore's novel. I never really felt engaged in the story and the emotional impact that was in the graphic novel is nowhere here. It was rushed, dull and very flat. Fans and Alan Moore deserve better.

I expected so much more from this and I think everyone did.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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5

ahnehnoisJul 29, 2016

It's easy to see why the story is held in high regard. It touches on powerful ideas. That being said, the source material and this adaptation of it are both clumsy and somewhat trashy takes on the subject. On top of the stultifying dialogueIt's easy to see why the story is held in high regard. It touches on powerful ideas. That being said, the source material and this adaptation of it are both clumsy and somewhat trashy takes on the subject. On top of the stultifying dialogue and surrealistic plot jumps, the movie adds an out of touch prologue that really wasn't needed, apparently for no good reason other than to fluff the limited runtime.

Of course, the movie has been met with plenty of dumb criticism on the gendered aspects of its violence, but that isn't really the problem. The villain here seems genuinely villainous; nothing in the movie could be seen as an endorsement of his sadism. If anything, the movie caricatures its men more negatively, with the prologue adding a gratuitous extra villain delivering silly lines about women, and Batman having been given an extra layer of emotional ice that his already difficult character hardly needs. Combine that with some weak animation and you've got plenty of room for legitimate criticism here.

Several iconic, quotable moments do emerge, but the rest of the movie seems like an exercise in waiting for them. The story seems like it needs to be reexplored with smarter writing, more nuance, and a big budget live action production. Given that The Dark Knight comes pretty close to meeting those criteria, I'd sooner watch that again than revisit this one.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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5

Shion16Jul 27, 2016

One advice: When the movie ends, leave the theater.
Just go home never look back.
"The killing Joke" post-credits scene is awful ,it destroys the mood of the movie.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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5

eagleeyevikingAug 15, 2016

Batman: The Killing Joke redeems itself in the second half of the film but that can't hide the filler first half as well as the unnecessary exploitation of Batgirl.