Based on the graphic novel of the same name, this feature was touted mainly for its R rating.
And I don’t think that rating was even earned. To me, this is PG-13 level curses here. And the very random sex scene wasn’t even graphic!
First off, I was not impressed with the animation quality. It was fairly standard. With all those other DC animated movies out there, I expected better.
Secondly, this isn’t so much “Batman: The Killing Joke” as it is “Batgirl: Batman: The Killing Joke.” I do NOT understand why the first half an hour or so of this exists because it would have been overall better to cut the whole damn thing.
Thirdly, this is the most sexist portrayal of Batgirl I’ve seen. According to the movie, she’s been at the vigilante scene for three years, right? Three years and she still feels the need to whine to Batman that she needs to prove herself? She still gets triggered by some random trash talk a lowly mobster throws at her? He asks”Where’s your boyfriend?” so she can squawk “He’s not my boyfriend!”, he makes jokes that she’s on her period, they write her so she gets mad when he calls her cute… This isn’t Batgirl. She’s every lazy female and sidekick stereotype poured into a batsuit. I was screaming at the screen and rolling my eyes.
Fourthly? You snagged the “swear to me” line? *sigh
And lastly, the back story of why those freaks in the carnival were working with the Joker would have been a bajillion times more interesting than this Bats in the City nonsense that filled the first half hour. They even gave Barbara a pet gay best friend; which was a trope I thought we had thankfully grown out of.
If you skip all the Batgirl stuff, it wasn’t bad, it was just ok. Mark Hamil and Kevin Conroy are of course as excellent as always and the adaptation of what was actually IN THE GRAPHIC NOVEL was entertaining. But by the time they got to the story in the book, I was so pissed, I found it hard to enjoy the rest.
Next time? Stick to the book, guys.
