I was 15 going on 16 when I first read The Killing Joke. Specifically, this was the deluxe edition in which the story's artist, Brian Bolland, recolored the entire story himself. I have never read the original version colored by John Higgins, but I've seen images, and it looks like an acid trip in my opinion. I much prefer the recolored version anyway. The Killing Joke is one of my personal favorite Batman stories. So I hoped Warner Bros would make a movie out of the beloved story. This was the story that, if adapted on the big screen, would get Mark Hamill out of retirement and voice Joker once more. Lo and behold, in 2015 or 2016, WB Animation announced they would be doing an animated movie adaptation of The Killing Joke. People were pumped, including me. The hype for this film kept on getting better and better. Kevin Conroy was going to return as Batman. Tara Strong was going to return as Barbara Gordon. And Mark Hamill kept his promise to the fans. I did a one-shot about how I wrote to Tara Strong, so I won't mention it here. The hype got bigger as this became the first animated Batman film to get an R rating. (The honor of the first live action Batman film to get an R rating goes to the ultimate edition of Batman v Superman.) The popularity of it all motivated the studio to give it a one night only theatrical release. This would be the first animated Batman movie to get a theatrical release since Mask of the Phantasm, and that was over 20 years ago! I was so excited, I bought a ticket weeks in advance. Then, the film screened at the San Diego Comic-Con. And audiences got to see this scene...
People lost their shit. If this had been any other animated Batman movie, fans would just dismiss it as a bad romance that could be forgotten. But this was The Killing Joke. People were insulted with the way Batgirl was portrayed. Well, I was one of the few that didn't let that scene overshadow the rest of the film. I watched it in theaters, and I loved it. I was that person that started clapping, and the audience joined with me, a chain reaction. The animation did its best to pay tribute to the art of Brian Bolland. Kevin, Mark, and Tara's voice performances were great, their voices aged like fine wine. And the rest of the film, when it got to The Killing Joke story, was great. The Batgirl prologue didn't bother me. Tara Strong's voice performance helped me sympathize with Barbara even more. Could the prologue have been written better? Heavens yes. Could the film have had a better animation style to make it look more like the comic? Maybe if it was rotoscoping, yes. In case anyone doesn't know what rotoscoping is, here's an example.
Regardless of the controversy of the film and backlash it received, Killing Joke is a guilty pleasure for me, and I'm glad I saw it.
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Movies I Like That Everyone Else Hates
Non-FictionEveryone has that one movie that is their personal favorite, and yet was a financial disappointment and/or was panned by critics. One calls such a film, a guilty pleasure. And I am no exception to that rule. There are tons of films that many cynics...
