Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’

Written by Scott Edwards

​I am not a huge fan of Batman in animated form, but I am a sucker for anything that has to do with the Joker, so you know I needed to own this movie when it came out. With how dark the story is from the book; it was hard work to bring it to even the small screen and it shows why. Having to do the fans and the story justice, along with bringing out the darker Joker that only wants death on his hands, well, there is only so far you can go. Well, it is time to get down to it, let's talk about one of my favorite stories, The Killing Joke.

Batgirl and Batman are running the streets and have little issues working as a team until Paris Francesco comes into the picture. After tangoing with Batgirl once, he only has eyes for the girl in the suit and will do anything to get her back again. Taking over the family business from his uncle, Paris is the man to be found, but will only send Batgirl clues to his whereabouts. Seeing that his partner is being pulled into the game, Batman is forced to remove her from the equation to keep her from staring into the abyss that he has to teeter upon on a daily basis. Batgirl, a.k.a Barbara Gordon finally, starts to understand why The Dark Knight is trying to steer her clear, but after getting her man and beating him senseless, she realizes she has looked into the darkness head on and did not like what she saw and has decided to step away from the crime fighting game.

Visiting Arkham Asylum, Batman is looking to talk to his favorite foe once again after seeing some of his master work from a few years back. Not wanting to beat the Joker again, but instead learn more about his enemy, he finds out that the murderer has gotten out again. Needing to find a way to track him down, Batman gets the news that Barbara has been shot and seeing her in the hospital without the movement of her legs, it is time to end the game between himself and the psychotic clown. Knowing that Commissioner Gordon has been kidnapped by the Joker as well, does not help the cause and Batman will have to stop at nothing to free his old friend and bring the Joker to justice once more. Fighting his way to find Gordon, Batman is forced to look into the disturbed mind of the Joker once more, but this time around; he will have to hold on to his own sanity to bring the Joker in the right way and not kill the crazy beast.

One of the things that I like about the animated movies is that they get away with so much violence and this is one has plenty of it. I was surprised about the beginning of the movie going with a Barbara Gordon story, but it actually plays well into the rest of the movie, why, because you get to understand that Batman has feelings for her and he should want to kill the Joker for paralyzing his former partner.  I also liked the Joker’s life flashbacks that start to give you a little insight to who he was before changing into the psycho clown, it is always nice to make a person out of one of the most feared people in Gotham. This might not be one for the kids to watch until they are able to understand what is happening between the two foes and why death may be the only reason for them both to live. Even with it being rated R, it still feels like they were still holding plenty back in the movie, it might just be me that thinks that, but overall, I enjoyed it and you get to see a smile on the Dark Knight’s mug.  

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