The killing joke. a real knee slapper

First off, I just want to say, anyone who is a fan of the comic needs to watch this film. Regardless of what bothered me, the parts that worked were fantastic, and there were many of them. So before I even go into detail, I'm saying, go rent it, go buy it. Enjoy it. Get the comic, watch it with the comic. Do all those things. 

Now, on to the spoilers

Seriously, don't read past this if you haven't seen the movie yet, because there are spoilers. Loads of them.

You've been warned!

3...

2..

1.

Alright, as I said before, I loved this film overall, but there were a few points that really bothered me.

As you may or may not have read, Bruce Timm, the executive producer mentioned there would be a 15 minute prologue added to the story to make it long enough for a feature length film. That's perfectly fine as they had plenty of material to choose from when setting it up.

Disappointingly, they went with an awkward romantic tryst between Batman and Batgirl.

WTF???

Of all the things you could have done to push Batman over the edge, they had to make a sloppy hook up that ended abysmally for him to want to save the two people he had left?

No thank you.

It takes Batgirl's character and cheapens her, and it makes it seem that she's only worth saving when she decides to open her legs to him.

She was important anyway. He was plenty aware of her importance when she was running after Paris Franz all half cocked and nearly got herself killed.

She didn't need to be in love with Batman. Maybe she could've been trying to avenge Robin's death. And then it would've been more of a family member, not some uncomfortable bang on a rooftop followed by cliche crazy girl actions. Not necessary at all.

ANYWAY...

The rest of the film was fantastic. The Joker was brilliant as always,  and no one could've have done the voice better than Mark Hamill. If that's his last time doing the voice for Joker, he went out with a bang.

I actually had the comic book at the same time, and it was verbatim. The artwork was fantastic and they made the best choice by going simpler with it and not trying to conform to the more realistic style. Side note, the creative team felt the same way as it was difficult to animate in the more realistic style as well. Regardless, it worked out for the best. I'm also happy they decided to do the film as an R rating. I'm sure they could've gotten away with PG-13, but it would have surely lessened it somehow, and the die-hard fans would've noticed.

One other thing I wished they would've done, and it's more just something I wanted to see and not a diss on the film at all, I wished they would've shown Batman choking the life out of the Joker. Not directly though, but in their shadows on the ground. While the rain was going, you see Batman's shadow as his hands tighten around the Joker's neck, and you see the Joker going down slowly while Batman continues to laugh.

Ugh, that would've been a very satisfying ending for me.

Although, from a comic book standpoint, I think the reincarnation to screen was brilliantly done. They did well by the fans, and they did exactly what they promised.

I know I'll be getting my own copy of the film.

The Killing Joke is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD in a retail store near you.