Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's Batman: The Killing Joke, first published by DC Comics in 1988, occupies a peculiar, contested place in comic book history. It is simultaneously one of the most celebrated and most criticised Batman stories ever committed to paper: a single-issue prestige format work that offered a possible origin for the Joker, put Commissioner Gordon through a brutal ordeal, and permanently altered the trajectory of Barbara Gordon as a character. Its reputation has only grown murkier in the decades since, praised for its psychological ambition and condemned for the violence it inflicted on its female characters. Adapting something so loaded was always going to be a challenge, and when Warner Bros. Animation and DC announced they were bringing it to the screen as part of their DC Universe Animated Original Movies line, it generated considerable excitement among fans who had long considered it unfilmable in live action.

Sam Liu, a director with considerable experience in DC's animated output, took the helm on this 77-minute feature. The project arrived in 2016, and it carried an R rating in the United States, a deliberate signal that the production intended to honour the darker register of the source material rather than sand it down for a family audience. One of the more talked-about production decisions was the addition of new material to pad the story to feature length, an understandable commercial concern given that a straight adaptation of the graphic novel might have run to barely forty minutes. Whether that decision was wise is, of course, exactly the sort of thing worth discussing at length. For other Warner Bros. Animation work, or for animated features operating in very different registers, you might compare the tonal contrasts on offer in something like Josep or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, both of which show how animation can handle genuinely heavy subject matter with care and formal confidence.

The voice cast is, on paper, as good as it gets for a Batman production. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill have been playing Batman and the Joker respectively since Batman: The Animated Series began in 1992, and their pairing here carries the weight of that history. Conroy brings a measured authority to Bruce Wayne, a quality that has aged well across decades of work. Hamill, for his part, has long since convinced most fans that no one else need bother with the Joker's voice, and his ability to shift from giddy menace to something genuinely unsettling is well documented. Tara Strong, who has taken over the role of Barbara Gordon from the original series, and Ray Wise, playing Commissioner Gordon, round out the principal cast in roles that carry considerable emotional freight in the story's central act. John DiMaggio appears in a supporting capacity, adding another experienced voice performance to the ensemble.

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) had the potential to be a faithful, haunting adaptation of one of the darkest and most influential Batman stories ever told, but instead, it feels like a missed opportunity wrapped in unnecessary filler. The film’s biggest sin is adding a lengthy, completely fabricated prologue about Barbara Gordon and a romantic subplot with Batman that not only undermines her character but betrays the tone of Alan Moore’s original graphic novel. It’s jarring, distracting, and takes precious time away from the psychological duel at the story’s core. That said, Mark Hamill is magnificent as the Joker, once again proving he’s the definitive voice of the character. His performance is chilling, layered, and darkly poetic, especially in the Joker’s origin flashback, which is both tragic and terrifying. Kevin Conroy also delivers a solid, weary Batman, and the animation during the nightmare sequences captures the surreal horror of the source material. But despite these strengths, the film feels flat, rushed in the second half, emotionally hollow where it should be devastating, and lacking the visual boldness the story demands. The infamous attack on Barbara is handled well, but the aftermath lacks depth, reducing a pivotal moment in comics history to just another segment in a flawed animated retelling. Saved by Hamill’s brilliance and a few strong visuals, but dragged down by poor decisions and a failure to honor the gravity of its own legacy. A decent watch for fans, but far from essential.

So where does that leave this one for me? Somewhere in the frustrating middle ground between "worth your time if you care about the material" and "you'll probably spend half of it wondering what might have been." The Hamill argument alone is almost enough, and I don't say that lightly. But animation as a form is capable of extraordinary things when the visual language matches the ambition of the story, and here it feels like a cautious, workmanlike approach was applied to material that demanded something bolder. If you want animation taking genuine risks, you're better served looking elsewhere first and coming back to this one with lowered expectations. Sometimes the best thing a film can teach you is exactly how high the bar was that it failed to clear.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2016  | Watched: 2025-10-05

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Trailer

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