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The Killing Joke sucked.There are plenty of movies that I give the benefit of the doubt to. When I watched “Zoombies” I knew it was going to be bad. I GAVE it that leeway well ahead of time because I knew that, no matter what, it wasn’t going to be a “good” movie. There are a bunch of horror movies, actually, where I give them a bit of credit. I gave “Lights Out” some rope to hang itself with before going in… and I gave it at most a 6 even so.
I can’t really do the same for The Killing Joke.
There’s a certain school of thought that suggests the source material wasn’t a really good adaptation to begin with. I disagree with that sentiment, actually. The Killing Joke was a good tale (with flaws) whose foundations have been adapted into some other great Batman stories. The Dark Knight, and the Arkham series of games, are both good examples. Part of where the movie flopped is the shoehorning of a Barbara Gordon tale into one that’s pretty exclusively about the relationship between Batman and the Joker.
Shoehorning in the sense that the first half was all needlessly about Barbara Gordon.
And it’s not so much that Barbara doesn’t deserve good stories, it’s that Barbara Gordon deserves her OWN stories. She deserves her own fleshed out tales that empower her character, not ones that minimize her to a love stricken 20-something who only follows Batman because of a crush.
Overall, it seemed like either a misguided attempt at inclusion or a completely tone deaf attempt. Either way, it comes off as more offensive than impressive.
It is a shame, because DC has had some solid animated video releases. Flashpoint, for example, is a solid entry into the animated film verse. But really, I don’t need any of the animated films, because Batman: The Animated Series is and will always be the best example of animated Batman there was.
Did you guys see The Killing Joke? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below!