The Killing Joke: Nostalgic & Fresh

Batman: The Killing Joke was available in select theaters July 25th and we got a chance to go see it. The film, as a whole, was nothing short of what you would expect from DC animation. Iconic panels from the graphic novel were nostalgic throughout and seeing it in motion with a full score made the entire experience new and refreshing. I remember being a younger comic book reader and this being on the list of Batman to read. I also remember it giving me more nightmares that Paranormal Activity did. Tonight (at 27 years old), I am worried about falling asleep.

Kevin Conroy (Batman/Bruce Wayne) and Mark Hamil (The Joker) were re-introduced to their iconic roles with Tara Strong (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl) and Ray Wise (Commissioner Gordon) joining the nightmare fueled roller coaster that is The Killing Joke. This story is notorious for being the darkest/grittiest story arc in Batman history and Alan Moore (the original writer of the novel) made sure that this was not for children earning its R-rating in 1988. Flash forwarding 28 years, the story now has voices and an original score that brings the story to a terrifying new level.

We were all worried when Mark Hamil tweeted that he won’t be doing Joker anymore after the Arkham Asylum games. When The Killing Joke was announced last year, Mark wanted to be apart of the project and his reprisal of this terrifying role was not only welcomed, rather the concept was adored by staff of the film and fans alike.

Overall, I was very excited to see this plus there was a lot of hype and The Killing Joke exceeded that hype by a mile. If I had to rate the film out of 10, my score is a strong 9.5 out of 10 and a must see for all Batman fans over the age of 18. According to Amazon.com, Batman: The Killing Joke will be available on Blu-ray and DVD August 2nd. Pre-orders are being accepted now.