So I had a chance to catch up on a few DC Universe animated movies. And the results have been, mixed. Ok I HATED Superman:Doomsday. But I also checked out Superman/Batman:Public Enemies and Superman:The Elite. I was impressed with how close to the comics they were. But one thing that irks me is that in both DC tweaked the story and usually in a lame way. I can’t explain why without spoiling but let’s just say that in both endings the movies are not identical to the one in their original stories. And that isn’t the worst thing. You have to make changes in an adaptation, especially when you realize you audience may not be familiar with a certain character or situation. But it does seem to be a thing with DC, making stupid and unnecessary changes. Which leads us the crown jewel of examples for this:
Yeah this came out two years ago, in theaters, and man were people hyped. The Killing Joke was written by Alan Moore and is one of THE most acclaimed comic books out there, not to mention one of THE quintessential Joker stories ever told. So people were anxious to see the results. However, it didn’t work out so well when they discovered DC had done it again. But this was more than a minor detail or small story change, this was a slap in the face! How? Here’s a clue:
So obviously by now, two years later, I have seen all the reviews and heard all the critiques. And while I get the criticism it didn’t scare me from watching it (unlike that idiotic Death of Superman they came out with this year). So at long last I got it off Netflix, and put it in. What did I think? First I should point out, that I love the comic book. I am not a huge Batman fan, as you maybe can tell with all the articles on Superman stories I’ve done and none for Batman. I don’t remember how or why I read this the first time, but I know I liked it. A lot. The atmosphere, the symbolism, and even the fact it’s low on dialogue which worked here. As hard as it is to believe the masterwork by Alan Moore came out thirty years ago, in 1988!And the story has inspired lots of other Batman media, I even recognized some of the elements in The Dark Knight. The comic has one or two flaws, Alan Moore has even admitted this, but it’s damn good.
In the comic Barbara Gordon is there to be shot by The Joker. And that’s it. In fact the way she is portrayed and drawn you’d never know this was Batgirl, the character gets no respect. So the movie decided to fix this by giving a prologue all about Batgirl. With no ties to The Killing Joke. At all! To be honest, it’s not the worst story except for a couple things like the pointless gay best friend and the fact that Batman and Batgirl have sex. Yeah, that’s right. It’s not shown but it is flat out stated rather than just being kept vague or up to interpretation. And this is where an interesting Batgirl story stopped for me, there was no need for that. In all their attempts to make the character strong they did the opposite. But the big problem is the prologue really fixes nothing. You could have done in a thirty second flashback what this twenty minute prologue does. Barbara is still shot, point blank and not putting up a fight, and she is basically out of the story. Her hospital scene isn’t even as strong as it could have been (or was in the comic). We don’t see her recovery, get her revenge…nope just gone from the movie. I think if they were going to do this they should have connected the two stories better, instead you forget the whole prologue as soon as it’s over! I know I did anyway.
So what about the rest of it? When it actually starts, The Killing Joke is a mixed bag. The animation is chilling at times, lifeless at others. I agree with Nostalgia Critic’s assessment, why didn’t they expand areas of it rather than sticking so close to the source material? I mean it’s almost panel to panel! As I mentioned above DC has tinkered with their other adaption movies adding elements that weren’t in the comic so why not here? All we get is a little more of Batman shaking down criminals to locate The Joker. I get the feeling the creators were so afraid to do anything but a direct adaptation so that’s all they did! For example, rather than have the flashbacks in the story just like the graphic novel (with lazier transitions btw) why not make it a separate story (maybe a prologue #2) and develop it more?
Now I know I am not saying anything that others haven’t. I wanted to say how much I loved that first twenty minutes, and while it wasn’t a bad Batgirl story it doesn’t match with the rest, at all. And even as a Batgirl story it feels incomplete. Is it the worst thing I have ever seen? Oh lord no. It was a faithful adaption and unlike some other DC movies I am glad I watched it. It is funny though that Alan Moore’s name is no where to be seen. It’s just given a choice, stick with the classic graphic novel. A fellow reviewer here said a good idea may have been to include this as an anthology, and that may have indeed been a good idea a since a few other stories could have fleshed out the world and the characters more than the forced prologue where the writers were clearly trying to hard to be controversial.
And before people ask, I resent that The Death of Superman was thrown into the NEW 52 universe rather than getting a more faithful panel to panel adaptation like, oh I don’t know..The Killing Joke! I did see the movie(s) and the changes made from the original comic were painful. Killing Joke had its issues but the Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen films were a flat out insult.
Yeah maybe it’s time after all the love I’ve thrown at Superman to finally discuss some good Batman stories. But for now, comment and let me know if you guys liked this movie or not.
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