For decades, Batman: The Killing Joke was a dream project for fans and the creative team behind Batman: The Animated Series. The Killing Joke was finally adapted as an animated film and released last month to a surprisingly mixed reception. Our reviewer, Eric Diaz, really enjoyed the film and he wrote a positive review from Comic-Con. Other viewers have had major issues with the movie over its treatment of Barbara Gordon, and those fans apparently include the Honest Trailers team.
Do you remember the way that last week’s Honest Trailers took it pretty easy on The Jungle Book? Well, the gloves were off for The Killing Joke, as this film got one of the most brutal HT breakdowns in a while, and some of their critiques were quite funny. Mashing up Brian Azzarello‘s original dialogue with audio clips from LEGO Batman was truly inspired. Although we definitely disagree with this video’s take on the voice acting in the film. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Tara Strong delivered on their end, and we think that they’re still among the very best to ever portray their respective roles.
Batman: The Killing Joke has always had a big problem at its core: the casual maiming and sexual assault of Barbara Gordon simply as a way for the Joker to strike at Batman and Commissioner Gordon. In the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, Barbara really had a raw deal. After The Killing Joke, John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Chuck Dixon, and later writers reinvented Barbara as the hacker known as Oracle, and made her a very important heroine in the DCU. Bruce Timm, Azzarello, and the other creators behind this film even paid homage to Oracle with a mid-credits scene; and we believe them when they said that they wanted to give Batgirl her due in this story. However, there are some very valid criticisms about the way that they portrayed Barbara/Batgirl in the first half of the film. For better or worse, they own that.
How do you feel about the Honest Trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke? Let us know in the comment section below!
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Image: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
