DC Animation has had a strong track record with their comic adaptations, and one of the most anticipated projects of recent memory involved Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s classic Batman tale The Killing Joke.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The final product wasn’t as well received as DC and Warner Bros. had hoped, however, and in a new Honest Trailer from Screen Junkies, fans have a better understanding as to why it didn’t meet their high bar. The biggest complaints, which mostly match up with the general consensus, seem to hover around the length of the movie and the overall treatment of Batgirl.
One of those can be intrinsically linked to the other, as the reason there is so much new material included is that the original story is only 48 pages long. To bulk that running time to what is necessary for a feature film, the studio included a Batgirl centric story arc, which by itself would be a good thing, but the additional content does nothing but detracts from Batgirl’s character.
She’s talked down to and marginalized, and at one point roofied, which doesn’t add anything remotely positive to her arc. The story is already rather unkind to the character, so it’s not like she needed to be kicked down even more.
Also highlighted in the video is the rather benign performances from icons Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. The goal was most likely to go for a more subtle delivery, but everything feels too stilted, aside from the random profanity that is used to take advantage of the R-rating.
You can view all of their impressions in the full trailer above.
