Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (Direct to DVD)
Originally Reviewed on April 27th 2008
The title says it all, but how the Joker -young and vital- happens to find himself in the future is the mystery surrounding this title. I purchased the uncut PG-13 version because it came highly recommended, and it was good, very good and yet... I can't really get into this modern version of the Bat.
From the opening sequence my problems with the series were still present. The futuristic architecture and landscapes, the industrial rock music score, the voice work by Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis (Batman) still annoys me, as does the voice of Barbara Gordon. Technically everything they've done for the series is the right move, Batman would have all the modern updated toys, it would be slick but even though it's the right move, I don't like it.
I have tried to separate myself from the original, and have told myself to view this as a different character. But the fact that Bruce Wayne is present as a mentor and the history is all there, I find that a futile endeavor.
Which is probably why the movie doesn't start to click until it shifts into flashback mode. Ahh yes, this is the Batman I like. The dark shadows, the cape, the brooding character with deep smooth voice. The gothic landscapes, the lightning. Now it had me. The bit here offers some horrifying revelations and the Joker is given new cruel and dangerous dimensions (Though he's a little better fighter than I remember). When Batman and Batgirl square off against Joker and Harley Quinn I was digging it.
Then we go back to the future and my interest waivers a smidgen.
Return of the Joker is a good story though predictable and the way Joker finds his way back is a little too out there for my blood (again, probably logical to this series, but far fetched -even to comic book standards- for the original) but it's well told, moves along nicely. The new villains didn't do a whole lot for me, though I enjoyed how one of the characters sounds like Christophen Walken and I liked Dee Dee (Voiced nicely by Melissa Joan Hart). Chicks who kick ass are always cool to me. And of course Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy are perfect as Joker and Bruce Wayne.
I think if I could just get into the Batman Beyond universe this would have been even more enjoyable than it was (and it is a superb movie) but as it stands, I'd rank it a solid 3rd behind Phantasm and Batwoman, but ahead of Sub Zero.
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