Rating: B- (bad for Laura)
This animated film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke accurately depicts the story from the original one shot comic. The first half begins with a prequel (not from the comic) about Barbara Gordon, Batgirl and the daughter of commissioner Gordon. She is a young librarian, an apprentice of sorts with Batman, and has obvious feelings for him. We watch through her eyes as she attempts to communicate her desires with an ever distant and aloof Batman. They pursue criminals, mainly a particularly creepy sociopath with feelings for Batgirl. Following this prequel, it goes into the actual Killing Joke story, which is for all intents and purposes exactly the same as the graphic novel. The Killing Joke section of the film was perfectly adapted into animation, keeping with many of the shots and panels from the graphic novel.
The film saw several voice acting veterans as key characters. Tara Strong did an excellent job as Barbara Gordon, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill return as the iconic voices of Batman and the Joker respectively. Hamill’s performance, unsurprisingly, was standout above the rest.
The prequel exists for a number of reasons. The content of The Killing Joke is not enough to fill out an entire feature film, so adding in more material at the beginning is an attempt to make it a full feature. It also provides a context and backstory for Barbara Gordon, who plays a pivotal but minimal role in the Killing Joke. It is also intended to make this minimal role more meaningful.
However, in the process of giving her more story, the creators highly sexualised her. One shot pans from her ass to her breasts while she runs, before moving on to another shot. She’s the lusty librarian after batman, she’s desireable and objectified. This is unfortunate, especially as her role in the Killing Joke narrative is to be victimised by the Joker violently in order to motivate Batman.
In the end, the prequel tacked onto the beginning of the story not only failed to give a more meaningful role to Barbara Gordon, it actually exacerbated the existing problems in the original material.