As I've said in at least two previous reviews, I hate most cartoons and I don't consider animated movies "real" movies. However, there are exceptions to my disdain for the cartooning medium, most of which are courtesy of producer Bruce Timm, and one of my personal… More
As I've said in at least two previous reviews, I hate most cartoons and I don't consider animated movies "real" movies. However, there are exceptions to my disdain for the cartooning medium, most of which are courtesy of producer Bruce Timm, and one of my personal favorites of these is a series from the early 2000s called Batman Beyond. Presented as a futuristic continuation of the critically acclaimed Batman animated series, Beyond was set fifty years in the future, in a world in which Bruce Wayne had long since retired as Batman, only for his secret to be discovered by troubled teenager Terry McGinnis. Because Bruce, now in his seventies and with a weak heart, is incapable of acting as the Dark Knight, Terry takes the mantle on in his stead, wearing a cybernetic bodysuit that gives him enhanced strength, flight capability, and a two-way comm link to the Batcave, where Wayne can monitor his progress and coach him through the fight against crime. I loved this series when it was released, because it didn't just feel like a continuation of the animated series, but a legitimate addition to the character's history, showing us a possible future for Bruce Wayne that made total sense (dramatically speaking) while introducing a fresh new main character to carry on the Batman name and creating an interesting student-teacher dynamic between the two. Sure, it was a blatant attempt to draw in younger viewers by making Batman a relatable teenager, dealing with high school, a girlfriend, and his family; but in the hands of Timm and his collaborators, Beyond grew into its own as a series, leaving behind such labels as "Batman spin-off" or "Spider-Man rip-off with Iron Man overtones" by establishing its own unique mythology with original stories and villains that weren't just updates versions of the classic Batman rogues. Because of that, it's incredibly ironic that the pinnacle of Batman Beyond's awesomeness would come with Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, a direct-to-video movie designed to bridge the gap between the original Batman series and the spin-off, while simultaneously bringing the Joker into the futuristic setting of Beyond.
Further proving that the best Batman movies are the ones that feature the Clown Prince of Crime as the bad guy, Return of the Joker works so well because it builds off of long-established relationships between its central characters. This is the culmination of the Batman/Joker war, and the story takes their bitter rivalry to its logically dark conclusion; at the same time, it interjects Terry into this decades-long power struggle as a wild card, putting him through the ultimate test of his mettle as the Dark Knight by squaring him off against the greatest enemy Batman has ever faced. But just to make things more interesting, the story is presented as a mystery: Wayne, after a long period of seclusion, has decided to take an active role in his family's company again, which rubs some people in the corporation the wrong way; meanwhile, Terry has finally gained a sense of confidence in his role as the new Batman, even though the hours make it difficult to have any kind of a personal life. Suddenly, someone who claims to be the original Joker makes a suitably ostentatious entrance into the Gotham scene, which shakes Bruce to the core; despite the fact that the real Clown Prince should be nearly eighty years old (while this new claimant to the throne is still relatively young and vital), all evidence seems to indicate that this man is the actual Joker himself- something that Bruce claims is impossible, as the genuine article has been dead for decades. Haunted by this vision of a nightmare from the past, Bruce demands that Terry turn over the batsuit, unwilling to put another person's life on the line for his mission; unfortunately, the move proves to be too little, too late, as the Joker somehow knows all of Wayne's secrets, setting his sights on Bruce and Terry while they're most vulnerable. With Bruce on the edge of death and the Joker free to reign terror on all of Gotham, Terry discovers that the key to the Joker's identity may lie in the events of his final battle with the original Dark Knight, and a last, twisted act of cruelty committed by the Harlequin of Hate.
The cast is straight from the television show, and like all the Timm animation casts, it is a model of absolute perfection. To begin with, there's Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis, the titular Batman Beyond; Friedle, a Nickelodeon veteran from shows such as Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Boy Meets World, has found in voice work a way to keep playing teenagers well into his thirties- he's got that kind of voice that just exudes youthful energy (which even comes through in his Batman voice, thankfully without rendering it laughable). His McGinnis is earnest, but with a smart-aleck-y arrogant streak that distinguishes him from the first Batman; he's more headstrong, likely to rush in without thinking and end up in over his head. Still, he's a very likable character, especially in the way that he banters with his mentor. Speaking of which, Bruce Wayne is played by the incomparable Kevin Conroy, who had been voicing the character almost continuously since the original animated series began in 1992. This is for very good reason: he is AMAZING, easily the best voice performer to ever tackle Batman (in fact, he's <i>still</i> playing the part, in the direct-to-DVD Superman/Batman films AND in the Arkham Asylum video games), and his deep, gravelly voice work is even <i>better</i> for the elderly Wayne. Conroy's character is a little stoic, however, and shines brightest when playing off of other, more ostentatious characters; thankfully, he's perfectly complimented by the brilliance of Mark Hamill as the Clown Prince of Crime. Best known, of course, for his role in the Star Wars franchise, Hamill learned in the early nineties (thanks to a guest starring role as the supervillain the Trickster on the live-action Flash T.V. series) that he had a marketably demented evil laugh, and he parleyed this into a recurring gig as the Joker on the Batman animated series- and like Conroy, he's credited as the best voice artist to ever tackle the character (he's also got a stake in the Arkham Asylum games). For this movie, however, Hamill has his hands full, as he's playing essentially three characters: the original bombastic, over-the-top Joker from the present day, a Wayne-Powers executive named Jordan Price (established as a perfect red herring for the mystery of the Clown Prince's identity), and the new "Joker Beyond", who, despite being identical to the original, is more subdued and menacing than the cackling madman of the past. These three actors carry most of the movie, but they're bolstered by a stellar supporting cast: Stockard Channing plays Commissioner Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl having followed in the footsteps of her father and joined the police force in the future; Teri Garr reprises her role from the series as Mary McGinnis, Terry's very much alive mother (which officially makes Terry the first Batman who isn't an orphan); Arlene Sorkin returns for a final go-round as Harley Quinn, the Joker's obsessively-infatuated gal pal, in a flashback sequence; and the Joker's new gang in the future is <i>loaded</i> with familiar faces (none of which we see, of course), including Melissa Joan Hart, Henry Rollins, Michael Rosenbaum (doing his best Christopher Walken impression), and voice performing legend Frank Welker.
I might be biased because Paul Dini is one of my favorite writers, but the script for this movie is <i>amazing</i>. Sure, the mystery element is a little simplistic (there are only three possible suspects, one of whom is very dead, and the other obviously a red herring) and the hero's arc feels a bit shallow, but Dini manages to capture the spirit of the Batman/Joker rivalry at its absolute best. As with any good story, it's really the characters that sell this movie for me; Dini creates an epic, dramatically powerful conclusion to the war between the two in the traditional mythos (one that just feels <i>right</i>, like, if they were going to end the Batman books once and for all, this is how they would do it) and weaves it together with a ghost-from-the-past mystery that throws Terry, a totally different and unique Batman, against the Dark Knight's greatest enemy to see how the two characters play off of each other. This is also, if you're watching the uncut version, a shockingly dark story, filled with violence and tragedy and capturing perfectly the kind of superficially frivolous yet ultimately monstrous character that the Clown Prince of Crime is supposed to be; other than The Dark Knight, I would easily name this the greatest Joker story ever put to film (well, videotape, anyway). The animation in this movie is very good, even though the character design is as paired-down and minimalist as the T.V. shows; in a couple of big action scenes, it's obvious that the filmmakers got some higher-end anime studios involved with the animation, and the final result looks absolutely stellar (particularly the explosions, which are beautifully rendered). The art design for the backgrounds and the environment is very clearly like a cleaned-up version of Blade Runner with some proto-Star Trek futurist influences thrown in, and it looks cool- it's dark, but still techno, which is very fitting for a "Batman in the future" show. The music is also techno- well, more like techno-metal- and my only complaint about it is that they didn't include the excellent opening credits theme from the show; other than that, though, it was very appropriate and effective. But on a side note, this movie has some of the laziest, most boring opening credits I have ever seen. Seriously, I could whip the same thing out on Final Cut Pro in, like, two minutes. It's funny, in the commentary they admit that the budget ran out before they could get around to the credits- so at least they deserve points for candor...
The fact is, if I weren't so biased towards it, I wouldn't think of this as any more of a "film" than any other cartoon out there; in fact, I <i>still</i> don't think of it as a movie. I think of it as a comic book. To comic fans like myself, the Bruce Timm animated series...es... were just as valid as anything you'd find on a magazine rack; so much so that several characters from the animated world, like the super-popular Harley Quinn, made the jump to the print medium with the greatest of ease. Batman Beyond was a fun continuation of the Batman mythology, carrying the story into a possible future that felt authentic to the characters and the history of the Dark Knight- even if it did feel a little unrealistic sometimes (but hey, we're talking about a character who willingly trained not just one, but <i>five</i> kid sidekicks, most of whom weren't even in their teens when they started, so realism kinda goes out the window early on); and of all the Batman Beyond stories, Return of the Joker measures up as the character's finest hour, a must-see for fans of the show and for Batman fans in general. It may not be <i>cinema</i>, per se, but it's good entertainment.
