Directed by Curt Geda
Story by Paul Dini, Bruce W. Timm and Glen Murakami
Screenplay by Paul Dini
Based on the DC Comics Characters Created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Bruce W. Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett
Executive Produced by Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan and Jean MacCurdy
Produced by Bruce W. Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Glen Murakami, Shaun McLaughlin and Teruhisa Yahaji
Art Direction by Makoto Shiraishi
Character Design by Glen Murakami and Bruce W. Timm
Editing by Joe Gall
Original Motion Picture Score Composed by Kristopher Carter
Story by Paul Dini, Bruce W. Timm and Glen Murakami
Screenplay by Paul Dini
Based on the DC Comics Characters Created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Bruce W. Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett
Executive Produced by Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan and Jean MacCurdy
Produced by Bruce W. Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Glen Murakami, Shaun McLaughlin and Teruhisa Yahaji
Art Direction by Makoto Shiraishi
Character Design by Glen Murakami and Bruce W. Timm
Editing by Joe Gall
Original Motion Picture Score Composed by Kristopher Carter
Will Friedle ... Terrence 'Terry' McGinnis/Batman (voice)
Kevin Conroy ... Bruce Wayne/Batman (voice)
Mark Hamill ... Jack Napier/The Joker/Jordan Price (voice)
Angie Harmon ... Commissioner Barbara Gordon (voice)
Dean Stockwell ... Mr. Timothy 'Tim' Drake (voice)
Teri Garr ... Mrs. Mary McGinnis (voice)
Arleen Sorkin ... Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn/'Nana' Harley (voice)
Tara Strong ... Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (voice)
Mathew Valencia ... Timothy 'Tim' Drake/Robin (voice)
Melissa Joan Hart ... Delia & Deidre Dennis/Dee Dee (voice)
Don Harvey ... Charles Buntz/Chucko (voice)
Michael Rosenbaum ... Stewart Carter Winthrop III/Ghoul (voice)
Frank Welker ... Woof the Hyena-Man/Ace the Bathound (voice)
Henry Rollins ... Benjamin 'Ben' Knox/Bonk (voice)
Rachael Leigh Cook ... Chelsea (voice)
Ryan O'Donohue ... Matthew 'Matt' McGinnis (voice)
Lauren Tom ... Dana Tan (voice)
Vernee Watson-Johnson ... Ms. Joyce Carr (voice)
Andrea Romano ... Joker Jr. Vocal FX (voice)
The sleeker, more dangerous and seemingly immortal Clown Prince of Crime is back to terrorize Futuristic Gotham City, the new generation's Batman and the aging Bruce Wayne.
----------------------------------------------
With the creation of “Batman Beyond” came several questions the fans needed to know.
And two of the biggest were answered with gusto with 2000’s “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.”
It's approximately 50 years into the future. Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) has
retired from active crime-fighting, preferring instead to monitor his protégé
in the field: Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle). McGinnis who lost his own father
under tragic circumstances, and now he has taken up the mantle in a thirst for
revenge. McGinnis patrols the streets of Gotham in a futuristic up Batsuit as with each victory, he's growing more and more into his role as the city's protector.
As the film opens, Terry comes across a new group of Jokerz (a notorious Gotham
street gang) who are involved in a high tech robbery from WayneCorp which
puzzles him; t doesn't fit the typical M.O. of the gang. His investigation
leads to cover ups and secrets and things only becoming more confusing with the
reappearance in Gotham of Batman's greatest arch nemesis - The Joker (Mark
Hamill), thought to be long dead for years.
But is he who he really claims to be?
Bruce relieves Terry of his vigilante duties without any explanation.
Hurt and confused, McGinnis turns to Barbara Gordon, the once-former Batgirl turned commissioner of the police to learn about what happened the tragic night that Batman had his final confrontation with the Joker so many years ago.
But is he who he really claims to be?
Bruce relieves Terry of his vigilante duties without any explanation.
Hurt and confused, McGinnis turns to Barbara Gordon, the once-former Batgirl turned commissioner of the police to learn about what happened the tragic night that Batman had his final confrontation with the Joker so many years ago.
When Warner Brothers first announced the "Batman Beyond" television
series and its parameters, I (like so many Batman fans) met it with hesitation
and skepticism. For all of us, Bruce Wayne will solely be the man beneath the
cowl.
But by going in with an open mind, I was pleasantly surprised and ended up loving the show. It doesn't alter the mythos established in "Batman: The Animated Series" and for such effort to keep the legacy they’d created intact, the show runners are to be commended.
The conscientious choice in "Beyond" to sacrifice enriched character development (at least the level found in "Batman: The Animated Series") for action when introducing a new rogues gallery ensured that "Beyond" would never reach the classic status of its predecessor. Even though I loved how well future Gotham was portrayed and was pleasantly surprised how well Japanimation complemented the look and feel of the series, the best Batman stories have always been the ones which probed the psychological conflict between Batman and his adversaries. This is where the adventures of Terry McGinnis might hit a different beat for fans; they’re far more embroiled in the momentum of physical confrontation than the psychological angst.
But "Return of the Joker" finally more than makes up for it by pitting Terry against one such foe; easily the most formidable of his mentor’s days as the original dark knight.
But by going in with an open mind, I was pleasantly surprised and ended up loving the show. It doesn't alter the mythos established in "Batman: The Animated Series" and for such effort to keep the legacy they’d created intact, the show runners are to be commended.
The conscientious choice in "Beyond" to sacrifice enriched character development (at least the level found in "Batman: The Animated Series") for action when introducing a new rogues gallery ensured that "Beyond" would never reach the classic status of its predecessor. Even though I loved how well future Gotham was portrayed and was pleasantly surprised how well Japanimation complemented the look and feel of the series, the best Batman stories have always been the ones which probed the psychological conflict between Batman and his adversaries. This is where the adventures of Terry McGinnis might hit a different beat for fans; they’re far more embroiled in the momentum of physical confrontation than the psychological angst.
But "Return of the Joker" finally more than makes up for it by pitting Terry against one such foe; easily the most formidable of his mentor’s days as the original dark knight.
Unlike "Mystery of the Batwoman" and "Sub Zero," which both ultimately play more like lengthened episodes of minor side adventures, there's a deep connection to the mythology of the animated Batman timeline in "Return of the Joker" right down to the title itself.
The decision to bring the Clown Prince of Crime into this
future seemed like a long-time coming, I think.
I suppose of we had to get technical about it, it CAN be
seen as somewhat of a contrivance set up just to bring the Joker back. After
all he’s not an immortal like Freeze or Ra’s Al Ghul, which both made sense as
far as the logic established by their origins.
But what can you do? It’s the Joker.
If any of Batman’s foes were going to be insane enough
and tenacious enough to find a way to see to it that their terrorizing of
Gotham was going to continue, it would easily have to be him. The Penguin
certainly wouldn’t have had the guts to kidnap Tim Drake and download his own
DNA into his brain.
That’s just twisted and genius; that’s the Joker for you.
The depiction of the Joker in the original “Batman: The
Animated Series” and “The New Batman Adventures” always seemed to play up the
kooky clown with a subtle hint of malice just to make the threat palpable. But
throughout the older shows, there was always the subtle impression that behind
the façade of a maniac with a clown motif resided a man of intellect.
On the one hand, you had “Joker’s Favor” where he
blackmailed a common citizen and stalked him for years just to have him open a
door for an oversized cake. But on the other, you’ve got a scene in “Old Wounds”
where he competently operates a Radar disruptor to down incoming aircraft. He’ll
slap someone around with a rubber chicken one day then synthesize a complex two
part compound of Joker Toxin to kill Mr. Francis in “The Laughing Fish.”
While never brought to light as much beforehand, “Return
of the Joker” gives us a chilling insight into just how brilliant the Joker can
be...and, as a result, just how dangerous.
I love Bruce’s character arc in the movie; his total
shutdown at the sight of Joker and his eventual respect for Terry by the end.
Throughout the early episodes of the series, I felt a sense of Bruce never
being truly comfortable with the idea of standing by on the sidelines, acting like
nothing but a coach for Terry.
And aside from allowing a child to witness the murders of
their own parents, this is most certainly the ultimate nightmare scenario for
him.
Not just that the deadliest enemy he’d ever known is
back...but that unlike their history prior, he personally can’t do anything to
stop him this time.
This creates a wonderful new dynamic for the relationship
between these two men and it’s only deepened and layered when you bring Terry
into the middle of the iconic conflict.
It's a compelling drama heavily endowed with a fever
pitch of psychological conflict and the themes of legacy withstanding the test
of time both negatively and positively.
“Return of the Joker” also delights and excites with some incredible action pieces that went to great lengths in upping the ante and exploding into a scope that the television series couldn’t quite grasp in the way that a feature length project could.
The opening is just a great way to get things off to a
rip-roaring start as Batman confronts the Jokerz during an ambitious tech heist
that moves from the innards of a high-rise industrial Gotham Shipping warehouse down the tunnel
of an airlock and out into the open skies above Gotham.
While the series had its fair share of Jokerz characters,
I found the designs of the Joker’s personal team to be very inspired;
especially Ghoul with his kitschy Halloween motif and especially Woof, who’s
creation pulls inspiration from “Batman Beyond” by being a half man/half hyena
hybrid compliments of the ‘Splicing’ fad brought about by Dr. Cuvier in the series.
Of course I can’t forget about the lovable yet deadly Dee
Dee twins, originally conceived in essence by Bruce Timm for the original
Animated Series as a pair of twin criminals. Voiced by “Sabrina the Teenage
Witch” herself, Melissa Joan Hart, the characters are a great exercise with
their constant double-talk and ability to gang up on Batman like a crazy homage
to Bambi and Thumper from the James Bond picture "Diamonds Are Forever."
The scale of this battle is astonishing given that we’ve
only just begun by this point; it reminds me of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in
how we’re coming into the story with a confrontation worthy of being a finale
battle, meaning that it can only get bigger and bolder from here on out.
I also have to add that the work done by the overseas
animation studios exceeds expectation.
As with “Mask of the Phantasm” for the original series, “Return
of the Joker,” visually speaking, is the BEST that McGinnis’ Batman and Gotham
City have ever looked. While the first series of episodes were classically
animated, “Batman Beyond” is synonymous with being the first in the DCAU line
to shift from Cel animation to more computer based animation.
Given the science fiction aesthetic, the decision
definitely works in the film’s favor and I love that while “Batman: The
Animated Series” is present literally as an older adventure created via classic
ink and paint, “Batman Beyond” eventually came around to utilizing more cutting
edge methods of artistic creation.
As with the Batman persona itself, the mantle of
animation is passed on to the new generation of technique.
This opening confrontation quickly sets the tone and
carries the story at a near breakneck pace, establishing the atmosphere of “Batman
Beyond”
Another favorite is Batman’s narrow escape from the Wayne
Enterprises Yacht with Jordan Pryce in tow.
The shot of that satellite cannon’s blast hitting the
water; I mean nothing quite like that scale had been managed before and it’s
one of the great catalysts of ambition that led the producers of the movie to
continue on to larger endeavors with the Justice League.
Of course there’s also the finale with the Batmobile
being chased by the Satellite laser. This sequence leading up to the finale
instantly comes to mind in regards to remembering the movie. It’s a
breathtaking ode of violence and the icing on the cake comes courtesy of the
Joker’s iconic laugh; not only has he returned, but mayhem has come back with
vengeful whimsy and the Clown Prince is loving every single minute of it!
“Ooo! I better sit down before I bust a gut, HEH!”
The scene, whipping the high flying Batmobile through the
air as it streaks across elevated highways and shoots past on looking citizens while
the laser gives chase with resulting anarchy rings nostalgic echoes of Katsuhiro
Otomo’s 1988 anime classic “Akira;” specifically the Colonel’s decision to
attempt to overpower Tetsuo with a similar looking laser shot by the orbiting
satellite called SOL.
Obviously the tragic heart of the film is in Barbara Gordon's retelling
flashback of the final fight between Batman and the Joker.
This is the scene that most fans regard as a favorite
moment in the movie.
Just the notion of throwing it back to the days of Bruce in the cape and cowl alongside Robin and Batgirl brings a stirring feeling of nostalgia for the series overall and I just love it.
The flashback is unnerving partly because the events unfold in a cartoon and because of what the film doesn't show us. Just as with “Jaws,” screenwriter Paul Dini holds his cards very close to his chest making the revelation all the more disturbing. Also, for those who thought the animated joker straddled the line between funny and cruel, prepared to be blown away by how sadistic he truly is. Testified in the filmmaker’s commentary, the production team was given some leeway by Broadcasting Standards and Practices. However, following the tragedy at Columbine during the year of production in 1999, the decision WAS made to create an edited version of the movie in order to downplay the violence.
While the uncut film has Tim Drake shoot and kill the
Joker, the edited interpretation sees Drake push Joker into a vat of water
before he trips himself up and flips a switch that electrocutes him.
Regardless of either version, this flashback is just
heartbreaking.
It’s clearly the worst thing this particular Joker has
ever done to this particular Batman; an animated interpretation of such comic
book tragedies as the death of Jason Todd or the paralysis of Barbara Gordon
(both of which the Joker was responsible for!).
“You’ve lost, Batman. Robin is mine. The last sound you’ll
hear will be OUR laughter.”
On a side note, while I completely appreciate getting the chance to see what happened to Tim Drake during the transition from "The New Batman Adventures" to "Batman Beyond," to this day I'd still love to know what happened to Dick Grayson (the original Robin who grew up to become Nightwing). Because watching "Return of the Joker," you'll realize that Grayson as a character is worth more than a simple 'Look him up, has HE got stories' line.
All of this leads up to a satisfying conclusion in a film that tries not to use tired clichés to reveal the mystery of the Joker. No, it's not a Joker-clone or a long lost son or a synthetic android.
It’s just a great, clever way to thrust our classic Joker
into the spotlight of the future, creating a depiction of the character that’s
been around long enough to have a stronger sense of when to strike, when to plan
and when to laugh.
The stakes are high in the final confrontation between
the Joker and the new Batman, when Bruce is almost killed and Gotham faces
devastation at the whim of a madman.
A classic motif for a Batman story made new.
Screenwriter Paul Dini is a master storyteller and he knows these characters inside out. He weaves a brilliant final act that not only convincingly ties all the loose ends, but ends up giving you (or at least me) new respect for McGinnis' Batman. His take down of the Joker is memorable not for its action, but because of the psychological leverage Terry tries to use. The last 2 thirds of the movie alone make it a must watch for Batfans and thriller fans alike.
Finally, the voice acting is sheer bliss.
Kevin Conroy is Batman; he's been doing it since 1992 and
he's timbre is the perfect pitch (pardon the pun) for the Dark Knight and you can definitely heal the emotional weight that comes in here. It's more than old age to be sure and Conroy explores that effectively.
Mark Hamill reprises Joker from the animated series, and
puts up a valid case for dubbing all past and future Joker portrayals. Hamill
has bounds of energy and fun with this character and you can hear it on screen.
In this specific instance, Hamill seems to play the Joker in a more subdued
fashion.
He’s still a lunatic, but it’s cold and far more
calculating. He realizes he doesn’t need all the theatricality he once coveted to
aid in his goals and this in turn molds a Joker that’s sleek; deadly, menacing,
all of the above.
Will Friedle is stupendous as Terry McGinnis. He doesn't
play him like a moper or a whiner and eventually by the end of the movie, we
realize just how far Terry’s come in his own resolve and catharsis as a crime
fighter overlooking the city he’s been bred by Wayne to defend.
My only gripe is that they didn't use Stockard Channing
for Barbara Gordon. I love her grizzled rendition of the character in the series
but due to scheduling conflicts, Angie Harmon stepped in. She was terrific with
what she had to work with. Dean Stockwell’s involvement in a ‘Batman’ project
is just icing on the cake and he brings a tender edge to the role of an elder
Tim Drake that makes it a believable portrayal of the character far past his
boy wonder days.
And who doesn’t love Michael Rosenbaum (TV’s Lex Luthor
on “Smallville” and the voice of the Flash for “Justice League: The Animated
Series”) doing his classic Christopher Walken impression as Ghoul? Alongside
that black witches hat and the jack-o-lantern candy pale, it’s impossible to
consider that voice coming from anyone else.
Overall, with its drive and length and ambition, I have to say that I was blown away by "Return of the Joker" when I first saw it and I’ve come to love it more with each subsequent viewing.
It has a forceful power and an emotional resonance that I
don’t think will lose its potency for years to come, depicting the story of a protégé
finally living up to his mentor’s mantle by taking on an icon of evil they both
know too well.
Don't miss this one.
"Hello, Gotham. JOKER’S BACK IN TOWN!"
Don't miss this one.
"Hello, Gotham. JOKER’S BACK IN TOWN!"
----------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment