Batman and Harley Quinn (2017)

[Silver Nemesis]

I've heard rumours that The Killing Joke animated film was rushed because Warner Bros wanted to capitalise on Hamill's renewed marketability in the wake of The Force Awakens. I'm not sure if that's true. But if it is, it might account for the poor quality of the finished product.

I agree with TDK that the general quality of these DC animated films has been in decline for a while now. The early movies were mostly great, but I don't think they've produced any real classics since around 2013. I haven't seen the Judas Contract or Batman and Harley Quinn films yet. For all I know, they might be better. But I'm looking forward to Batman vs. Two-Face. And I'm extremely excited about Gotham by Gaslight.

[Slash Man]

It's kind of jarring how they can still have all the same talent, but still can't quite live up to the glory days of the 90s. It's a little disappointing for them to bring back beloved actors into the fold, only to have the films fall short.

I'm a bit divided on how I feel about this in hindsight. For the longest time, I wanted to see the Animated Batman universe revived because I felt it was prematurely ended with the cancellation of The New Batman Adventures. But now, I doubt that anything can truly live up to that high a standard. It seemed like where newer films tried to make Batman too edgy, the Animated Series always nailed the tone. Though even that started to fall apart with Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker - it delivered a satisfying story, but one that felt completely out of touch with the tone of the original series (when it came to Joker's death/ the fate of Robin). Limitations in content were actually part of what made the original series great.

But the film did do some great things here; it revived the DCAU, it put Nightwing in the limelight (something TNBA didn't quite get to explore), and introduced villains not yet added to the show.

[Azrael]

Haven't seen it yet. By the looks of it, it seems like a comedy.

For a revival of the B:TAS style (well, a mix of B:TAS and TNBA) in animated movies, they could have started with something a bit more "serious" and with more meat - something more "epic", more in line with Mask of the Phantasm.

This, judging by the trailer and what members have written, seems like an extended episode, and not a very good one.

[The Laughing Fish]

If this scene was indicative to the whole tone of the film then I'm glad I've never seen it.

What a piece of sh*t (no pun intended). This is how they revive the DCAU Batman interpretations? Why would anyone agree to make a scene so crass and childish? DCAU had humour, but it was definitely far more sophisticated than this.

I can't even count on the animation side of DC any more. Everything has gone cheap.