Batman: The Killing Joke is an upcoming DC animated movie, set to be released on DVD and Blue Ray on August 2 and debut at San Diego Comic Con of this summer. However Fathom events are holding a special one night only showing of the movie in select theaters and tickets were just released today, Friday June 17, 2016.
Now Batman: The Killing Joke have been getting a lot of attention in the last couple of months. Firstly is because of the voice talent; Kevin Conroy is returning as Batman, who has been voicing the character for over twenty years beginning with the animated series to the critically acclaimed Batman Arkham Video Games. But the actor who is getting the real attention is Mark Hamill as the Joker, who recently returned to the big screen as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
After the original Star Wars trilogy ended where Mark Hamill play Luke Skywalker, he went into voice acting. His most famous role with his voice acting, is none other than the Joker which he also started voicing in the Batman: The Animated Series. Partnered with Kevin Conroy, the duo are considered by many fans to be the best Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime there is; even beating out Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, which Ledger won a posthumous Academy Award for his take on the character. Other voice credit includes Tara Strong also returning to voice Batgirl/Barbra Gordon and Ray Wise who will voice Commissioner Gordon.
Another reason why Batman: The Killing Joke is getting such attention is that it is rated R. The movie is direct adaptation of the somewhat infamous graphic novel of the same name written by Alan Moore, who also wrote Watchmen and other famous graphic novels. The story follows Batman as he hunts down The Joker after he attacks the Gordon Family. The graphic novel proves to be quit disturbing where The Joker commits one of his most heinous crimes. [su_spoiler title=”Joker’s Heinous Act” style=”fancy”]The Joker shoots and paralyses Batgirl. But it does not stop there after shooting her, Joker starts to undress her and raises his glass saying “Don’t worry I’ll take some snapshots to remind him of you.”. This brought Joker down to a whole new level.[/su_spoiler]
With this heavily suggested rape scene, This DC animated movie might be too touchy for some audiences, especially with recent events with college student Brock Turner, who has been charged with felony sexual assault charges. There have already been protest on this subject matter in this film. Willam Brooker aka Doctor Batman, is a film and cultural studies professor at Kingston University who came out to show his distaste and will not be seeing the movie (Click here to see the article). Now there might actually be positive side to all of this. With recent events and the disturbing, Batman: The Killing Joke could be a good opportunity to open up some dialogue related to this subject matter. Conversations could include rape culture , it’s role in the film industry and how it has changed over the years. What were the motivations behind Joker’s choice and why it is morally wrong. There are many ways to go about a discussion on this scene, how immoral the act of rape is and it’s role in movies.
So with tickets now available, are you going go see Batman and The Joker battle it out or is the subject manor a bit too touchy for your taste? Comment below and let us know. Also check out the trailer for the movie if you are on the fence.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnTSqgJPVl8″]