Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

When I bought the unedited version of this movie on DVD, I had never watched Batman Beyond in my life, so I knew nothing about the storyline. I wasn't even sure about buying the movie before having seen it, but I am a great fan of Mark Hamill's Joker, so I was sure that even if the movie sucked, I would at least like the Joker.

What I found was a great bit of animation with a surprisingly awesome storyline. I was expecting the comic book cliche of a clone replacement, but the fresh twist had me guessing all the way through. And I was right about loving the Joker, he was still as great as he always was.

If you haven't seen it yet, don't wait. It won't disappoint you.

In the year 2040, Terry McGinnis continues to fight crime of Neo Gotham under the mantle of Batman, however, after stopping the Jokerz gang from stealing high tech equipment, he gets suspicious of their actions. However, the Jokerz returned with the console's memory board and gave it to a man sitting on a throne, who reveals himself to be The Joker, who has come back from the dead (as an episode had his remains). After his return as CEO is crashed, Bruce relieves Terry of duty, not wanting him to face Joker due to how dangerous he is, but after the Jokerz attack Terry in a nightclub, and Bruce is hospitalized after an ambush by The Joker leaves him poisoned with the clown's signature toxin, Terry decides to don the Batsuit to find out how the clown prince of crime is back from the grave and what he is plotting for Neo-Gotham.

Yeah, this movie had an interesting development time. Having to be delayed and re-edited after the Columbine massacre started a new backlash against violence in films and video games (because it's easier to pass the buck to those two industries instead of going after the real cause), the film had some scenes changed to avoid mentioning death, change or remove lines of dialogue, and even shorten some fight scenes. However, fans hated the change, and in 2002, after countless petitions, the original, uncut version of the film was released with a PG-13 rating.

And I have to agree that the movie is best watched uncut. Being a film, it could do anything that KidsWB would never allow an episode of the cartoon it's based on to have, giving it the tone that the fans would expect from Batman. Also, the voice actors return to reprise their respective roles (even Mark Hamill comes back to voice Joker), and they do a fantastic job, and the story is awesome, with many twists, and even a flashback telling the tale of Joker's death (the cause being different depending on which version is being watched, edited or original uncut). This is a good film for any Batman fan, and one best watched uncut (unless you have kids, in that case, the edited version is also good).

I've never really been that wild about this Terry kid, or this new costume. He seems to rely more on his Iron Man-like costume than his intellect and deductive skills, as the original Batman did. Having said that, my favourite part of Return of the Joker was when Barbara Gordon flashed back and remembered the last time Batman fought the Joker. That is an absolutely marvelous scene. You feel the concern and horror thunder through Batman as he's confronted with the atrocities Robin has endured, as well as his hatred and fury towards the Joker. The people in Warner Brothers animation have thankfully returned to drawing the Joker with the detail they had when Batman the Animated Series started. And as much as I don't really like him, Terry's climactic fight with the Joker is definitely worth checking out. As a previous comment said, it's a pleasant surprise.

I do not know why this was a direct-to-video release. It was very exciting and I think it would have done pretty well in theatres. I rented BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER because I love the BATMAN BEYOND television show and I loved BATMAN BEYOND: THE MOVIE. The first couple of scenes seemed a little too much like the television show, but as soon as I saw the new Joker, I knew this was going to be Batman like we have never seen him before. This was so different from the show in so many ways and had such great animation. It was a fast-paced animated thriller. It was intense. I loved it. A few days later, I bought it on DVD and listened to the filmakers' commentary. I had no idea that so much work was done on this movie in such a short time. Sadly, none of the filmakers' mentioned the cuts that were made by Warner Brothers due to the amount of violence. I think it would be really interesting to see the footage that was cut from the movie. Hopefully, Warner Brothers will come out with a version that contains the cut footage some day. Until then, I'll just enjoy the movie the way Warner Brothers released it. It is one of the best animated movie I have ever seen. I hope there are some more BATMAN BEYOND movies in the future.

I watched this not having seen a single episode of the show, and much to its credit, I had no trouble at all following the film. The plot is excellent, interesting, well-thought out, and develops rather nicely throughout, with a twist that will keep you guessing. This is well-paced, and there is an immense amount of the awesome, well-choreographed action. While quite intense and exciting, this doesn't overwhelm or overstimulate the viewer. The characters are well-written, credible and consistent. Every acting performance is great, with Hamill's take on the Joker taking the cake, as always, with the sheer maniacal quality to it, and his endless enthusiasm. The psychology is all accurate. This has well-done 2D animation and marvelous design. This builds the mood expertly, and the bleak atmosphere of Gotham is captured beautifully. The music is cool, and in general the audio is spot-on, with every effect sounding just right. There is a bit of violence in this, and I understand that it is stronger in the Director's Cut. I recommend this to any fan of Batman. 8/10