Movie Review - Batman & Harley Quinn

Well if The Killing Joke got a limited cinema release, why not do the same with this film. So those of you growing up in the 90s like me will remember the great animated show called Batman: The Animated Series. It was the show that helped Kevin Conroy become a big name in voice acting and to many, he is considered the definitive Batman when it comes to voicing him. In fact his take on Batman also introduced the idea of giving Batman and Bruce Wayne two distinct voices which has since been implemented in Batman media from that point on. He's also the only Batman so far to have not killed anyone thus making him a Batman that knows him inside and out. So here we have a film that not only manages to perfectly retain the animation of the DC Animated Universe, but can also serve as a hybrid between the darker and gritty tones of Kevin Conroy's Batman and the silly but comedic violence and humor of the late Adam West's Batman (who has his last Batman film coming out later this year). Not just that, but the casting of Harley Quinn is one that as predicted, works pretty well. So let's see how this plays out:

Not being based on any particular Batman story as such, the dynamic duo of Batman (reprised by Conroy) and Nightwing (reprised by Loren Lester) investigate a lab that has been attacked by Poison Ivy (voiced by Paget Brewster) and Floronic Man (voiced by regular Batman collaborator Kevin Michael Richardson). Upon learning that they plan to rid the world of humans using their respective powers, the duo form an uneasy but necessary alliance with Harley Quinn (voiced by the Big Bang Theory's Melissa Rauch) who had retired from a life of crime to work at a superhero diner, to find the pair and take them down before they cause the apocalypse. All filled with 80s style humor and violence while keeping the dark and gritty tones of the Animated Series era of Batman.

Even though I find nowadays that anything reliving the nostalgia of the 20th century can get tiring after a while, I enjoyed this film. Its nice to have Kevin Conroy's Batman do a more comedic version of his Batman and just seeing him and Harley Quinn together shows that sometimes, its best to put differences aside to take down a common enemy regardless of how different they are. The animation is reminiscent of the DCAU which makes a change from the anime route the DC animated films seem to be going towards these days and its just nice to have something more light hearted amongst the dark and serious tones of other DC media like the Arrowverse and the DC Extended Universe (although to an extent, LEGO Batman Movie did that too). 8/10