Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) Review

After a small group of dead bodies are discovered at a crime scene by Detective Harvey Bullock and Batman, Gotham City's sworn protector decides to pay a visit to one particular criminal, his longtime enemy The Joker, inside the confines of Arkham Asylum, hoping to unravel the meaning behind them. When he arrives, his usually harsher, more physically dangerous methods of getting someone to spill the beans take a back seat to the decision to just talk to his nemesis, in the hopes that after all of these years feuding, they should not end up killing each other in the end. Very shortly thereafter, Batman discovers that The Joker has escaped his prison. Unknown to everyone involved, the psychopath has been devising his most fiendish and sick plan to date: the kidnapping and slow, almost ritualistic torture of the city's own Gordon family, wherein he aims to prove that all it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.

For all of the continuously negative feedback that DC Comics Inc. has been receiving over the past few years, I believe that not all of it is warranted. Yes, their live-action franchises have been of varying quality, and admittedly, I have little desire to watch that one motion picture released earlier this year ever again. And yet, there is always a beacon of hope. In the television department, we have the unabashed fun of shows such as The Flash and future releases like Justice League Action. In the realm of video games, Injustice 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to one of the better fighting games for this last generation of consoles, is set to be released within the first quarter of 2017 (if you haven't watched the Wonder Woman and Blue Beetle reveal trailer, check it out here!). Finally, as I have discussed many times before, Warner Bros. Animation has been pumping out at least two or three new animated films per year for over a decade, with several consisting of popular and beloved storylines from the pages of their own books. During last year's San Diego Comic-Con, producer and friend-of-all-nerds Bruce Timm announced that an adaptation of Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke, a highly influential work whose actions and decisions still ripple throughout the pages of their biggest titles today, was in the plans and set to be released a year later. Over time, further details kept emerging, as did animatics, casting news, and all-too-brief clips of this dream that was finally becoming a reality. I was certainly excited, but even amongst all of this, I had my reservations about what the finished product would look like.

The animation is certainly a step above DC's occasional tendency to hit or miss in the straight-to-home video department. Brian Bolland's design for the Joker has always been one of my favorites, and bringing even the smallest of details to life, such as the shadows surrounding and blocking out his eyes in the infamous "apartment" scene, or his emergence from a pond of hazardous chemicals, look rather splendid. Other technical aspects, such as the score by longtime DCAU composer Kristopher Carter (Batman Beyond) are also exceptional. Obviously, the thing that will attract most fans (other than the sheer intrigue of the movie's existence) is the return of veteran Batman voice actors such as Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Tara Strong. As predicted, they are all in top form, with Hamill delivering one of his finest performances to date as our crazed main antagonist. Some men were just destined to stay attached to a character for as long as they live, and as much as I have respected other portrayals over the years from the likes of Heath Ledger (R.I.P.) Richard Epcar, and John DiMaggio, ol' Luke Skywalker is just irreplaceable to someone like me. Prior to the actual flick starting, the audience was even treated to a short, taped interview with the man himself, wherein he discussed his history with voicing this fictional nutjob, including how he initially thought that he would be selected for a villain such as Two-Face or Ra's Al Ghul instead. It was certainly a nice treat for every fan in attendance.

Okay, so now that we have gotten through the positive aspects of Batman: The Killing Joke, I can kick off my shoes and remove my gloves. Firstly, my fear of the source material being far too short to adapt into any sort of feature length film was realized in a way that I could have never imagined. Without trying to spoil anything for those that are reading, only the second half of The Killing Joke is dedicated to the comic of the same name. While I understand that filler is necessary when the time calls for it (I am a twenty plus year fan of the Dragon Ball franchise after all), attempting to recreate any writing style as unique as Alan Moore's just feels far too difficult to do, especially when your lead-in consists of a weak Batgirl-centric story (with a villain named Paris Franz....not making that up) that does more to harm the reputation and respect that you have for the well-known protagonists. Even if you are not well-versed with Batman outside of the big or small screens, you can meticulously pick out every single portion of this that feels like it was written solely for this picture and every other chunk that was lifted from the printed story. This is all the more shocking when you notice that this project's script was penned by the immensely talented Brian Azzarello of 100 Bullets and Wonder Woman fame. It's the cinematic equivalent of when you go to a fancy restaurant, pining for your favorite dish. Once you receive said entree, somebody that you know walks by, observes what it is that you are eating, and says "Hey, that looks pretty good. But I think it's missing something." This person proceeds to pull ingredients out of their pocket, dumping them onto your meal and making it nearly indigestable as a result, then walks away before you can get a good word in about why they think that this was a good idea.

There has also been a humongous amount of outrage surrounding said filler, as it changes and scrambles the connection between two of our four central characters of Batman: The Killing Joke. While it initially didn't make me fume as badly as it has for others, and I feel that it may have been due to the need for stirring "more controversy" just as Moore and Boland's work did back during its initial release, all it took was about two hours for me to realize that this bold decision was anything but. In fact, it was really, really bad. As a fan of cinema, I've always believed that implications are sometimes best left as just that. It reminded me of the assortment of unnecessary backstories to other madmen in the world of entertainment such as Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers, or when two characters from your favorite form of media would do something completely out of left field because producers and writers thought that a small collection of fans that wanted this could somehow outweigh the larger amount of opinions of those that didn't. Sure, there will always be an air of mystery to it that a select few want to see explained, but a majority of fans prefer to just leave things be. It also casts a broken, dim light on our titular hero that no fan of the Dark Knight would ever wish to see, and worse yet, makes another champion of the DC universe into something that even a modern day Frank Miller would shake his head at. That, or make him wish that he had thought of something so "brilliant." And before I am accused of being an elitist or purist fanboy by my fellow geeks, I am one hundred percent fine with attempting to change or add something to an adaptation. Heck, it's one of the things that is keeping AMC's Preacher, which still stands as my favorite series of graphic novels ever written, so entertaining. But when you're taking one of the very best comic books about the perplexing, dark, and surprisingly complicated relationship between the Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime, and tacking on an incredible amount of groan-inducing stupid writing, thusly twisting at least half of it into something that more closely resembles high school fan-fiction written by a misogynist masquerading as a feminist, you aren't exactly going to please a good portion of your fanbase. 

Though these following sentences may come across as childish, I am at the point where I just can not wear a fake smile (even with the help of patented Joker gas) and give this a good recommendation. Yes, the handling of the original source material is, for the most part, done decently well, but in the end, it isn't enough to lift this above the most definitive labeling of "an eternal disappointment." Personally, I feel that a shorter, more compact iteration would have worked far better, perhaps in the form of an anthology along the lines of the excellent DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection, especially when you consider that the eccentric English author behind this has a myriad of tales that have yet to receive the animated treatment (Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? comes to mind). If you're an Alan Moore or Batman completist, I know that there isn't anything that I've said that will ultimately tell you to save your money and just stick to the graphic novel instead, but if you're paying money in the double digits to see this (I paid THIRTEEN DOLLARS to see this in a theater), I worry that you may be just as insane as any of the inmates in Arkham Asylum.

Speaking of that, I'd highly suggest that you go and watch the Killing Joke recreations in that series of games instead. They're shorter, creepier, and also feature the same top notch voice actors.

Lights Out (2016) Review

Years ago, during an evening shift at work, Martin's father was brutally killed without explanation by someone or something that was never caught or figured out. After time has gone by, the young man is living with his seemingly emotionally broken mother, and has been experiencing frightening episodes during the night brought upon by a woman named Diana. After he bares his soul to older sister Rebecca, the woman confesses to Martin that she herself has also been the victim of these same terrors throughout her life. The emergence of this malevolent spirit is no coincidence, however, and together with Rebecca's new boyfriend, the trio set out to discover the true meaning of its existence, and the potential connection it has to their own clouded family history.



Considering my tendency to unfortunately avoid seeing newer releases in the horror genre inside of a theater (this is something that I am in dire need of correcting), the decision to choose Lights Out, the full-length feature based on the short of the same name by first time director David F. Sandberg, over a gigantic blockbuster like the newest entry in the Star Trek franchise, is riskier than I thought it would be. But, given my surprisingly good run of films steeped in said genre that I've viewed lately, diving into a third one in less than a month could make for a nice grand slam. Of course, if this particular project ended up being less than stellar, I may find myself with several eggs on my face, adjourned with Enterprise logos.


Smack dab on the poster for Lights Out is the production credit for one Mr. James Wan, the Malaysian-Australian director/producer whose credits include The Conjuring, Fast 7, and more motion pictures that I am certain you have seen before (and possibly even own). Without even having to see a single frame of this flick, you can sense the fellow's influence that permeates throughout Lights Out. First, there's the emphasis on long moments of silence, only to be topped off by absolutely startling moments of terror that range in terms of volume projected forth. Secondly, the idea of any benevolent spirit being attached to a human being, potentially suffering from trauma kept secret from others, rather than merely haunting an establishment. Wan's own Insidious comes to mind, as does the terrific The Babadook by Jennifer Kent, of which I can tell Sandberg and his crew are clearly big fans of. Thirdly, the unmistakeable decision to keep the body count low. With the exception of his debut effort Saw, Wan has the idea that bloodshed and stacking up the corpses isn't wholly necessary for wresting real fear from human beings. As much of a sucker as I am for films that pile on the bodies like I do with calories, I sympathize and agree with that mindset. Perhaps it's because I have gotten older over time, as I'm certain that I would have loathed a film like this one in my younger, more ignorant teenage years. Still, as respectable as that may be, the scares in Lights Out didn't seem to come in as strongly as I would have wanted them to. Mercifully, they never enter into comical territory, but the over-reliance on the dreaded jump scare tactic does wear thin as time goes on, even if there are some very good ones that pop up during its shockingly short eighty-one minute running time. Thanks to some fairly good cinematography, the mood is kept moderately tense whenever light does escape, adding a real feeling that nothing can truly be done to defeat whatever it is that is persistently disturbing this family.


Two of our main protagonists are portrayed by Teresa Palmer (Take Me Home Tonight, Warm Bodies) and Alexander DiPersia, who I believe is a relative newcomer when it comes to taking larger roles in theatrically released movies. Admittedly, they are a bit hit or miss during sequences that don't directly deal with this mostly unseen force, but young newcomer Gabriel Bateman, who was previously cast in another Wan-related project titled Annabelle, does stand out among the tortured cast as Rebecca's younger brother Martin. He is rather good at emitting genuine fear when the time is right, and you feel for him more than any other individual caught in the madness that surrounds them. Plus, he doesn't have an Avenged Sevenfold poster hanging at his flat like the aforementioned couple discussed in the first sentence of this paragraph. While I did expect veteran performer Maria Bello (A History of Violence, The Cooler) to deliver a quality performance as their deeply disturbed, psychologically tortured mother, it did seem to take more than a couple of scenes for that to occur, and she does end up showing why I firmly believe that she's one of the most criminally overlooked actresses in Hollywood. The rest of the cast, for what there is, are fine too, if not underused or just serving the purpose of being "redshirts" or existing as pieces in occasionally shoddy flashback sequences.


Lights Out serves as an interesting, if not evidently flawed experience that depends entirely on your expectations of what you think horror of this ilk can or should be. Well, that and if you can stomach being surrounded by the unmistakable idiots that fill the cineplexes these days during the opening weekend of newer scary releases. For a PG-13 motion picture without a recognizable name attached as director and a modest budget of roughly five million dollars, the film isn't terribly bad, nor is it terribly good. At the end of the day, it is a fine and durable effort with some decent jumps and heart from a director who I will do the best to keep my eye on for the next few years. After all, all one has to do is look back at James Wan's own filmography to notice the rise in quality and increase of bigger/better projects that came his way.



God help us all if Aquaman somehow screws that up though.

Ghostbusters (2016) Review

Columbia University teacher Dr. Erin Gilbert has been living a rather meager, uneventful life following the bombing of her book which discusses the possibility of existence beyond the realm of the living. When she discovers that the work has been republished by her co-author Dr. Abby Yates, who has continued throughout the years on her own research alongside the quirky and intelligent Dr. Jillian Holtzmann, Erin leaves to meet with her old acquaintance in hopes of finding out why. It doesn't take long for the trio to discover that not only is there life beyond death, but that the ghosts who inhabit our planet are the furthest thing from welcoming or friendly. With the assistance of streetwise, MTA worker Patricia Tolan, the new group open their own business so that they may help those in need, but find there may be something far more sinister brewing around Manhattan, and worse yet, that the rise of these phantoms is anything but coincidental.



Attention fellow nerds, geeks, and all-around lovers of things peculiar or out of the ordinary: Paul Feig's 2016 remake of Ghostbusters, the beloved 1984 supernatural horror/comedy, is a perfectly serviceable and fun motion picture. You can calm down, go about your daily lives, and save your incessant complaining for something far more important that truly deserves it.


Okay, that certainly isn't the most eloquent way to start an actual review, as it pretty much saves you the trouble of have to traverse and read the rest of my collected thoughts. And yet, getting that out of the way feels so incredibly satisfying. Prior to its opening day, I can not recall one particular cinematic release receiving this much blatant and ugly backlash solely based on it even daring to exist. It's honestly made me look at fans of the original in a much different, if not grim light. Even as somebody who never found myself laughing too much at the trailers that were released prior to 07/15/16, I felt like an alien by telling people to "give it a chance. Trailers lie. This is a FACT." I feel that years ago, people who were into very "niche" culture, which would include something like Ghostbusters, or things far more idiosyncratic such as Japanese animation, tabletop games, or comic books, could band together and stand as one. These days, I get the feeling that there is this mentality that if one person does not enjoy something, every other single person must know that they are inferior and wrong for finding joy in it. It's turning my fellow weirdos into the very things that they hated throughout high school and before. Vince McMahon of the WWE had a saying back in the latter half of the 2000s (albeit in character): "You don't like what you like." If such a stranger, if not more eerily prophetic thing has been uttered, then I would love to hear it.


Anyway, there's a flick to review here, right? I do indeed share fond memories and adoration for Ivan Reitman's classic about the emergence of a number of spirits and poltergeists, with a small assortment of scientists gathering together to develop a way to contain them before something truly catastrophic can occur. Whenever Ghostbusters comes on television, I feel the need to stop whatever I'm doing and watch, even if I'm in the midst of doing my taxes or trying to find a way to bury a body....erm, scratch that last part. There is some sort of magic present in that film that can never be replicated again, especially since co-star and writer Harold Ramis has unfortunately passed away. Before you ask, no, he does NOT make an appearance as a ghost in this iteration. While I'll admit that I'm not the hugest fan of its subsequent followup (I'll even go so far as to say that a lot of it felt kind of forced), I was never completely opposed to them reviving the franchise. Even if we ended up with a steaming turd, we have a plethora of memorabilia and other sources to provide us with entertainment, including two television shows, comic books, and video games. Hell, Activision came out with a new one this week!


The announcement of a newer installment did have me slightly worried though, as I am not the biggest fan of director Paul Feig's previous works. The decision to cast all female performers as our four protagonists never particularly bothered me, as there was never any signs that clearly pointed to the Ghostbusters having to be humans that share the Y chromosome. As luck would have it though, our cast ends up being one of the best aspects of 2016's Ghostbusters, as there is an indelible chemistry between our four leads that makes the audience feel quite welcome in this universe. I firmly believe that most of that comes from three fourths of the team having spent years together (in one way, shape, or form) on the nearly immortal sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live. Kate McKinnon (who I'm admittedly sad I'll never be able to ask out on a date) and Leslie Jones steal the show with nearly every facial expression, twitch, and line they are given, and Kristen Wiig is becoming more and more confident with being able to carry a majority of the weight of a picture with a larger budget on her back. One extra credit must also be given to Melissa McCarthy, who I still think is a very talented woman when she isn't starring in a vehicle spearheaded and written by her husband. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) also provides for some great comic relief, though he does start veering into the type of territory that makes you wonder if somebody can truly be this stupid and still breathing. I would much rather have this sense of camaraderie from a crew than to see a look of absolute dread or trepidation from older performers who want nothing to do with a series that they left behind oh so many years ago (see: Zoolander 2 and X-Men: Apocalypse).


Ghostbusters also does boast some fairly impressive visuals, even if the abundance of CGI does start to drag the product down a bit during the final act. The apparitions that are first encountered look fairly good, bringing to mind some of the otherworldly entities from cult favorites like The Frighteners. Some, such as the 2016 version of fan favorite Slimer, look nearly identical to their thirty-two year old ancestor, albeit with a brighter coat of paint (I hope people recall that the forerunner was played by a woman. Deal with that sexist douchebags). Others, like an absurdly large, skinny patriotic specter, do suffer from looking a tad bit, well, fake. But as someone who recently sat through the nearly insufferable Gods Of Egypt, I'll take any of the effects here every single time if somebody forces me to choose between the two properties. Newer technology is introduced to the franchise as well, and even those who come out unimpressed with the film should still be able to admit that the myriad of new devices shown off by McKinnon's Jillian Holtzmann are actually clever, if not adequately cool. I do wonder if a large chunk of these were devised to help sell toys though, and it certainly isn't beneath the movie to sneak in a few quick product placements here and there.


Is 2016's Ghostbusters perfect? Given the extreme rarity of that distinction, of course it isn't. Not every line delivers the laughs that it intends to, some of the supporting cast are blatant copies of characters from the 1984 version, and the various nods to Reitman's flick, though unabashedly charming, aren't fully necessary. But above all else, it has one essential, very important deciding factor that matters the most out of any cinematic experience: you never find yourself becoming bored. Paul Feig and co-writer Kate Dippold (of Parks and Rec fame) understand that this was a very difficult and nearly impossible job to take, and the two make damn sure that you will never find yourself rudely checking your cellphone or watch, wondering when you can go home. For that, I tip my hat to this new installment and can say that I didn't regret spending a single penny on it. Wait, my gigantic head can't fit a hat no matter how hard I try (it's clearly full of my own ego).



And if even after all of this, you're still spewing venom about the fact that this is playing in a theater near you and you think it's some sort of blight on the world of geek culture, ruining your childhood (a phrase that is beyond tiresome at this point), I give you this picture of Kristen Wiig on the red carpet premiere with a young female fan, eager and noticeably excited to meet her one of new favorite movie stars and someone to potentially look up to.

The world is a pretty sad, scary place right now, but observing something as simple as this makes it a tiny bit less terrible to a simple movie fan (and someone who still has a semblance of faith in humanity) like me. Just because your world is filled with darkness doesn't mean that you have to kill the light of those who haven't been enveloped in it yet. If this doesn't make you crack even half a smile, or still brings about rage from your festering, Burger King Mac and Cheetos-filled heart, let professional wrestling legend The Iron Sheik give you a proper response that I could never imitate, no matter how hard I try.