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Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Review

By Fried Mattato

Growing up as a kid, the one television show I watched and remember the most was the animated Batman series. Featuring well-written stories, heartfelt voice-acting, and revolutionary animation, The Adventures of Batman and Robin captivated most anyone who called themselves a fan of the Dark Knight. After a mediocre fourth season, the series' creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini closed the shutters on that chapter of Batman's lifelong crusade.

However, you can't let a good thing die, so Timm and the gang got back together a few years later to do the unthinkable to Batman: set him in the future. Thus, the spin-off/sequel series Batman Beyond was born. Beyond threw freshmeat, punk Terry McGuinnis into the role of Batman while an aged and decrepit Bruce sat on the sidelines playing the mentor and advisor. Beyond, while not quite as much a classic as the original series, was indeed a worthy follow-up. It retained the engaging plots, the high-end animation, and the prime voicework quality while managing to explore different areas that the previous series was unable to examine.

 Naturally, a movie was inevitable. Enter the direct-to-DVD Batman Beyond movie Return of the Joker, released in December of 2000. Two versions were eventually released, oddly enough, which we'll get into later in the film. To start off the mood, I'm reviewing the PG-13 version.

 We start off the movie with a warehouse rent-a-cop getting the absolute crap beaten out of him by a small gang of Jokerz, a subculture of juveniles that idolize Batman's archnemesis (Can you blame them? Joker was one charismatic dog. Who else can wear a purple suit and make it work?). This band of miscreants has a genetics-enhanced furry, a pedophile who sounds like Christopher Walken, fatass with terrible fashion sense, and a generic tough guy. Not the least of them are Dee and Dee aka Deedee, a pair of hot, scantily clad twins who dress a bit like Raggedy Ann.

While stealing a giant Wick air freshener they get dropped on Batman Terry and a one-liner. After a crazy aerial fight that takes them outside, Batman single-handedly manages to lose the villains and destroy what looks to be a multi-millions dollar piece of equipment along with nearby property in a fantastic explosion. He proceeds to deny all fiscal responsiblity for his wanton destruction before retreating back to the Batcave.

Back at Bat HQ, Bruce manages to demonstrate he's "still got it" by beheading a Two-Face mannequin. Sure Bruce, whatever you need to tell yourself. Terry returns and we learn that this isn't the first time Terry's managed to mess up catching this specific group of Jokerz and they've been stealing other Wick products for the past few months.

Here, we also find out that Bruce has managed to regain corporate control of his company, after the tyrannical rule and apparent death of Max Powers from the series. One of Wayne-Powers' executives, Jordan Price, kisses up to the media, but it's easy to see Bruce's untimely return pisses him off, what with losing a shot at being CEO of a mutli-billion dollar company.

 Destroying public property apparently isn't enough to satiate Terry's hot blood and heads out to a club to hang out with his girlfriend instead of getting any sleep. It makes sense, I suppose. Explosions frequently inspire sexual lust in me too. Still, Terry ends up crashing any chance of gettin' some by dozing in a loud techno club even while being seduced by a hot teenage chick.

 Meanwhile, back at comedy central, an abandoned candy factory, the Jokerz report back to their  conveniently silhouetted head honcho.

Before I go any further, I need ask something. How the hell is it there are so many abandoned buildings in Gotham? Neglected construction and businesses seem to come at a dime a dozen in this city! No wonder super villains love this town.

Generic tough guy finally voices his discontent after the group is berated for not procuring potpurri for their shithole. The boss reacts well by making a joke with him and putting him at ease. Then he shoots him with a giant poison dart. We finally see that the boss is none other than THE Joker, voiced by Mark Hamill in all his glory. After clearing all confusion for the MPAA by declaring tough guy dead, he determines the location of another air freshener of sufficient size and sets to plotting.

 Cut to a boring company party celebrating Bruce's return to power at his company. Before he can deliver an equally boring speech, the party is crashed by the Joker and his merry band. Joker makes it a point to unnerve a disbelieving Bruce, hinting that he knows something they both know. Terry arrives on the scene and fights off the clowns, but gets caught in a cliche. Using the imminent falling death of a few party-goers, they make their escape while Pedo and Fatass steal the needed component.

Terry unsuccessfully grills Barbara Gordon and Bruce for information on the Joker, bodth reluctant to talk about clown boy. Bruce tells Terry to not only give up on the Joker, but to give up being Batman as well. Terry argues fruitlessly with the old codger before angrily tossing the costume and leaving the Cave to another night of party-going.

Terry tries to have a good time at the club, but his efforts are in vain. The Jokerz attack Terry himself at the club, injuring his girlfriend and nearly killing him. He manages to drive them off with a flood of Lava Lamp liquid.

Making preparations, Bruce gets ambushed by the Joker IN THE BATCAVE. What a terrifying thought that is, eh?

Terry calls Bruce, but quickly realizes something's wrong when Bruce doesn't answer (Due to his non-existent social life). He hurries back to the Manor find one of the most horrifying images in the movie: Batman seemingly dead by Joker Smilex toxin. Thankfully, Bruce revives quickly and points out a cure vial under a table through fits of paralyzing laughter.

While Bruce is incapacitated in his recovery, Barbara shows up and finally reveals the details of the night of the Joker's death. In a long flashback, we learn that the Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapped Tim Drake, the second Robin. After weeks of searching, Bruce and Barbara are given and "invitation" to Arkham Asylum and they give chase.

 Greeted by Harley singing a haunting rendition of a lullaby, Batman confronts the Joker about Robin's whereabouts. Joker commits the biggest insult to Batman by revealing he had turned Tim into an insane replica of himself. This angers Batman so much so that Batman rips apart a restraint he was trapped by with his bare hands and throws a dagger straight at the Joker. Obviously, since this is still a PG-13 kids cartoon, it misses and Joker flees, laughing.

Batgirl, aka Barbara, fights Harley and tries to reach out to a too-far-gone Tim. Culminating in an outdoor fight, Harley tries to do in Barbara with a rocket launcher, but ends up accidentally falling down an endless chasm in the broken contstruction.

Batman follows the Joker into a small theater, where Mr. J taunts Batman with a twisted home video, depicting his torture of Robin. The Joker also humorously reveals that Robin cracked and unveiled Batman's secret identity, "Secrets that are mine alone to know... Bruce."

This pushes Bruce to the breaking point. He instantly crashes into the projector room and beats the living hell out of the Joker who simple taunts him further, despite just having his face mauled.

In a clever sleight of hand, Joker manages to knock down Batman. Noticing the nearby Tim, he tosses him a a gun and instructs him to "deliver the punchline." Tim points the gun at his surrogate father. In a tense moment, Tim pulls himself enough together to point the gun at the Joker and shoots him. The Clown Prince of Crime manages to utter his last words before dying, "That's not funny... that's not..."

Coming back to the present, Barbara reveals that Tim was able to become sane again after 2 years of psychotherapy. Terry, however, begins to suspect Tim after a talk with him, now a communications tech expert. Without any strong proof of Drake, Terry focuses on his only other lead to the Joker, Jordan Price, seeing as he more than anyone else right now wants Bruce dead. Tracking down Price on a private boat, he finds the Jokerz already there preparing to kill Price as he is apparently a "loose end" to the Joker's machinations. Terry crashes the party, but the Jokerz flee rather than fight. They do so with good reason because a giant laser beam crashes down and destroys the boat, moments before Terry escapes. It turns out the Joker made a death cannon with the power of fresh-scented Wicks. Terry saves Price, and while he learns Price was indeed helping the Joker, he still doesn't have the info he needs. A distraught Terry bemoans his inability to catch the Joker, but a conversation with a freshly-revitalized Bruce finally reveals a vital clue that renews Terry's previous suspicions and possibly confirms Drake's affiliation with the Joker. Terry confronts Drake, but is tricked into a death trap. Barely escaping, he ventures outside to send a message relaying the real coordinates of the Joker to the police. The Joker interrupts and tries to blast Terry with his new apocalyptic toy, destroying many buildings and parking lots. Terry escapes the laser and heads to the Joker's hideout, dispatching the vanguard Jokerz. He gets ambushed once again inside by the Joker, who is finally revealed in how he managed to survive his alleged death. In a monologue, Mr. J tells Terry he placed a DNA-overiding microchip into Tim's head during the weeks he was torturing him. This microchip allows the Joker to use Drake's body as a conduit for his own image and mind. He then taunts the disabled Terry with his top hit targets, planning on killing his family, his girlfriend, and his mentor. All seems lost until Bruce's dog, Ace, jumps in and frees Terry. Terry beats back the Joker, causing a malfunction in the laser targeting system that directs the blast towards the factory. Terry finds himself at a stalemate, until he decides to do the one thing Bruce never did: talk to the Joker. Terry hides in the rafters of the building and mocks the Joker, angering him to a point he had never been before. Terry's cockiness almost becomes his undoing, as a well-placed grenade costs Terry his advantage. Terry seems to have lost, being choked to death by the Joker, until he pulls through at the last minute one more time. He uses a shock-ring he stole during the fight and blasts the microchip, exorcising Tim of his demons once and for all. Afterwards, Terry and Bruce meet at the hospital to check on the recuperating Tim. Bruce manages to boost Terry's confidence in his role as Batman before walking off to greet the son he had not spoken to in years. And there you have it. RotJ is not just a great cartoon, but a geat Batman story, pulling heavily from the comic storyline "A Death in the Family." It manages to go to some rather dark places previous movies haven't while still managing to entertain us with some cool fight scenes and big explosions. The entire voice cast is believable and remarkable, most notably Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy. The only real complaint with the movie is some of the plausability of some of the events, like the whole laser concept and a dog being able to bite off a metal armlet, but it's a nitpick at this point. It's a great movie and one of the best Batman stories ever told.