Batman And Harley Quinn is the latest installment in the DC Animated Studio directed by Sam Riu. DC is back with another Batman animated film, too bad they have literally no other worthy superhero to dedicate their resources too. Things are actually getting too monotonous, there's been like almost 20 Batman animated films, most of which are totally amazing and as a Batman fan I've enjoyed every single one of them but with a studio like Warner Brothers, unlike Disney and Marvel, they have rights to every single DC comics character, it wouldn't hurt too much to make a movie about another superhero or supervillain for a change. They can take a good Wonder Woman comic book story and make an animated movie. WB is addicted to Batman and Batman related characters but their constant motive to make Batman movies is getting boring. Booster Gold, Lobo, Hawkgirl, Flash, with so many fun and awesome characters it's a sin if WB doesn't try something new for a change. I understand that Batman is their safest option but the other characters deserve some screen time as well.
Now coming to the movie, this is an attempt to pay homage to Batman The Animated series, with the animation and costumes, but it takes out the serious aspects of Batman and tries to be a fun movie. There is more comedy than any usual Batman movie has and most of it feels natural. Harley probably has the most jokes, it's only fair, being the Joker's girlfriend and all, but fart jokes? Really? Nightwing is another fun and lovable character just as in the previous adaptations. Harley Quinn is voiced by Melissa Rauch, that's right she's Bernadette from The Big Bang Theory. She has tried her best at being Harley but the voice just doesn't feel like Harley Quinn. I guess not everyone is Tara Strong, but if they got Kevin Conroy to be Batman again, I don't understand why they couldn't get Tara as Harley.
The movie shows Harley Quinn attempting to turn over a new leaf, working as a waitress in this really cool restaurant called 'Superbabes'. The restaurant scene was really funny, and I've got to say this, one of these days, DC is going to go too far. It has a PG 13 rating but so many scenes have too much adult content be it jokes or clips. It kind of reminds me of that Joker scene from the dark knight returns part 2 but in this movie, only more adult jokes than violence. We have a scene featuring Nightwing tied to a bed by Harley who's trying to have some fun. I'm not complaining, in this movie it didn't feel so artificial because Nightwing has always been kind of a fun character and you can expect stuff like this from Harley but this would definitely be one of the biggest controversies since what happened between Batman and Batgirl in The Killing Joke which was totally off character. Once again, DC continues to play with the roots of our favourite characters in the name of fun.
So Batman, Harley and Nightwing team up against Poison Ivy and the floronic man who plan to turn the entire human species into a bunch of trees because of climate change and stuff. The floronic man seemed kind of lame but that's maybe because we haven't seen too much of him on screen. There are some pretty interesting easter eggs like a voice cameo from Booster Gold, screams literally turning into text, a tribute to Adam West I presume and the best of all, a scene featuring Batman The Animated Series soundtrack.
So, overall Batman And Harley Quinn is a fun watch, as a Batman fan it was nice to see something different than the usual serious Batman movies, it felt like Batman went on a picnic with Nightwing and Harley and cracked some jokes. Any Batman fan would have a good time, but there are some plot holes, poor character development, unnecessary scenes and a really squeaky unusual and cringe-worthy Harley Quinn voice.
Verdict:
Fan in me: 7/10
Critic in me: 6/10
I really hope we get to see animated movies dedicated to more characters like Green Lantern, Booster Gold or any other comic book character other than Batman in the coming years. As a huge Batman fanboy and a DC fanboy, my complaint is not that there too many Batman movies, but that there are too few non-Batman movies. WB can probably do this, they have a pretty good animated movie record, they can have one Batman movie every year followed by more animated movies of other comic book characters.
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