BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN: The Visuals Are Classic DC Animation, The Content, Not So Much
The latest DC animated direct-to-video film, Batman and Harley Quinn, is sure to attract an invested audience, due to it featuring the legendary and definitive voices of both Bruce Wayne/Batman (Kevin Conroy) *and* Dick Grayson/Nightwing (Loren Lester). It also features the return to the visual style of the original, landmark Batman animated adventures from the early 90s, led by the genius and visionary Bruce Timm, flanked by Andrea Romano in the realm of voice casting/direction.
These factors alone will pull the veteran DC animation fans, like myself, right to the film. Like last year’s Batman: The Killing Joke, this film got a one-night only engagement in select theaters as provided by Fathom Events. What I have yet to address is the titular character that isn’t Batman, Harley Quinn.
The character was created for and introduced in the original animated series, and more often than not is voiced by the same actress who brought her to life then, the great Arleen Sorkin. This film’s great misfortune is that Sorkin does not return to the role, thus we now have Melissa Rauch in the role (The Big Bang Theory‘s Bernadette Rostenkowski).
The Harley Problem
I cannot single her out as a source of one of Batman and Harley Quinn‘s many problems – rather the fact that anyone but Sorkin played Quinn, *especially* when Conroy and Lester returned for their roles. The result of this is a discontiguous experience for those like myself, whom associate Conroy with Batman just as much as Sorkin with Quinn. I especially appreciate and enjoy Sorkin’s performance as Quinn in the magnificent film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Returning focus to the film at hand, Sorkin‘s absence is not the only problem. While it is an expectation that a film like The Killing Joke be mature, this film unpleasantly surprised me with its detour into more adult content, while on the surface purporting to be a continuation of the stylization and content of the DC animation of yesteryear (which I miss more and more all the time). Per tweets from Conroy, the intent with the film was to deliver something more comedic, while still delivering some action (which fans would come to expect from these films). I get the intent – but the execution fails.
Yes, the comedy in Batman and Harley Quinn delivers, but countless previous DC animated installments have succeeded in simultaneously delivering comedy, drama, action and thrills without diverging too far from the norm. The film’s added adult humor, its lowered amount of action (the nod to the 60s Batman with onscreen POW graphics was so the opposite of necessary) paired with a new voice for Harley and the puzzling choices for the film’s villains put it remarkably low in terms of the ranks of DC animated projects.
The screenplay attempts to reach into the eccentricities of the Harley Quinn character, mining her past for some dramatic content, but the over-reliance on comedic antics undermines this. The Harley Quinn and Joker characters exist on a fine line, on either side of which is absurd comedy and absurd drama – the rub is finding the place right in the middle, right on the fine line (something the aforementioned Return of the Joker handled incredibly well with both characters).
Pair this with the fact that Sorkin really nailed the tone and feel of the character (an enormous challenge, and something she was able to perfect over years of playing the character) and the fact that this is Rauch‘s first go-around in the role, and there’s an unfortunate recipe for disappointment.
Some Throwback Elements Can’t Save Batman and Harley Quinn
Conroy and Lester aren’t the only stalwarts who return to give Batman and Harley Quinn a familiar DC animation feel – veteran composers Lolita Ritmanis, Michael McCuistion and Kristopher Carter provide new music for the film while pulling in familiar themes from the previous animated Batman incarnations, generating massive nostalgia. The familiar animation design work, from the characters, to the Gotham cityscape, to the Batmobile all provide for a pleasant visual landscape, paired with the scoring and voice work by Conroy and Lester, but this isn’t enough.
The over-reliance on comedy that is more mature, the lacking action, and poor contrast created by placing the veteran voice actors for Batman and Nightwing alongside a new Harley Quinn overall makes for a disappointing film, one I had no clue would let me down. I hope as the DC animation creative team moves forward, they recognize there is more to be done than get the veteran voice actors back (or, in the least, get each primary character’s veteran voice actor back).
Which DC animated film is your favorite?
Batman and Harley Quinn played theatrically via Fathom Events on August 14th, and is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD.
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