Batman and Harley Quinn - An Original DC Animated movie - our take....

The importance and sheer joy of Batman: The Animated Series cannot be understated.  It delivered quality adventures on a consistent basis due to great writing, pitch perfect vocal performances and retro visuals that gave the show a timeless look.  It looks as good today as it ever has and if you are yet to sample the joys of the definitive Batman TV show (sorry Gotham), then I implore you to do so at your earliest opportunity.

Which brings us to Batman & Harley Quinn.

While DC have been pumping out the animated movies in the last few years (Flashpoint Paradox, Batman vs Robin, Dark Knight Returns to name a few), they have adopted an in-house art style that seems far removed from BTAS.  With Batman & Harley Quinn, DC have recreated the timeless look of the TV show so well that it almost could be a lost episode from back in the programmes heyday.  I say almost, because tonally this is as far removed as it gets...

I have to warn you at this point, that there will be SPOILERS throughout this review, as it's hard to put across just how bad this movie is without going into specifics.

Early on in Batman & Harley Quinn, there is a scene where Batman and Nightwing have recruited Harley, as she is the only person who may know where her erstwhile best friend Poison Ivy may be hiding out.  They are in the Batmobile with Harley in the back seat.  She repeatedly asks Batman to pull over to a rest stop, as she had some bad food in the restaurant she used to work in and needs to use the restroom.  Batman says no several times.  Harley's response to this is to fart loudly.

That's right folks, a fart joke.  In a Batman movie.  And that movie is not even Batman & Robin.

What's so bad about this, is that this isn't even the worst part in this scene.  As Nightwing gags at the smell, he looks at Batman who appears unmoved.  Batman's response to this act?

'Smells like discipline.'  I kid you not.

(For this scene I like to imagine Kevin Conroy read that line out for a different scene and that it was reintegrated into this one.  That can be the only excuse for possibly the definitive Bat-Voice to read out this line.)

Now that the tone has been established, I suppose I should go into the plot.  To be fair, the plot is standard BTAS fare, with Poison Ivy determined to turn the world into plants as humankind has had their chance.  She works in league with The Floronic Man, to try and achieve this, stealing Alec Holland's formula and try to reverse engineer it.  This got me excited as I thought there was every chance Swamp Thing may appear at some point.  Appear he does, underwhelming it most definitely is.  He arrives in the most majestic and threatening way, at a critical point in the story, then decided that it's not for him to judge how humans act and therefore will not interfere.  Again, I kid you not.

There seems to be an attempt here to make this a more grown up version of BTAS as there aren't the restrictions of television to deal with.  This extends to boner jokes, Harley swearing on several occasions, Nightwing and Harley sleeping together, gratuitous shots of female characters in their underwear, bending over several times, and a nod to Batman '66 with speech bubbles appearing over fights, except instead of 'Biff' or 'Pow', we get 'Ow!  My balls!'.  All of this is so jarring when compared to the perfect tone of the original series.

I get that Harley Quinn is now more popular than ever due to the marketing geniuses behind Suicide Squad.  I get that's she's targeted at sexed up teenagers.  But this is just quite frankly an insult to the character.  There is a point where you might even feel sorry for Harley as she seems to be genuinely trying to turn over a new leaf.  Yet Batman and Nightwing bring her back into the world of capes and crime.  Does that make them any better than her?  Shouldn't they be trying to aid her in her attempts to go straight?  There is definitely a story to be told here, with an opportunity for some dramatic pathos for the character, but it getting completely lost amongst the juvenile tone.

Special mentions also go to -

Batman and Nightwing both kissing Harley on the cheek at one point.

Harley figuring out how to beat The Floronic Man, but the movie just abruptly ending instead of showing us.

Harley able to talk Ivy out of her plans by giving her the puppy dog look.

Two musical interludes that just do not work.

Nightwing saying 'The things I do for Gotham' before sleeping with Harley.  Because apparently that's the only way she'll help them.  In a sense, a form of rape/prostitution.

It just goes on and on.

With Bruce Timm's additions to The Killing Joke I gave him a pass, as he deserves it for all the great work in the past.  Once you got past the tacked on Batgirl story in the animated The Killing Joke, it was actually a very good adaptation.  But this is simply unforgivable.

This is reaching Batman & Robin levels of terrible.

I also get that given my recent postings about the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman movies that you might be starting to think I don't like the character!  Nothing could be further from the truth. Between the Nolan movies, the original animated series and countless great comics tales, there are no doubts that when the character is treated well, that Batman can stand proudly at the pinnacle of any artform.

In summation, I implore you to give this movie a miss and spend time with Dark Knight Returns, Flashpoint Paradox or the original animated series if you fancy some Grade A animated joy.

1/10 (and that's only for the animation which evoked the original series so well)

Until next time....