Batman & Harley Quinn (2017) Review
Main Character
For me possibly the most iconic portrayal of Batman has to be this one, Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman takes me back to my childhood and to the excellent Arkham games that have come out over the last decade. He has the perfect voice for the caped crusader and for me this is one of the best versions of the character ever, he nails the brooding nature of Batman but has a little bit of fun in the role to allow a more complete performance as Batman. Melissa Rauch voices Harley Quinn in this film and she does a really good job, this was the only time that she voiced the character but I thought she delivered a fun take on the Harley Quinn character, there is some depth there and she has some really funny lines in the film that make you like her as she isn't the most evil version of the character and is a pretty easy character to root for given the circumstances.
Supporting Characters
Paget Brewster voices Poison Ivy in the film and I have always liked the animated version of Ivy as I feel like it is given some real depth and even though she clearly isn't the most likeable of characters the film does a good job of selling her point of view and making you kind of understand why she does the things that she does. Kevin Michael Richardson plays The Floronic Man and I have to admit this is a character I know nothing about from the comics but he played the role well as the hulking henchman but he also had some depth to his motivations and I thought him and Ivy were a good pairing as the antagonists in this film. It is a bit unfair that this film isn't called Batman, Nightwing & Harley Quinn as Loren Lester & Nightwing is along for the journey the entire film and he fills his role well, I thought the trio bounced off each other very well and were fun to watch.
Story
I thought as mentioned the concept of Batman & Nightwing having to work with Harley Quinn is an interesting one and I thought they did a good job of really showing the difference between the two heroes and Quinn. Also as mentioned I felt the villains had decent motivations and I liked how they fit in the history between Harley & Ivy in the film. However, my biggest negative of this film is the ending, the last 5 minutes are utter nonsense and include an incredibly pointless cameo that seems to be just there as a bit of fan service. Also it is just how abrupt the ending is, I felt like I was expecting at least another 10 minutes but no the film just ended and I really wasn't satisfied with the ending.
Script
This film has some good drama in it, especially between Harley & Ivy to make you care about their friendship and relationship and also some good lines from Batman. The humour is a bit of a mixed bag for me, some of it worked and did make me laugh but they also resorted with some childish humour which makes no sense as this film is definitley not aimed for kids.Style
I thought that the more mature tone taken for this film was a good decision, with a character like Harley Quinn as one of the leads it made sense for this film to have a bit more adult content in it, also all the action scenes were well handled and felt exciting to watch. But I can't stop thinking about the pacing of the film and how it just ends abruptly and doesn't really answer any of the questions from the film.Overall
Overall this is a fun easy to watch film that is just over an hour long so won't take up too much of your time. If you are a fan of Batman The Animated Series then you will probably like this film, just be prepared that it doesn't provide the payoff like that epic show did.Rating - 7/10
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