Director: Sam Liu
Distributor: Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Duration: 71 minutes
Batman and Harley Quinn (DVD) – Movie Review
DC’s cinematic universe is ever expanding, especially when looking at their animated movies. We have probably covered nearly a dozen over the last few years, and it seems the studio isn’t showing any signs of slowing down any time soon. This time we dive into a movie that has the same nineties vibe as the animated series, but one where an unlikely partnership spawns. The title reveals it all: Batman and Harley Quinn. With Harley being voiced by a new contender, we were curious to see how authentic this one would feel.
After a break in in S.T.A.R. Labs by Poison Ivy (Paget Brewster) and Floronic Man (Kevin Michael Richardson), Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Nightwing (Loren Lester) soon find out that the organic duo wasn’t looking for anything of actual value to steal, they stole files on the scientist that eventually turned himself in the Swamp Thing (John DiMaggio) and now they want to turn every inhabitant of our planet into plant-like creatures in order to restore all the damage wrought to our blue Earth. Sadly, both Batman and Nightwing have no clue on where to find Ivy and her new partner, and Nightwing is sent out to look into old associates of Ivy, who usually has somewhat smaller scaled plans. When Nightwing finds Harley Quinn (Melissa Rauch) working in a superhero themed bar, he realizes she could serve as a good lead, even though she is now trying to lead an honest life.
After a few punches are dealt on both sides, with some rather adult ways of making up, Harley joins the dark crusader and his sidekick, even though Batman isn’t all too keen on the idea. From here on out it’s an adventure that packs a proper hilarious punch.
The flow is rather rapid seeing everything has to be wrapped up within the hour, give or take a few minutes. You’ll be treated to fast action sequences, but most of all a truckload of witty and humorous situations which came to fruition by bundling Harley Quinn with the Dark Knight and Nightwing. Overall the story remains interesting simply because of the tale being told, but you’re glued to the screen thanks to the hilarious comments that are thrown back and forth, simply because the creators could go all out with this movie. That being said, it’s quite odd this movie is rated for ages six and up, as it has a lot of adult conversations, many hinting towards rather adult themes such as sex, swearing and a bit more explicit violent scenes where characters end up dying. While the movie itself is still fairly clean when it comes to ‘gore’, we believe this one isn’t really proper material for a six year old.
Animations and atmosphere wise this movie is a clear wink towards the animated series of the nineties, which was also slightly more adult in nature. Sadly, by cohering to this animation style, it also means that sometimes not all animations look crisp and detailed, which is more than often not a real bother, it’s just noticeable that trying to achieve one thing on one side, also creates a set of problems on the other side. We’re not sure if some somewhat wooden animations, and lack of details were intended or not, again as a subtle wink to the old series.
Voice acting is always a tricky thing, but most of the cast members behind the latest animated Batman movies have remained unchanged, making them rather perfect for their roles, making everything sound authentic. The only real newcomer this time is Melissa Rauch, better known for her work in The Big Bang Theory, who now voices Harley Quinn. Rauch does an outstanding job portraying the old school Harley Quinn and we hope she can continue voicing this character for future animated movies.
The special features on this DVD edition of Batman and Harley Quinn are fun to watch through, even though most features handle movies that have been out for several years. The only new preview you’ll get is for Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, which revolves around a Batman animated movie in the days of Jack the Ripper. This is a rather interesting concept to put Batman in such an old setting. We are certainly looking forward to taking a closer look at this one when it’s out.
Conclusion
Batman and Harley Quinn is still a movie directed towards an adult audience, albeit with a lot more humor than the previous animated movies. This wacky combination of heroes with an ex-super villain just works like a charm and the many antics of the different characters keep you entertained for the span of this somewhat shorter movie. If you’re into the DC universe and you loved the original nineties series, this one is a must watch.
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