Do you like Batman? Who doesn't? For those of us that love the caped crusader, it's a bit of a shame that Batman vs Superman and the Justice League aren't what we hoped they would be. There are two animated films that come to mind when thinking about fun Batman films and I think this one is one of them.
What's It About?
Batman and Harley Quinn is an animated film released in 2017 and follows the story of Batman and Nightwing as they pursue Poison Ivy and Floronic Man's plot to save the world from their own destruction. With the help of Harley Quinn, Batman and Nightwing follow the trail to discovering what Poison Ivy and Floronic Man are up to and work together to defeat them.
Click the image above to view the trailer.
The story begins with a break-in at Star Labs. Poison Ivy and Floronic Man are looking for something. They search the facility looking through all the computer databases looking for something that can help with they're plan to save the world from humans’ self-destructive tendencies to destroy the environment. Poison Ivy happens across a file about a scientist (Dr. Alec Holland) who's come up with a theory of turning all living organisms into plants. They escape into the night with this new intelligence.
Click the image above to view the trailer
Batman and Nightwing turn up to help with the investigation. This leads to them requiring finding leads into finding those who are behind the break-in. Nightwing comes across what files were stolen from the databases and since everyone knows that Harley Quinn is Poison Ivy's best friend, Batman tasks him with finding her while he tries to find the scientist behind the formula. What follows is Harley Quinn helping Batman and Nightwing pursue Poison Ivy and Floronic Man to stop their evil plan to turn person in the world into plants.
Who's Who?
The Goodies
The protagonists of the film are Batman, Nightwing and Harley Quinn. Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) is the caped crusader and the world's greatest detective. Everyone should know who he is. Being at expert of martial arts and using a variety of gadgets, he fights crime in Gotham city. In this film, he's more your typical Batman from the comics and from his cartoon show, Batman: The Animated Series. He's stoic and just in his pursuit of justice following a certain code.
For those of you who don't know who Nightwing is (voiced by Loren Lester), he's Batman's sidekick replacing Robin from the Animated Series. He's young and a little inexperienced, but is a capable fighter using Eskrima Sticks. Having access to Batman's technology and teaching, he strives to do his part in the quest for justice. In this film, he's given a bit of independence from Batman, being tasked with finding Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn (voiced by Melissa Rauch) is the Joker's ex-girlfriend. Having fallen helplessly in love with the Joker and she's thrust into a life of crime. This film takes place long after this happens. Having recently been released from Arkham Asylum, she's attempting to live a normal life outside of crime. She finds it tough as she's unable to find a regular job and is forced to work in a costume restaurant where she dresses up as herself, hiding in plain sight. She's funny, cheeky and a capable fighter. She's best friends with Poison Ivy but has not seen her since she was released from Arkham.
The Baddies
The two antagonists of the film are Poison Ivy and Floronic Man. Poison Ivy (voiced by Paget Brewster) was born with the genetic ability to control and summon plants. She's typically portrayed as a super villain in the Batman universe fighting against ecological extinction and has a strong sense of environmentalism. While she's usually a bad guy, she's a antiheroine in this film, often doing the wrong things for the right reasons. This is particularly the case in this film, wanting to save the world from itself. She's best friends with Harley Quinn.
Like Poison Ivy, Floronic Man (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) can control plants and make them rapidly grow after the events of the "Swamp Thing." Since him and Poison Ivy have similar abilities they work together on their plot to turn everyone on the planet into plants. He is slightly eviler with an "ends justify the means" mentality, willing to kill anyone who stands in his path.
My Thoughts
I think this film is fun watch if you don't take it too seriously. With well-choreographed hand-to-hand combat and a somewhat simplistic but good story, this film is for adults with more of a childish sense of humor, like myself, and fans of the Batman. It's an animated film but is not for kids though with slightly oversexualized female characters, especially Harley Quinn. Its animation style is very similar to Batman: The Animated Series.
The story itself is, like I said above, simplistic, starting off as a detective story, Batman and Nightwing attempt to follow up on the break-in at Star Labs. Clues lead to Poison Ivy and Floronic Man. Knowing that Harley Quinn is Poison Ivy's best friend, Batman and Nightwing find her. It can be argued that this film is more about Harley Quinn then it is about Batman and Nightwing, I wouldn't entirely disagree. Once she's introduced into the story, she directs the plot entirely, from giving directions on potential leads to turning Poison Ivy (oops Spoilers). The story ends a bit quickly, and since the focus is more on Harley Quinn, you'll see much less Batman and Nightwing fighting. The ending is also a bit unsatisfying as it goes against what you'd usually expect using an overly simply solution that we don't get to see implemented as an attempt at humor. Overall however, the film's story is good, if not predicable.
This film is not for kids with a lot of sexual innuendo and over-sexualized characters, most of which coming from Harley Quinn's character. From a sexual encounter, that’s not shown, to joking that she'd only do it again if she ran out of batteries, this unfortunately has the effect of making Harley Quinn stereotypical in nature. Everything she does, from the way she moves to the way she sings (yes, she sings in this movie) has received this treatment. I'm not personally against sexualizing characters, but this somewhat hampers any further character development. There isn't any when you think about it.
One big issue I have in this film is its lack of character development. Like I mentioned above, Harley Quinn has no character development, and this is true for every character, except perhaps Poison Ivy. She gets a progression in her character arc from wanting to save the world by turning everyone into plants, to being horrified by Floronic Man's actions, to helping stop him (ops Spoilers again). It's rather simple, but she's the only character that gets one. Everyone is consistent throughout the film, with very little stakes and consequences, resulting in the film becomes predictable plot.
Conclusion
Batman and Harley Quinn is an enjoyable film is you don't take it too seriously. It's very reminiscent of the good old days of cartoons developing a small sense of nostalgia of being a kid and watching cartoons that seemed to have grown with me with elements of a more mature tone. If you haven't seen it yet, and you have an hour to kill, you can watch it on Netflix.
Thanks for Reading
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you've seen the film and whether you agree with me in the comments below. If you want to see any more of my future content be sure to hit that Follow Button. I try to write something every day and I usually write about video games, movies and my journey through Steemit.
If you want to see any of my content from the past week, click on a link below:
- Why I Still Play CS: GO
- My Curie Story: My Thoughts on Game Over, Man
- My Thoughts on Smurfs in Gaming
- Look! A Puppy!
- How to Improve Your Aim in FPS Games
- My Thoughts on Overwatch: Retribution
Thanks again and have a lovely day!
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