DTV Batman Film "The Killing Joke" Receives R Rating

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Here's The Link:

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/14/batman-killing-joke-animated-rated-r

I loved the graphic novel. Hopefully, the R rating will allow the movie to stay true to the source material. Though if the truth be known, I never thought the story or imagery was so bad as to warrant an R. Who knows, maybe I'm just too jaded.

From what I've read about The Killing Joke, the phrase "torture porn" was coined after it was published in 1988, but "torture porn" didn't become mainstream until the early 2000s.

I read the article you linked to. I thought it mighty ironic that a story, about a homicidal maniac, is polarizing because some view it as misogynistic.

Ummmm, is it supposed to be a story about a homicidal maniac who really respects women?

Did love the graphic novel though. Such beautiful art. Alan Moore is a genius on that type of material.

It wasn't really. Alan Moore, at the time, was one of the first to truly explore the ramifications of what these type of situations would be like psychologically and socially. A person such as the Joker would do those things. He wouldn't be the character from all those years before that.

In another article I read, WB and DC Comics considered giving a live-action Killing Joke movie the greenlight before Batman Begins got the greenlight. Had this happened, Tom Cruise or Leonardo DiCaprio would have played The Joker with the movie being directed by David Cronenberg.

I am happy so far the way things turned out then. I think something like Killing joke is very well suited to animation. And Bruce Timm is an amazing designer/director. His original vision of the "Batman: The Animated Series" is still one of the best shows ever done. It was just so cohesive.

And, they did a great the Batman Beyond movie. I have the uncut version.

Good. I'm sick of seeing things getting toned down to get the commercially successful PG13 rating.

Anyway, even though I'm not much of a superhero fan, I rather like the idea of animated films that are targeted towards a mature audience, and I find it especially compelling when they are western in origin, since serious adult-oriented western animation is such a rare thing. Needless to say, I'll probably be checking this one out. It definitely holds more interest to me than the meme-tastic "Suicide Squad".

Last edited by mr_bigmouth_502 on 17 Apr 2016, 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am placing my faith in Bruce Timm. And the fact that WB decided to go with the full magilla on this one.

THAT would be a dream come true!

Whether fans of the Suicide Squad comics like it or not, director David Ayer stated in an interview that the Suicide Squad movie will be rated PG-13, but did not disclose if an unrated version will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

With Cruise as The Joker or with Cronenberg directing?

{At one point, Leonardo DiCaprio was considered to play Patrick Bateman in American Psycho with David Cronenberg directing.}

I was thinking more about Cronenberg directing, and possibly with DiCaprio as the Joker.
Incidentally, the budget for American Psycho had been so small that DiCaprio's pay would have eaten up most of the funds allotted by the studio, making the movie an impossibility. Luckily, they smartened up.

And here is the trailer!

I go MEH at the whole movie. I never was big into the superhero cartoons much. I enjoy Batman comics and the live action movies for the most part, but didn't like the cartoons a ton.

A movie doesn't need to be R to be good though. The many great PG-13 movies prove that just fine. Movie makers appeal to more people with PG-13 rating anyway. It being rated R just means they can do more nonsense and it generally doesn't work well at all. Plus the ratings mean very little- kids and teens will find some way to get it (parents not caring about rating, or a store not doing an age check). It's a bit wrong that parents don't step up, and stores don't care either. The ratings should be enforced, even if people don't like them.

(On a side note- the newest Batman Arkham game was rated M for mature due to a few things. Those few things arent even essential to the plot or game at all. The game makers just wanted to be risky and get more attention IMO. The series was fine with the teen rating.)

It just goes to show you- movie makers, game makers, TV show makers just love to push the envelope. In my view- a lot of its over for the top for attention to draw more people in. Many many times it doesn't make the product better. I don't need people swearing over and over just because people think its "cool". That's a big reason I didn't care to see Deadpool (plus I never liked the comic). This type of entertainment is beyond mindless- its just excessive trash at times. Kind of like the Michael Bay violence/explosion fests that don't have a decent plot.

False equivalencies on this.

The original material was adult in nature. Same with Deadpool.

The fact that they decided to remain true to the source material is the story. Not a vague 'R' rating to get viewers with shock value only.

The original material is very adult and to get the PG13 would have meant removing the actual material that is essential to the story.

Oh, I know. Zootopia was rated "G" here (I know it was PG in the US, but Alberta's film ratings board tends to be a bit less strict than the MPAA for thematic elements), and I thought it was fantastic. Of course, I think directors shouldn't be afraid to make movies that push boundaries, get higher ratings, and maybe even offend a few people. I'm not saying they should go all out and try to make the most revolting s**t imaginable, that's just childish, but at the same time, they shouldn't feel so constrained to making things that they know will be commercially successful.