Batman And Harley Quinn

Before I start this review I would just like to say, what the f*** was that??

Okay I'm gonna level with you, I really really, let me say that one more time, REALLY did not think this was going to be good. I saw the trailer for this and it looked like hot garbage, and I was half correct. At some points I was very much enjoying this little animated feature but other times I just rolled my eyes and wanted it to end prematurely. I know my history with the DC animated movies is peppered at best, but I just really haven't strongly agreed with the way they do things. Now am I saying they can't make something incredibly interesting and entertaining? Of course not. But this is the prime example of what I would call a hot mess. But what's the story for this oddball cartoon? Well Poison Ivy and the Floronic Man are creating a special serum to transform all fleshy creatures into plant hybrids, with Batman and Nightwing getting the help of Harley Quinn for some weird ass reason to stop them. Now the idea of a Batman/Harley Quinn story could be incredibly interesting if used properly, and indeed the character interactions for the most part are handled very well and even the humor hit more than missed, but...whew, when they strike out they strike out. So let's talk about the good stuff first. The cast is actually really damn good, of course we have Kevin Conroy as Batman and gives his stamp of quality, I did give Melissa Rauch some good grief over her voice the first time I heard it but she won me over quick as Harley and din't bother me at all, Paget Brewster I think is one of the best voices of Ivy in the past decade, and Loren Lester is a bit of fun as Nightwing. The animation style is a dream, bringing back The New Batman Adventures sleek and modernized character designs with classic additions from The Animated Series throughout, it was a joy to see that gorgeous car again some 15 years later. And I won't dare even spoil how Harley turns Ivy off this evil plan, but it is so goddang funny I could barely breathe. Again, the character interactions are done well and do still feel like your watching an extension of The Animated Series, and the humor struck more than missed for me. However! On the flip side some of the character interactions wanted me to bleach my eyeballs and bash my head in with a meat tenderizer. And when the humor fails it's almost uncomfortably bad, but I find it only fails when they force a stupid joke instead of it just being humorous dialogue between characters with a history. It's ridiculously short, barely clocking in past one hour so it keeps the momentum and pace incredibly quick and never once does it get dull. It's just such a mixed bag, and a hot mess to boot. I just really hate how they try to shove so much adult stuff in there, like I swear to the celestial beings if I took a shot every time I saw Harley Quinn's ass I'd be pretty hammered. The language isn't that big a problem for me but sometimes it does feel like a lot. I thought the point of animation was to market your product to every age group possible not just "adult" angsty teens who love to hear cuss words. Which is why I'm really super hesitant to watch that animated Harley Quinn series, it's embarassing. We don't watch animated films for sexual situations and adult language, we watch them to see good animation, and really good characters. Now we did get that in this movie but it is bogged down just a teeny tiny little bit with the other stuff. Did I still nerd out over the throwback aesthetic and easter egss, oh hell yeah. Would I probably watch it again, hell no but I walked away with a mostly positive experience anyway. Personally, I would say just watch a few clips of it on YouTube and call it a day. 3 stars, 6.5/10, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I still had issues and unfortunately I'm out of tissues. I am also severely dissapointed in you if you thought that was a dirty joke.

Next time, a short lived series that may have something to it.