Batman Beyond:
Return of the Joker

Cuts change a moving adventure into a chaos of cardboard characters

	Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
	Voices of Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Angie Harmon
	Written by Paul Dini
	Directed by Curt Geda
	Warner Bros.
	Unrated
	76 Minutes
	MSRP: $24.98 DVD/$19.96 VHS

By Tasha Robinson

ans of the Batman Beyond TV series were up in arms late last year when they first heard that the much-anticipated straight-to-video movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker would be delayed for several months while the studio re-edited the finished product to tone down the violence and make the film more kid-friendly. Sure enough, the movie was ultimately released with lines changed, fights trimmed and several key scenes altered. Due to fan protests, some Internet sites claim Warner is considering a release of the unedited version, but a Warner studio representative refused comment, saying that no decision has been made.

In both its edited and unedited forms, the movie serves as a bridge between two of The WB's popular animated television series: Batman and its sleekly futuristic sequel, Batman Beyond, which takes place about 50 years later. In Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne (Conroy) has retired as Batman, turning the job over to protégé Terry McGinnis (Friedle). Decked out in a high-tech cybernetic Batsuit, McGinnis contends with a whole new generation of evil supervillains. But many questions have never been answered: Whatever happened to Robin and Nightwing? Why does Bruce Wayne walk with a limp? And most importantly, whatever happened to the Joker, who hasn't been seen in decades?

In Return of the Joker, Wayne is in his 70s or 80s ("accounts vary," says the Return DVD's character bio), so when the Joker (Hamill) suddenly returns, looking younger, stronger and more malevolent than ever, Wayne and McGinnis are both appalled and confused. McGinnis accepts the situation wryly but willingly ("Any theories on that? Clone? Robot? Suspended animation due to floating around frozen in a block of ice?"), but Wayne clams up, then grimly demands that McGinnis relinquish the Batsuit and give up being Batman altogether. McGinnis presses for information, but Wayne refuses to discuss the situation. All he will say is that he's sure the newcomer isn't the Joker: "It's not possible. He died years ago. I was there."

McGinnis angrily stomps out on Wayne, but when he's attacked shortly after by the Joker's goons, he realizes that they know his secret identity and will target Wayne as well. As he continues investigating, the Jokerz Gang is stealing high-tech equipment for their new boss for some ominous project that the Joker promises "will give this town a wedgie again."

Absence speaks louder than presence

It would be unfair to Return of the Joker's talented creative team to claim this movie is inherently bad because of the edits. It's not; it's still dark, creepy, mysterious, beautifully designed and animated and reasonably powerful. But in its current form, it's also offensive to its viewers and its original creators. Some of the edits are laughable--for instance, any use of the word "kill" has been changed to "ice" or "defeat" or something even more far-fetched. Other changes are simply annoying--particularly the cuts in the fight scenes, some of which are now choppy and incoherent. Some changes are just prudish--in a scene where the Joker casually murders a rebellious henchman, the Joker's weapon was changed to a gas-gun, the death now takes place offscreen, and the removal of the corpse has been cut out. In a later fight, an angry Batman threatens the Joker with a Bat-blade; the Joker grabs the weapon and stabs Batman in the leg, which causes his later limp. In the edited version, the knife and resulting blood have been digitally removed; the Joker just appears to punch him.

Such changes are irritating, but ultimately superficial. The really infuriating alterations come at the movie's heart, the brutal bridge sequence that answers the old series' lingering questions. This segment is no more suited for young children than it was before--there are still gruesome intimations of torture, madness, horror and death. But the key scenes that shape the entire film have been padded into a form that makes little sense--the Joker's death, rather than the most important decision one character has ever made, has been reduced to a simple offscreen accident.

Had these changes been made in the storyboard stage, fans might be disgusted rather than furious. But Warner didn't just influence a work in progress, it censored a finished product. (The film was released unedited in Europe and Asia, where kids are apparently tougher. Or studio executives have more spine.) Ironically, Warner clearly made the changes to avoid controversy, and instead managed to stir up more controversy. Even more ironically, the altered version is likely to frighten kids and insult older fans at the same time. Instead of a "safe" version that pleases everybody, Warner's developed a version that won't quite please anyone.

Check out the Comics2Film website for links to some of the various Internet petitions protesting the Batman Beyond edits, and to sites where you can read spoilers about the exact content of the edited scenes--or see the unedited versions. -- Tasha

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