Batman: The Killing Joke Review - 5 Ups And 6 Downs
Despite fans rejoicing that The Killing Joke received an R-rating, the end result is actually surprisingly meek, the rating given more for tonal reasons than anything specific, and could certainly be construed as a cynical move to make the film more appealing to the die-hard fans.
Still, there's not a whole lot in terms of graphic sex, violence or profanity: the Batman-Batgirl sex is (thankfully) just implied, and when The Joker strips Barbara naked we never actually see anything explicit, while characters tend to say "bull" instead of "bulls***", and violence is a few squibs of the red stuff every now and then (but certainly no worse than what's in an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon).
Given all the fuss made about the rating, it's a shame that Warner didn't make more of it and lean into the story's more adult aspects. It was ultimately a marketing tool above all else, it seems.
And disappointing though all these aspects are, now it's time to look at what worked in The Killing Joke...