THE ANIMATED BATMAN #3 - 'Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker' (2000)

After the release of "Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero", there was going to be an attempt to make a third film set in the timeline for "Batman: The Animated Series". The new film was going to be called "Batman: Arkham" and feature Batman battling his greatest foes within Arkham Asylum. However, another animated series had become quite popular by the time of this film.

"Batman Beyond" was set in the future featuring an older Bruce Wayne who was using a young man named Terry McGinnis to carry on the mantle of the Batman. The show, against all odds at the time, became an instant hit as a show that successfully carried on the traditions of "The Animated Series". That meant that a straight-to-video movie was inevitable to capitalize on the show's popularity.

Therefore, "Batman: Arkham" was put on hold and "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" took its place. However, it was not smooth sailing for the project after it replaced the original film. In 1999, a mass shooting occurred at Columbine High School. This caused a renewed interest in violence featured in entertainment directed towards younger audience members.

"Return of the Joker" was originally intended for a release in early 2000, but was delayed to December 2000 so that filmmakers could make some changes to the film. That means that there is two versions of the film that now exists: the original that was released in December 2000 and an unrated of version of the film that was released years later. The changes to the film mostly revolve around a character who is killed in a different way than he is in the original release.

In the movie, no matter which version you watch, a gang known as the Jokerz has been stepping up their domestic terrorist attacks. They have been stealing high tech components for unknown reasons. It is eventually learned that this is due to the fact that the gang is now being run by the original Joker himself, a character that has somehow cheated death from years prior. It is now up to both Terry and Bruce to figure out how this can be and how to stop Batman's original archnemesis.

I would say more, but that would lead to too many spoilers. All I can say is that this film has plenty of twist and turns that not only tells you how the original Joker is back, but it also goes out of its way to tell you what happened to the original Batman's allies from the original animated series.

This movie is a huge improvement over "Sub-Zero", the direct-to-video Batman film that preceded this title. It leans into the strengths of both "The Animated Series" and what was being done in "Batman Beyond" at this time.

Will Friedle is fantastic as Terry McGinnis as always and Kevin Conroy is always perfect when he chooses to play Bruce Wayne. Both Friedle and Conroy prove to have great chemistry though this should come as no surprise to anyone who is familiar to the show on which this show is based.

It would probably help newcomers to the movie to watch "Batman Beyond" before tackling this movie. Beyond that, though, there is plenty of solid action, twists in the story, and great voice performances that carry this movie. It is one of Batman's better animated films and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in Batman's animated adventures!