Love anything to do with Batman and any superhero or supervillain, animated or live-action. Also like to love a lot of the animated superhero/comic book films, so part of me was expecting a great deal from 'Batman and Harley Quinn'.
Sadly, 'Batman and Harley Quinn' turned out to be a big disappointment in ways that have been summed up very well in previous reviews, not much to add. It isn't as bad as 'Batman and Robin', it takes a lot for any superhero film to be as bad as that (there's a reason as to why whenever there is a film part of a franchise that disgraces the franchise it is likened as "the 'Batman and Robin' of..."). That however doesn't stop it from failing drastically to live up to its potential.
There are plus points. Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester do a great job as Batman (as one would expect, Conroy is without equal as the character) and Nightwing. Some of the animation is meticulous in detail, faithfully drawn and brooding, other parts though could have done with a lot more care and refinement (there are lapses in continuity here and there). The music is atmospheric and pulsating.
However, most of the voice actors don't fit the characters. Melissa Rauch is a very awkward fit for Harley and Paget Brewster has done much better work than her fairly anaemic Poison Ivy. The characters are poorly written, either being flimsy in development or personality or out of character.
Much of the dialogue doesn't work, the darker dramatic elements ring hollow and the comedic approach to other parts jars. The jokes are not funny and are incredibly juvenile and forced, while the more serious nature of the story is hampered by over-reliance on over-convenient plot devices, dull pacing, lack of coherence and some scenes being irrelevant. The much panned sex scene particularly is completely out of place. Tonally the film is all over the place and incredibly disjointed, and the ending is highly suggestive of the writers running out of ideas because it is the complete anti-thesis of going out with a bang.
Overall, disappointing and fails to pack a punch. 3/10 Bethany Cox
