Bats & Jokes
“Bats & Jokes” is a fan-made short film about Batman being held hostage by his infamous arch enemy, the Joker. It’s a mix up of live-action along with animation that adds a lot of interesting elements to the Batman universe. You can tell the filmmakers have a love for Batman and his origins as this short film has a lot of references to other villains.
The first interaction between Batman and the Joker is probably one of my favorite scenes in this short. It’s shot black and white and is actually pretty intense as the Joker is in Batman’s face and reveals that he knows Batman’s true identity while Batman is tied to a chair at center stage of a theater. The Joker taunts Batman exclaiming how he’s going to kill him. However, Batman doesn’t remember how he got there so the Joker excitedly reveals it to him. From there it cuts to animation. I’m not going to go into detail about how exactly Batman wounded up at the hands of the Joker because if you’re a true fan of the universe, then that alone is a reason to check this out.
The animation part of the film is actually really fun. While the whole film cuts back and forth between present (live-action) and animation (the past), the animation actually makes Batman’s universe more depressing as characters we’ve grown to love end up dying in brutal fashions. The animation adds a new style. It differs from the animated series we have all grown up with. You can tell it’s low-budget, but it’s damn good for being low-budget as the visuals are dark and captivating. The direction of each sequence has passion and it slowly unravels a story of a failed Batman.
The live-action parts are well-shot and has a certain style to them too. Although it’s shot in black and white, there is a light in the background that’s actually green whenever it hits the lens. That alone stood out to me and added more to the atmosphere of the short film. The green light was very Joker-like and felt fitting. It was brilliantly placed. I would have never even thought to add something like that as a stylistic choice, but it definitely pays off. It’s dark and it’s gritty and it’s wonderful.
The acting is impressive as it is a fan-made film. We all have our own love of certain Batman portrayals and and Jokers. That being said, each character has traits of every portrayal and it morphs into a unique performance from both actors alike. The voice acting was believable and I was blown away when I saw what the actual actors/actresses looked like because I would have never put their voice to their faces – which is often the case for most of voice acting.
Overall, being a fan of Batman, I was amused and entertained with this short film. It adds some new stuff to the universe which some fans may enjoy as I did. The ending alone is another reason I would recommend this because of the nice twist that had me questioning what I just witnessed.
