Are you looking for the most definitive Batman games? Do you crave the face of Batman games? Here are some of the best Batman games to play over and over again! Wear the mantle of the Dark Knight! Dare to step in his boots as you fight crime with gadgets and hand-to-hand combat!
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/best-batman-arkham-games
Films and TV shows help you learn more about the story - I'll admit that games are more interactive than TV shows and films. Nevertheless, this interaction usually doesn't add anything special to the story. For example, you're mostly killing creatures. This set up can feel more like a chore than an enjoyable experience. Sometimes, i find missions and dialogue in video games to be too repetitive. You can explore the beautiful backgrounds in video games like you would an art gallery in a museum but once you've seen them, that's it. In the film, you learn more about things that ultimately matter most - the story, characters, and how their world affects them especially when you rewatch the film. Outstanding films and TV shows cut out the things that don't advance the story. In video games, there's not much story. Even if there is, its hard to focus on it when you're feeling very tense and frustrated because you're focused on survival. When the game goes to a cutscene, you're still mentally recovering from say the last boss fight and aren't paying close attention to the story.
Films and TV shows help you connect more with the characters - People arguing in favor of video games being better than films and TV shows say "video games let you be the character.." This is a good point but how much control do you have over the main character? Films and TV shows allow you to "be the character" in the sense of knowing who he/she is, his/her struggles, etc. In films, you feel a wide range of emotions like sadness and dread when you connect with the characters. Video games don't do that well. You're mainly worried about winning or losing.
In any video game based on the Star Wars episode 1 film, you can play as Qui Gon Jinn or Obi Wan Kenobi and maybe fight like either character. However, you won't feel the same level of intense emotions as either of them when they fought Darth Maul. You won't be able to replicate their exact moves and mindsets from the film.
These are my reasons for why films and TV shows are better than video games overall. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Cinematography - I absolutely love the camera angles of the Batman animated series! The wide shots not only help us to see the characters but also help us explore Gotham city more.
Music - The music is very memorable and unforgettable! The opening sets the mood of the show in such a powerful way! You feel the suspense, fear, anticipation, and awe of seeing the Batman in action! The growing melody makes you feel all of those emotions. It helps me picture the Batman spreading his wings as he flies at criminals.
Another memorable piece of the score was "Harvey's nightmare." It was one of the scariest pieces of music the show's score had to offer! The melody made you feel like Harvey Dent's evil personality was playing it to torment you into embracing him.
Another memorable piece of the score was the Penguin's theme. It was catchy, energetic, and playful. It expressed the Penguin's personality exceptionally well!
Acting - All of the characters did a phenomenal job! They played their roles so well from their tones of voice to their accents, mannerisms, and more! The actor who played Batman has the best Batman impersonation ever.
Story - The Batman animated series almost follows the same story as the dark Batman comics. The only difference is some details were altered. The Batman animated series is an action-packed, suspenseful, humorous, scary, depressing, and exciting adventure! The Batman animated series has many memorable characters who leave lasting impressions on you! I was shocked at how dark this show got despite being geared toward children. It felt more like an adult show than a children's show.
The Batman animated series is unique because the characters change for better or worse. The characters' choices make a profound impact on one another. It's interesting and nerve-racking to see what characters do in different situations! I was deeply disturbed by some of the villains' origins such as the two-face episodes. Those were some of the scariest episodes I ever saw in an animated series!
Characters - Many characters are three-dimensional! They have their own personalities, emotions, etc. You can deeply analyze each character after every episode. Here's some of my favorite characters.
Theme - The Batman animated series deals with dark themes such as grief, trauma, loss, self-blame, and so on! The main message is you can never fully recover from trauma. It stays with you for life. You can use it to better other people's lives and your own.
The show also explores what causes people to commit crimes and whether it's possible to rehabilitate criminals or not. The show makes you think deeply about the psychological make-up of people rather than simply label them as good or evil.
Dialogue - The dialogue is diverse, emotional, and deep! Each character expresses him or herself in a very special manner! The dialogue is very thought-provoking! Sometimes, I reflected on the dialogue after watching some episodes and tried to analyze it. I wanted to find out what happened to particular characters.
Flaws - Despite the show's wide success, I felt it had some flaws. Some episodes felt like filler material. They didn't feel necessary. For example, I felt some episodes just centered the theme around Christmas for fan service.
In conclusion, I can't recommend the Batman animated series enough! This is a must-have DVD for your collection! I can almost bet money you'll love it regardless of your age or the time you grew up in!
Non-spoiler review:
I was mind-blown by this movie. My expectations were blown away. This movie tackled deep issues like society's hypocrisy, lies about equality, child abuse, mental illness, etc. I was shocked at some scenes which crossed some boundaries. What made this movie great was how it didn't just tell the comic book story of how a crook fell in a vat of chemicals and became the Joker. Joker 2019 gave a new interpretation of the Joker's origins which made me think about a lot. Joker 2019 had loads of emotion and some ambiguity in the right places.
The scenes about mental illness spoke some harsh truths about how mentally ill people are treated today. Hence, why Arthur Fleck wrote in his notebook “the worst part about mental illness is people expecting you to behave as if you don’t have one.” It seemed like no one supported Arthur Fleck's mental illness. They don’t want to acknowledge mental illness exists much less understand it. It’s as if people just want the mentally ill to be locked up in a mental institution and be done with it.
It also had some harsh truths about equality. Society cares more about status than about equality. The poor are expendable.
People criticized it for its violence, but I think they were disturbed. Because there was no Batman, we had no one to look to as a savior. Joker 2019 forced us to look at ourselves and our relationship with people like the Joker. It raises disturbing questions like how much of a role we play in creating someone like the Joker and how accurate are his perceptions? Throughout Joker 2019, it was hard to tell if Arthur Fleck was seeing things correctly or just being delusional.
People criticized the film for this Joker not fully embracing the evil and chaos in him like say Heath Ledger’s Joker. I don’t think this criticism is valid. People forget this is a different Joker before he became THE Joker. That’s why it's an origin story. I was about to criticize this Joker for his lack of clever punchlines and criminal schemes but realized that’s the point. The Joker was a failed comedian trying to get by in the world. He didn’t have any intention to turn to a life of crime. We see a very vulnerable side of the Joker that’s not there in most Batman films.
I loved the original soundtrack. It reminded me a lot of the theme of the Dark Knight live-action franchise. I thought the song “smile” by Jimmy Durante was iconic and perfect for Joker 2019.
Joker 2019 had some flaws. I disliked the excessive laughing and subtle references to Taxi driver along with Heath Ledger's Joker. I felt like they were put there just for "fan service." They didn't feel believable and felt inconsistent with Arthur Fleck's character. I thought the Joker’s love interest didn’t need to be there. It was not how i imagined it would be. I thought the comic’s version of the Joker’s wife made more of an impact than Joker’s girlfriend. I thought the film could’ve been much darker had it taken a different approach with his love interest based on the comics. I disliked how some songs like those of Frank Sinatra didn’t fit well with the theme of the film. I didn’t think the song “smile” was placed in its proper scene. It could’ve been put in a better scene.
Perhaps the movie’s biggest flaw was how it focused too much on the Joker’s mental illness rather than his emotional turmoil. I was expecting to see a blend of emotions and mental illness. Lots of people already included hallucinations or the “reality vs. fantasy” motif in films on mental illness. It’s become too cliche. The film could’ve been more powerful if it stuck to creating drama while balancing out the Joker’s mental illness.
Spoiler review:
I loved the dark atmosphere in the background and the strong opening scene. It set the mood for Joker 2019 quickly. From the beginning of Joker 2019, you could sympathize with Arthur Fleck when he gets jumped.
The train scene:
One of the scenes that break down Arthur Fleck well was the train scene. The Wayne Tech. executives bully a woman. Arthur tries not to laugh due to his medical condition. He doesn’t rescue her because he doesn’t want to become a victim. He simply wants to be left alone even if she looks to him to save her with a fearful look on her face.
The bullies target him shortly after she leaves. He tries to maintain his composure and ignore them.
As the taunting progresses, it’s difficult to tell if he’s laughing through the fear or crying from the fear of being a victim. I think it’s probably both.
Arthur realizes the gravity of what’s done as you could see the anger, stress, and shock on his face. He runs away and locks himself in a bathroom.
The bathroom scene - Arthur recomposes himself and starts dancing in the bathroom. He does this to cleanse his guilt and cope with the reality of what he’s done. He tries to channel all of his negative emotions into something positive and forget what happened. This part gave me goosebumps, especially the soundtrack that plays in the background.
Thomas Wayne news clip scene - After the incident, Thomas Wayne comments on the train shooting. This part shocked me because Thomas Wayne defends the three men killed because they were college students. When Thomas said “what kind of coward hides behind a mask? Gotham’s lost it’s way” and calls those who target successful people “clowns”, i was outraged as much as Arthur was. Wayne had no idea of what happened that night. What’s interesting about this scene was that we get a unique perspective of how Arthur sees Thomas Wayne. In many Batman films and media, Thomas is portrayed as a charitable rich man who loves Gotham. In Arthur’s mind, Thomas was a corrupt tyrant who looked down on the poor and only looked to benefit the rich. We see the injustice of favoring high class citizens over lower ones.
When Thomas Wayne comments on the three murders of Arthur’s bullies on the subway, he defends them. In Thomas’ mind, they were innocent college students who were murdered by a low-life scumbag. Arthur is infuriated because Thomas’ was fully ignorant of what truly happened on the train. He sees his judgment as unfair and biased against the lower class.
Murray makes fun of Arthur scene - It must’ve been crushing for Arthur to see Franklin Murray, his idol, backstab him. It was hard to watch. I felt very tense during this scene. I could feel Arthur reaching a breaking point. You don’t know what he feels towards Murray at this point or what he’ll do and its disturbing.
He felt betrayed by his own mother who was the biggest support he had in the film.
I was shocked as I watched this. My mouth dropped.
Arthur kills his mother - I was completely shocked at the dialogue and scene where Arthur kills his mother in the hospital.
Arthur is slowly becoming the Joker. You can tell from the way his new clown appearance differs from his old one. He feels a sense of liberation and redemption after committing several murders.
The chase scene - The chase scene was probably one of the most intense scenes of the movie. The detectives undoubtedly knew Arthur committed all the murders. When Arthur runs, it just confirms all of their doubts.
As the cops are chaotically rushing to help the detectives getting beaten, they completely fail to notice Arthur walk out of the station. I wasn’t surprised this happened as police weren’t that advanced in the 80’s-90’s.
Arthur takes a dramatic turn and blames people like Murray for his suffering. In Arthur’s mind, people like Murray and Thomas Wayne were guilty of profiting from the suffering of the poor.
I felt all sorts of emotions watching this scene. Arthur reveals how he really feels about society as he talks about how the rich take advantage of the poor and disenfranchised. He talks about how people like Murray brainwash the audience into what he thinks is funny and reveals humor is subjective. In this conversation, we learn Arthur suppressed his enjoyment of killing the three bullies on the train until now. He tried so hard to fit in with everyone else and what everyone else thought was funny. He finally says “who am i kidding? I enjoy killing. This is what i find funny even if everyone else doesn’t.”
At this point in Joker 2019, Arthur stops denying who he is. This is evident when he says “I didn’t know if I even existed, but I do now.” For almost the entire movie, Arthur based his life on how others expected him to be. His mother expected him to be someone who brings laughter to the world. Franklin Murray expected him to be a highly skilled comedian like he was. His ex-boss expected him to be one too. When he tells Murray that humor is subjective, it’s implied that Arthur realized life and death were amusing. He denied it when he killed the three college students, but came to embrace his violent sense of humor. He calls out people like Murray for brainwashing people into accepting what he thinks is funny due to his high position in society. Arthur realizes life’s a joke. It doesn’t matter if you’re good or evil. If tragedy still occurs to you despite your attempts to be good, why be good? Arthur tried hard to smile through hardships but realizes its futility. Everyone has limits. He couldn’t keep trying to be “the bigger person” forever. Rather than be a victim, he chooses to go on a murderous rampage and take it out on society.
What Arthur says is so true. I find Murray’s response an accurate reflection of how society responds to what Arthur says. I feel Arthur’s anger at how society treats people. When someone like Kobe Bryant dies, everyone mourns because its on the mainstream news. When its someone you see everyday like a beggar who dies, no one bats an eye. Why? Because its not on TV so its not deemed important. Murray denies it by saying “you’re making excuses.” and “not all of us are like that..” I hate the “not all of us” argument because its so dismissive and misses the point. Not everyone is bad, but many are and need to be dealt with.
It’s interesting because when he said “when i was a little boy and told people i was gonna be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well no one’s laughing now..”, it was almost a foreshadowing of Arthur Fleck becoming the Joker.
In summary, Joker 2019 does a spectacular job in explaining how all of these factors combined with his inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy contributed to Arthur Fleck becoming the Joker. Joker 2019 did an amazing job in making the characters relatable and giving multiple interpretations of the Joker's origins. You could watch Joker 2019 more than once and see things you originally didn't see before. You could thoroughly analyze Joker 2019 and come up with your own conclusions on how to interpret what you saw.
I loved Joker 2019 and highly recommend you buy the DVD if you're a Joker fan.
Terry McGinnis: 
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