I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I know the decision to pair Batman and Batgirl is controversial, but Timm & Co. have previously planted the seeds for this sort of thing in *Batman Beyond*, so it didn't bother me the way it seems to have bothered many. I also appreciated that rather than just making Barbara a prop for the Joker, the film gave her her own story, with her own thematic tie to the traditional *Killing Joke* story, where she too has to face the abyss and decide whether to let it consume her. It wasn't perfect, but trafficked in many of the same themes and Tara Strong in particular did a great job at conveying the complexity of the character and her conflicting motivations.

The second half of the film, which follows the source material more closely, was tremendous. Featuring a bravura performance from Mark Hamill who has, to my mind, become the definitive Joker, the film does well at embracing Moore and Bolland's themes of Joker's nihilism contrasted with Batman's steadfastness even in the face of unspeakable horrors. The art, the score, the animation, and the atmosphere of the adaptation were superb. It managed to be unflinching without devolving into grimdark nonsense, and even showed a fair amount of discretion in execution. It's a worthy exploration of the themes of the original (which the film takes from dutifully), and a superb culmination of Timm, Hamill, Strong, and the rest of the DCAU team's work with these characters.