In latter-21st-century Gotham City, The Jokerz, a street gang enamored of the city's infamous Clown Prince Of Crime, is breaking into a high-tech engineering plant to steal a powerful generator, a crime stopped by the new Batman (Terry McGuiness) and which puzzles Terry and his mentor, the elderly original Batman Bruce Wayne. The reason for this and other "geek junk" thefts is a mystery even to The Jokerz gang, who are now working for someone claiming to be the original Joker himself. When he makes an appearence at a charity function attended by Bruce Wayne (cover to steal another generator), the Joker taunts Wayne, and later sends his minions to attack Terry McGuiness while he attacks the Batcave. But the original Joker died forty years earlier, and why does this new Joker want high-tech items? When a shaken Barbara Gordon explains the fate of the original Joker, Terry begins to piece the twin mysteries together, culimating in a confrontation with the Joker that literally threatens the very existence of Gotham City. While trying to uncover the Joker's secrets, Terry McGinnis, the new Batman, discovers the greatest mystery in the career of the original Batman - the true story of the night Batman fought the Joker for the last time. Though when Bruce Wayne is almost killed in one of the Joker's new attacks, it's up to Batman Beyond to avenge his mentor and put the Joker to rest forever. The first thing that stands out about Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker is its structure. Unlike some of the other animated Batman movies (SubZero, Mystery of the Matwoman), this one comes closer to the likes of Mask of the Phantasm to actually feeling, however in short running time, like a real feature-length movie and not simply four episodes strung together. This is important since we can get wrapped up in the mystery behind the re-emergence of the Joker and it feels fluid and without a cliffhanger-type end every several minutes. The second thing that marks this as above-average animated Batman fare is the quality of the history of two series, original animated and Beyond, and how sharp the writing and voice performances go along with the (PG-13) action and cartoon violence. The filmmakers could've just thrown in old characters like Joker and Harley Quinn and Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake just for the hell of it. But it all fits a story that's worth telling, if only for the fans looking for that awesome coda to the first series.<br/><br/>It's hard to try and not spoil how the Joker, fifty years into the future, re-appears with his gang the Jokerz when Bruce Wayne is now an old man and Terry McGinnis is the new young Batman. Without saying too much, the Jokerz are stealing some high-tech equipment, and something smells fishy on top of the conniving Jordan Price possibly double-crossing Wayne, who is taking back control over Wayne enterprises. But when the Joker himself crashes Wayne's party, McGinnis and Wayne try and investigate what's going on- who he really is, since he's supposed to be killed- and where he'll strike next. The writing and crafting of the mystery, and the eventual truth, is told creatively and with the kind of absorption Batman fans crave (it IS Detective Comics after all), but also impressive is the animation done mostly with computers and not skimping on making the action fairly intense (the subtraction of a good deal of the blah heavy metal music from the show is a plus here).<br/><br/>And lest not forget Conroy as Bruce Wayne, always a sturdy presence, and Mark Hamill as the Joker. They're probably two of the most iconic voice actors of their time just on the basis of their work in the Batman animated saga; Hamill especially gives it his all, and even puts in double-time on the voice of Jordon Price (which for a little while begs the question of him being involved in the crimes), as the clown prince of crime and mayhem. It's such a good performance that it makes up for some standard work by other voice actors (however fine) by Dean Stockwell and Angie Harmon. With just his voice he projects this iconic villain for all its worth, and ranks up there with Nicholson and (now) Ledger as the wonderful if varied versions. Somehow, even in the drama, Hamill manages to get a couple of laughs out of the audience with this Joker. Funny, since it's one of the most dramatic Batman stories yet. 8.5/10 This was definitely one of the highlights for me. I was 14 when this movie arrived, and what i movie it was. Having grown up with the entire Bruce Timm animated Batman series, this film shows that both Timm and Paul Dini know this series back to front.<br/><br/>The story is set roughly 50 years into the future, making Bruce Wayne in his 80's. After breaking up a gang of Jokerz that were stealing high tech gadgets, Terry McGinnis - the new Batman - is set to discover the most deadly secret from Bruce's tenure as the Dark Knight, but also face one of Bruce's deadliest foes - The Joker.<br/><br/>I've always considered The Joker to be completely immortal, because no matter what happened to him within the series he always managed to come back. This story was brilliant in not only story but also character and emotion between Bruce, Terry, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, and ultimately, The Joker.<br/><br/>Whether you're a fan of Batman or not, this film is a must for any viewer. Here's for more Batman Animated Movies
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