The concept of Batman Beyond, a futuristic batman, may seem like a mediocre idea on paper that was tailor suited to sell overpriced toys to young batman fans. But as it actually turns out Batman Beyond was a brilliant addition to the animated Batman lore that succesfully continued the legacy of Batman after Bruce Wayne succumbed to old age. By introducing new characters and nicely continuing the story of already established characters Batman Beyond succeeded in bringing Batman into the not too distant future. And much like the original animated series, Batman Beyond got a feature length film, named Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. While it may not be quite as good as Mask Of The Phantasm that came from Batman: The Animated Series, it is still a very good film that may contain one of the most sadistic renditions of the Joker still to this day.

Something that becomes very apparent though is that this film was clearly designed for an audience that was already familiar with the tv-series that it was made from. The new Batman for example is not given much of an introduction here and when I think about it he must seem really bland for a viewer not familiar with the animated show, where he is properly introduced to the audience early on in the show. I do strongly recommend that anyone who decide to watch this film does at least take a look at the first two-part episode of the Batman Beyond tv-series, just to get a basic grasp at the universe where it takes place.

As the title may suggest this film has The Joker in it, and by god did they do him justice here. He is utterly monstrous in this. Noone is safe when he is around, be it villanous ally or opposing hero. Mark Hamill puts his heart and soul into the role (as he always does) and so does Kevin Conroy as an aged Bruce Wayne, who has replaced his peak human physique with vicious cane strikes and vicious insults and burns as he got older.

A lengthy flashback sequence is the absolute highlight of the film and may just have on the most sadistic moments of The Joker, which is quite the accomplishment. Without spoiling too much it is centered around Tim Drake, one of the young kids taking the mantle of Robin, getting kidnapped by Joker and Harley Quinn. The whole segment is a roller coaster of emotions, ranging from hilarious to downright spine chilling. The fact that Mark Hamill apparently felt deeply uncomfortable with playing his part in this segment really says it all. This is The Joker at his most disturbed and it is absolutely fantastic in all its horrifying glory. Unfortunetaly the way that the flash back segment is connected to the future near the end of the film is quite dissapointing, this doesn't in any way ruin the brilliance of the flashback itself but it does end the film as a whole on a rather mediocre note.

Animation wise the film looks pretty good, although it is noticable that it was a direct to-video film. Something that bothered me was that it felt almost to bright most of the time, the tv-show was rather dark in its colour scheme to instill the feeling of a dystopian metropolis from the future. The overall feel of the film is still very good, with intense combat sequences and a solid soundtrack. It is also noteworthy just how dark some of the themes in this film are, I must say that I really think this film pushes the limit of what disturbing content can be considered suitable in an animated feature for a younger audience.

Overall this is a great addition to the animated DC universe that lets us see what Batman's most iconic foe can come up with in the future, in all his sadistic glory.