A lot of the Batman cartoon versions are better than the live versions, and Return of the Joker is one of them. Set in the Batman Beyond universe (between twenty and thirty years later from when Bruce was in his prime), this movie introduces a young boy named Terry who is given the honor of becoming a Batman for a new generation. At the same time, the Joker, who was long thought dead, resurfaces and causes no end of trouble for our heroes.

I've also had the chance to watch a big chunk of the series, and it's always neat when a video release like this is a continuous piece of the series. The voice acting is well done, the story is compelling and dynamic, and the physical limitations of the real world are easily evaded with the animation medium. This makes Batman a lot more agile, swift, and sneaky then he ever could be in the movies. Anybody who's followed the show has probably seen this, but if you haven't, it's definitely worth a watch.

I'm about 47 minutes into it, and all i can say is..wow. The voice acting is top notch, the animation well done, and the music and action well paced. It's also the darkest of the batman beyond episodes, given it's pg-13 (unedited version) rating. I bought this for $1 at the local library and it's a good bargain. Definitely not for kids but for cartoon fans of all ages.

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.

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).

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