[7.7/10] I know that B:TAS made waves for being an animated show that was intended to be accessible for kids, while also not dumbing down its material of being able to delve into mature themes. But man, a mob boss seeing his son hooked on drugs and reforming thanks in part to his flashbacks about unintentionally maiming his little brother is pretty intense for a kids show!
But that’s the nice thing about this series. It doesn't shy away from those sorts of topics, but it does them tastefully. At times, this episode devolves a little into being a Chick tract. (Batman’s warning that this has to stop now when Arnold Stromwell sees his son hooked on junk starts to feel a little overly didactic). But for the most part, the episode shows a surprising amount of restraint.
This is a story of reform, one where Batman plays the Ghost of Christmas Future to a man who still has the capacity to change, and that’s a really cool idea. The show sets up the notion of a mob war between the already established Rupert Thorne and Stromwell as a good reason to have some action and tension injected into this. And it brings the aesthetic flair to help add suspense and impact to the story, whether it’s the billowing explosions after the attempt on Stromwell’s life, or the freight train bursting through a cloud of steam and bearing down on two young boys.
In the end, the show doesn't skimp on Stromwell’s change of heart. It takes a lot to move him, mainly that flashback to what his morally suspect ways did to his brother. The train sequence is really well staged and animated, replete with nice cuts to Arnold in the present day reacting to the painful memory. The reveal that the priest Batman speaks to is the little boy whose pain Arnold so regrets is a good one, and the sibling relationship goes a long way toward earning the shift in Stromwell’s principles.
At the same time, it’s another episode where Batman is a side character more than he is a main character, and yet does well in that role, using his detective skills to put this whole thing together, and having a larger goal that makes sense beyond just saving a man’s soul. Even beyond that, just him standing on gothic architecture and gazing into the night matches the show’s usual cool imagery.
Overall, this is an episode that feels like it could be done up as a Scorcese short or something along those lines, with a maturity in its subject matter and a tastefulness in its depiction that makes it seem adult without seeming grimdark or saccharine.
Let me sum up Killing Them Softly for you, a basic mob movie that wants to be more than that so Dominik concocts some pretentious connection between the mob and U.S. politics so that they can convince themselves their basic mob movie is more than that. The political connection doesn't even make any sense. It's basically "hey the government is similar to the mob because they both have an economy!" It sounds like a teenagers attempt at edgy satire. Not only is the connection incredibly pretentious and over the top, it's also shoved down the audiences collective throats. Dominik presents his satire with the subtlety of a Michael Bay movie, constantly placing in political speeches to try to be clever. He treats his audience like kindergartners and insults their intelligence. I probably would have liked it better if he had just completely skipped his pretentious satire and just stuck to a basic mob movie, at least then I wouldn't feel spoonfed. The visuals are more impressive than your average movie, especially with one of the execution scenes. Overall though it just feels like a waste of time that will insult your intelligence on the side. Terrible movie, just an absolute waste of my time.
