YMMV / Batman and Harley Quinn

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• Ass Pull: Harley defeating Floronic Man by lighting him on fire really comes across as this, as his plant-like nature is obvious to anyone who looks upon him, and it's a pretty big stretch to think that no one thought a plant monster might be flammable until then.
• Awesome Music:
  • Rob Paulsen playing the Two-Face henchmen Min and Max singing a cover of "Don't Pull Your Love" is considered the best part of the film. Also, a Moment of Awesome for Rob Paulsen; he recorded for this movie while dealing with throat cancer treatments.
  • Harley singing Blondie's "Hangin' On the Telephone" as well.
• Best Known for the Fanservice:
  • The scene of Nightwing tied to a bed while Harley Quinn seduces him tends to be talked about the most, for better or worse.
  • The Superbabes restaurant scene also tends to be quite memorable for many viewers.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Right at the end, Swamp Thing shows up, looks like he's gonna save the day, and then just disappears without doing a thing. Rather unusually, this is also an In-Universe example, as the main three, plus Floronic Man just lie there with "What the hell was that?" expressions, and Harley even says "Well that was a big-ass bucket of nothing."
• Broken Aesop: A frequent complaint about the film is that while it's supposed to be about Harley's redemption and we're meant to see her as a tragic figure, most of the humor is derived from her being an immature Jerkass, which is the very thing she's trying to overcome.
• Broken Base:
  • Melissa Rauch voicing Harley Quinn. There are some who welcome a fresh VA on the character, while others would rather see Tara Strong, or Hynden Walch return to the role given that Arleen Sorkin retired from the role years ago.
  • There have been debates on whether this film is canon to the DC Animated Universe production despite the references and near identical animation style. Not helping things is that Bruce Timm didn't go back to see if anything matched up, and stated he's sure some fans will figure it out (they did). However, Timm has also stated that the film is within DCAU continuity in his mind and Warner Bros and DC have gone on to confirm such.
  • Loren Lester's voice for Nightwing has also come under fire. There are those who think he still sounds good while there are those who think that 15 years of not voicing the character has taken a toll on his voice.
  • Another minor point comes from how the Joker only gets mentioned once in the movie, with no appearance. Some thinks it lessens Harley's character since her relationship with the Joker is a vital part of her character. On the flip side, people are glad at how this movie helps her be her own character without him given his general overexposure.
  • Nightwing and Harley sleeping together. Some find it a funny and fanservice-y moment, others find it skeevy and dubiously-consented-to since he was tied to a bed and has been raped twice in the comics (to say nothing of those who are sick of Nightwing being portrayed as someone who sleeps around in general).
• Comedy Ghetto: This film being more comedy based than the average DCAU show or DC Animated movie no doubt contributed to its mixed reaction.
• Continuity Lock-Out: Given the sheer number of references in the movie, it's almost inevitable. Even without that, the scene where Jason and Ivy enters ''The Green'' makes little sense unless you're familiar with Swamp Thing and his lore.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • If the film and Batman Adventures (2003) #16 are both taken as canon with B:TAS, then how did the real Ivy become a Plant Person, and how were she and Harley able to reconnect amicably in the time between?
  • And left out from the film's sequel comics, how did Harley become the host of that Game Show?
• Fanon Discontinuity: While not a bad film overall, there are fans that refuse to believe the idea that this could be set in the beloved DC Animated Universe.
• Fetish Retardant:
  • A good number of viewers find the fanservice in the movie very excessive to the point where it feels like it is trying too hard.
  • One of the waitresses at the restaurant Harley works at (which features women in skimpy outfits based on various heroines and villainesses) is dressed as Granny Goodness, who is typically portrayed as extremely old and wrinkled, quite aside from her personality.
• Genius Bonus:
  • The movie features a surprisingly subtle reference to Professor Wertham's "Seduction Of The Innocent". When Harley admits that she thought Nightwing and Batman "didn't like girls", she mentions "that book with the headlights and the eyeball gouging."
    "I had to write a paper on it in college. Got a B-minus."
  • In the scene where Booster calls Batman, Nightwing's sign for "Jerk" when referring to Bloodwind also means "Wanker" in British Sign Language. It's Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
• He Really Can Act: "He Really Can Sing" in this case, while Rob Paulsen is an accomplished singer, his musical number is considered the best part of the film, especially when you consider he had throat cancer while the movie was in production. He's also quite effective when playing Harold Goldblum, capturing his quiet scenes well, especially when he's about to die. Those last breaths feel very real.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Melissa Rauch being cast as Harley in this movie, since her fellow cast member from The Big Bang Theory—Kaley Cuoco—would later voice Harley in Harley Quinn (2019).
  • Adding to the previous; anyone who doesn't like the raunchiness in this movie now have the aforementioned series to shock them even more.
  • The 2022 thriller Amsterdam (2022) features a trio as the main characters, two of them being played by Christian Bale and Margot Robbie, who respectively played Batman and Harley Quinn in two unrelated continuities of DC adaptations. In this movie, there's no Teeth-Clenched Teamwork dynamic between them but genuine friendship.
• Ho Yay: Max and Min seem to be singing "Don't Pull Your Love" to each other as much as onstage.
• Jerkass Woobie: Harley is a pretty big jerk for most of the movie, but look at it from her point of view: she's not only endured years of abuse at the hands of the Joker, she's also having trouble adapting to life as a normal person, in part because she can't get a job anywhere other than a restaurant where she implies people frequently try to sexually assault her. She gets nicer by the end, as well as getting a job as a host in some weird gameshow.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Regardless of the movie's quality, almost everyone will agree on Rob Paulsen's musical number being top notch.
• Les Yay: It's never suggested if this incarnation of Ivy has feelings for Harley or not, however she does deeply care for her. Harley giving her Puppy-Dog Eyes is enough for her to give up on her plans.
  • In the trailer released on May 25, 2017, it used symbols from playing cards during some scenes from their fight. The first symbol used? A heart. Make of that what you will.
• Narm Charm: The big entrance of Swamp Thing seems scripted like the ending of a Disney movie (not helped at all by Moana being released before it).
• So Okay, It's Average: Reception has been lukewarm, albeit slightly more positive than Bruce Timm's previous production Batman: The Killing Joke. While most people agree it's not one of the best of DC's animated movies, it can still be quite a fun ride if you watch it in the right mindset.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: A partial example. While Poison Ivy's green agenda and friendship with Harley are on full display, as you'd expect, this movie tremendously downplays her Femme Fatale side, much to the bemoaning of many fans. This is especially odd since they hired Paget Brewster, who's no stranger to using her breathy voice to play very sultry characters.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: We see Harley somehow in charge of a game show where she helps people to get help from actual therapists. This stands out since it was a major part of her character arc and we never see how she sees this as an acceptable compromise.
• Unexpected Character: The appearance of all the minor henchmen and smaller-time villains from Batman: The Animated Series came as a surprise, especially considering they haven't made any appearances since the 1990s.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: The film is a much more lighthearted and humorous DC animated movie, and is animated in the style of the family-friendly DCAU (never mind all the violence and crap past the radar in that franchise). It's also filled to the brim with sexual humor and innuendos, contains tons of vulgar language, and while not nearly as violent as other DC Animated Original movies, still has a few bloody scenes that are more intense than the average DCAU episode.
• The Woobie: Dr.Goldblum. He's basically a decent person who is forced to work for Poison Ivy and Floronic Man after they kill all his co-workers. When the heroes get to the lab, Floronic Man stabs him as they don't need him anymore. This leads to a very sad scene where Harley holds him and tells him he'll be ok at first, but, when it looks like he's not gonna make it, says when he gets to heaven he should talk to her grandma Fran as he would probably like her
  • There's also "Wessy" from The Stinger. Harley runs a gameshow where if you win you get free therapy with her. Unfortunately, Wessy doesn't win and still has all his problems to deal with. While it's Played for Laughs, you have to wonder if he ever got help for his mental problems.

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