
Movie review
July 21, 2017 · 74 min · PG-13 · Animation · Comedy · Crime · Action · Adventure
Batman and Harley Quinn is a short animated action comedy set in Gotham and nearby swamps. Batman and Nightwing investigate a stolen science project and learn that Poison Ivy and the Floronic Man want to turn every human into a plant. They recruit Harley Quinn, who is trying to leave crime behind and rebuild her life after prison. The film mixes superhero danger with songs, sexual jokes, slapstick, and a bright throwback style.
The clearest political message is environmental activism, because Ivy and the Floronic Man blame climate change, greenhouse gases, and deforestation for the world's damage. They plan to force everyone to go green, while Harley jokes that voting for Democrats and giving money to Greenpeace would be better answers. The story also gives Harley strong control over the mission and shows men treating her as a sex object or a joke. These ideas matter to several scenes, but the film presents them as crude comedy inside a villain plot rather than as a serious campaign about identity or social justice.
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Was our 40% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Batman and Harley Quinn.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The film uses established Batman characters and a normal mix of male and female heroes and villains. The cast is not presented as a diversity or identity statement.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Poison Ivy and Floronic Man blame humans for climate change, greenhouse gases, and deforestation. They plan to make every person go green by turning people into plants. Harley jokes that voting for Democrats and giving money to Greenpeace would be better answers. The political lines are tied to the main threat, but the film treats them as absurd villain talk and comedy.
38%
Identity-driven story themes
Harley tries to leave crime and build a normal life after prison. She beats Nightwing, ties him up, chooses when to join the mission, leads the search for Ivy, and finds the final way to stop Floronic Man. Poison Ivy also drives the main threat as a brilliant plant scientist. Batman and Nightwing often serve as helpers or jokes, so the film shows a repeated female-dominant pattern even though it remains a crude comedy.
50%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Harley says that employers reject her because she was a criminal, while other offers treat her as a sex object. The film also shows men judging her by her body and past. This creates a brief critique of male entitlement and unfair treatment at work. The story does not build a wider attack on religion, family life, capitalism, or Western institutions.
22%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film uses established versions of Batman, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Nightwing, and Floronic Man. It places them in a new story, but it does not make an identity-based or DEI change to who they are.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. No anti-woke complaints were found. Public reviews and audience posts mainly discuss weak writing, crude humor, tone, and sexual content. The supplied X pass also found no anti-woke reaction, boycott, or review-bombing aimed at this film.
0%
Creator track record context
The stored creator records give Sam Liu, Wes Gleason, most writers, and the producers low scores. George Pérez is the main outlier because he once stopped attending conventions in states that voted for Donald Trump. The group mainly has genre careers, so this adds only a mild political signal.
11%
Production