"Dying Is Easy" is an American English-language live action short film from 2021, so really fresh and new still and in the couple months since its release this has scored millions of views on Youtube to show you how successful it turned out to be. One reason may be the title that is catchy and easy to remember, but the key reason is probably that this is linked to Batman as you can see from the poster here. The director and writer is Aaron Schoenke and these 26 minutes here are by far not his only trip to Gotham City. He has worked on several Batman films in the past and the experience certainly works in his favor. He is also an actor and plays the Joker in here during the film's perhaps most memorable scene. I am oof course talking about the one between Batman and Joker. If you think this ended with Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar-winning, Joker-defining portrayal, you are wrong. Schoenke by the way has also worked on all kinds of other stuff in the past, for example given his voice to Spider-Man in a famous video game. But let's stay with this one here for now. I should say Aaron Schoenke because the co-director here is Sean Schoenke. Not sure, but my guess is he is Aaron's brother and they have collaborated many times as well. Sean Schoenke stems from the music department usually, but has worked in all kinds of production areas over the years and also played minor characters in front of the camera. In general, you can say that most people you see in this movie have worked with the Schoenkes before. And the cast is not shabby either. There is a reason why not only Doug Jones (would have been nice to see more from him) is on board here, but even Tarantino regular Michael Madsen is a part of this film and not just in one very brief scene.
Looking at the story, Batman fans get their fair share as well. We see most of the famous antagonists, but you cannot fit stories for all of those into under half an hour. Some nice banter between Harley Quinn and Pison Ivy though. So the focus is on the Joker once again. We are told that he is about to die and he thinks so himself, but then we find out it was all just a trick by Batman to get a certain confession out of his most famous antagonist. The quote about how all these other antagonists have something to live for (and to die for), but the Joker does not is also one to remember. The final words of this movie were also on the more memorable side in terms of how Batman is also depicted as a monster here. This can also be seen through how he deals with these chains in what could be mistaken for him trying to kill the Joker. This is of course exactly what the latter wants. In general, the style here is very dark, reminds one a lot of Christopher Nolan's take on the franchise and the really deep voice by Batman here is ansother parallel. Overall, I think this was quite impressive for a fan film. If I had to rate it as a fan film, I may have added another two stars. But rating it as a film in general, it's still 3 out of 5 and a positive recommendation for me here for sure. I personally felt that the only time when I did not enjoy it was basically the epilogue with Catwoman coming into play. That did feel a bit generic, almost cringeworthy, with the meow there. But other than that, it is certainly worth watching. Also really on a strong technical and visual level. Go for it!
Looking at the story, Batman fans get their fair share as well. We see most of the famous antagonists, but you cannot fit stories for all of those into under half an hour. Some nice banter between Harley Quinn and Pison Ivy though. So the focus is on the Joker once again. We are told that he is about to die and he thinks so himself, but then we find out it was all just a trick by Batman to get a certain confession out of his most famous antagonist. The quote about how all these other antagonists have something to live for (and to die for), but the Joker does not is also one to remember. The final words of this movie were also on the more memorable side in terms of how Batman is also depicted as a monster here. This can also be seen through how he deals with these chains in what could be mistaken for him trying to kill the Joker. This is of course exactly what the latter wants. In general, the style here is very dark, reminds one a lot of Christopher Nolan's take on the franchise and the really deep voice by Batman here is ansother parallel. Overall, I think this was quite impressive for a fan film. If I had to rate it as a fan film, I may have added another two stars. But rating it as a film in general, it's still 3 out of 5 and a positive recommendation for me here for sure. I personally felt that the only time when I did not enjoy it was basically the epilogue with Catwoman coming into play. That did feel a bit generic, almost cringeworthy, with the meow there. But other than that, it is certainly worth watching. Also really on a strong technical and visual level. Go for it!