The Dark Knight IGN Article: The Dark Knight in Film (So Far)

[gwynplaine]

i dont really know what to say. i liked nicholsons sometimes light/sometimes dark portrayel, made you laugh one minute and cringe in fear the next. ledgers joker looks to be just plain dark with no silliness whatsoever. umm....well.....the silliness and funny dakrness is what makes the joker the Joker. if hes just a crazt insane unfunny person, you might as well get some random psycho like kevin spacey from seven and put him in the role instead. i will have to see ledger to know if he will make this work, cuz so far im havein my doubts. i certainly wouldnt say that i see the comics joker, this looks to be somethin original just for the movie. like devito's penguin was for Returns.

I don't think a few leaked pictures can do justice to an actor's performance. Be patient, you might be rewarded.

 

[TromaFreak64]

Ledger seems to have some humor in the role but its very dark... he is just a sociopath like when the joker originally appeared.

 

[Sharkboy]

Im really starting to understand what nolans trying to do with casting such an offbeat choice for the role of joker now. If they went along with such faves as crispin glover or paul bettany, i would pretty much have known how they would play it, it would be easy to imagine these guys with the white face causing havoc on the streets of gotham. On the other hand i havent seen heath in anything like this before, even with all the released pictures and the soundbite in the trailer, its still hard to see ledgers joker in my mind, which is why im very interested to see his performance in the movie. This is why i think Nolan has nailed it, despite what many people go on about his skin or whatever.

 

[GoogleMe94]

jack had a charisma about his joker, he was a "homicidal artist" and described his work, talking in sarcastic lines about the "avante guarde" and so forth. will heath consider himself a homicidal artist?

and as far as nolan "nailing it", it he didnt "nail" scarecrow. thats why im afraid to see what he has done to joker. he took the costume and scariness away from scarcrow, and not hes taking away the silliness and perma-white face/body from Joker. what will he do next, take away twofaces 2-piece suit?


oh no, im dooooomed....

 

[gwynplaine]

Jack was great but it's time to move on because the Midnight Clown has arrived !

 

[evilskillz]

jack had a charisma about his joker, he was a "homicidal artist" and described his work, talking in sarcastic lines about the "avante guarde" and so forth. will heath consider himself a himicidal artist?

Good question.. I just hope he's really good at the theatrics in this movie. I want him The Joker to be the main cause of all that is mayhem in Gotham. A force that is beyond Batman's everyday villain.

I just can't wait to see live scenes with the Joker again. No one in the comic book world really compares with the Joker. Should be fun.

 

[GoogleMe94]

Jack was great but it's time to move on because the Midnight Clown has arrived !

yeah i know its a new vision and i am exicted to see it but its just soooo hard to let go of jack!!! i dont know, i have a feeling that even if heath rocks, jack will always be my fav. joker. but i am ertainly open for something new.

just....no perma white skin?....

 

[gwynplaine]

yeah i know its a new vision and i am exicted to see it but its just soooo hard to let go of jack!!! i dont know, i have a feeling that even if heath rocks, jack will always be my fav. joker. but i am ertainly open for something new.

just....no perma white skin?....

That's the spirit though, Jack's performances is one for the ages but we all have to gain if the "new guy" is great too.

 

[Sharkboy]

jack had a charisma about his joker, he was a "homicidal artist" and described his work, talking in sarcastic lines about the "avante guarde" and so forth. will heath consider himself a homicidal artist?

and as far as nolan "nailing it", it he didnt "nail" scarecrow. thats why im afraid to see what he has done to joker. he took the costume and scariness away from scarcrow, and not hes taking away the silliness and perma-white face/body from Joker. what will he do next, take away twofaces 2-piece suit?


oh no, im dooooomed....

Well it's the big debate going on with bat-fans at the moment isn't it, should Nolan take these important factors away from the rogues gallery, in order to satisfy his need to make these films realistic.

If you put it that way, then would'nt be happy with how he had r'as portrayed, where was the lazurus pit, or talia, or him always calling batman "dectective" those are major aspects of Ra's Al Ghul, that nolan and goyer missed which are the equivalent of Jokers white skin, his silly campiness and two face's half suit.

But the thing is, i wasn't annoyed with the Ra's portrayal, it captured the essence of what the Ra's character is, someone who is on a mental and physical level of batman, while being very mystic, with a more extreme moral policy than bruce. It was different to the comic's but it worked and it was refreshing. To me, Joker isnt defined by his perma white skin or his campyness, they are just characteristics in another vision from other directors in other mediums. This is Chris Nolans take, and it seems like he wants to move the character in a different aesthetic while capturing the spirit of the joker, which is to me, his obsession to create as much chaos and mayhem as possible, psychotic, brutal veiled by humour.

sorry if i droned on a bit, i dont get to post much lol

 

[Spider–Man]

Sounds great to me!

 

[rashad]

Even though Jack's version was great, I find Nolan's version of the Joker far more interesting. That's just how I feel.

 

[GoogleMe94]

yeah i see what you mean, and i agree with you about Ras, i think he nailed Ras even without the Lazerus pits. the story didnt require the Pits anyway so it didnt really matter, cuz who knows they could have existed but just not mentioned. but i certainly would have prefered talia to katie holmes, lol. as far as scarecrow though, he NEEDS the costume and all that. just like joker NEEDS to have the white skin and all that jokey stuff. im surprised they gave him the purple suit, so far thats the only aspect of heaths joker i am lovin. but for twoface, we have yet to see ANYTHING, lets just hope and pray they kept the comics suit, thats all i ask!

 

[GoogleMe94]

I find Nolan's version of the Joker far more interesting than Jacks. That's just how I feel.

interesting? yes. Classic? no.

 

[rashad]

interesting? yes. Classic? no.

I think he'll kick ass in this role.

 

[Sharkboy]

yeah i see what you mean, and i agree with you about Ras, i think he nailed Ras even without the Lazerus pits. the story didnt require the Pits anyway so it didnt really matter, cuz who knows they could have existed but just not mentioned. but i certainly would have prefered talia to katie holmes, lol. as far as scarecrow though, he NEEDS the costume and all that. just like joker NEEDS to have the white skin and all that jokey stuff. im surprised they gave him the purple suit, so far thats the only aspect of heaths joker i am lovin. but for twoface, we have yet to see ANYTHING, lets just hope and pray they kept the comics suit, thats all i ask!

On the topic of scarecrow, i felt lookwise he was good, the burlap sack look has tons of potential, but when you're in a film which is primarily about batmans origin, plus with Ra's Al Ghul already in there. Scarecrow really couldnt have gone all the way even if he did have his costume and all and lets not forget the travesty that is katie holmes taking out scarecrow with a taser. I did like him tho, the moments with him and the shaky cam with falcone, that great shot with him with the horse, the scene where he completely pwns batman with the fire is one of my fave scenes in begins, to put this simply i thought scarecrow was creepy, and johnathan crane was portrayed very well, but i think you couldnt get anymore out of him in begins regardless of what he wore.

Would the lack of Two faces half suit, ruin his portrayal for you so much, considering theres a hell of alot more to two face that they need to get right first?

 

[Sharkboy]

interesting? yes. Classic? no.

Well it COULD be classic, well just need a couple more years to find out, thats what classic means no?

 

[gwynplaine]

Well it COULD be classic, well just need a couple more years to find out, thats what classic means no?

Absolutely.

 

[GoogleMe94]

On the topic of scarecrow, i felt lookwise he was good, the burlap sack look has tons of potential, but when you're in a film which is primarily about batmans origin, plus with Ra's Al Ghul already in there. Scarecrow really couldnt have gone all the way even if he did have his costume and all and lets not forget the travesty that is katie holmes taking out scarecrow with a taser. I did like him tho, the moments with him and the shaky cam with falcone, that great shot with him with the horse, the scene where he completely pwns batman with the fire is one of my fave scenes in begins, to put this simply i thought scarecrow was creepy, and johnathan crane was portrayed very well, but i think you couldnt get anymore out of him in begins regardless of what he wore.

Would the lack of Two faces half suit, ruin his portrayal for you so much, considering theres a hell of alot more to two face that they need to get right first?

well, the half suit it really important to me cuz i LOVE twoface probably even more then joker. and your right even without the costume he didnt really get to do much, and please dont remind me of scarcrow getting thwarted by holmes, that was too much to bare. but i think scarecrow should have the whole suit in TDK, or something close to a costume, even just the straight jacket, anything but that lame grey suit.

 

[Sharkboy]

well, the half suit it really important to me cuz i LOVE twoface probably even more then joker. and your right even without the costume he didnt really get to do much, and please dont remind me of scarcrow getting thwarted by holmes, that was too much to bare. but i think scarecrow should have the whole suit in TDK, or something close to a costume, even just the straight jacket, anything but that lame grey suit.

Can't really agree on you for scarecrow there really, but considering nolan suprised me with the very very purple suit for joker, i wouldnt put it past nolan to give harvey the half suit, i doubt it would be in this movie though.

 

[rashad]

Sounds like your getting all your rants out tonight GoogleMe94. Making up for lost posting time? lol

 

[Rexi]

Personally, I never really cared for Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker. I was never watching The Joker, I was watching Jack Nicholson playing a caricature of himself.

I'm really intrigued and excited about what Ledger can bring to the performance. He's different...and he seems very interested in transforming himself into the character but adding something new at the same time, which is what I think we need for a character of such magnitude.

 

[rashad]

Personally, I never really cared for Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker. I was never watching The Joker, I was watching Jack Nicholson playing a caricature of himself.

I'm really intrigued and excited about what Ledger can bring to the performance. He's different...and he seems very interested in transforming himself into the character but adding something new at the same time, which is what I think we need for a character of such magnitude.

Well said.

 

[Roland]

I think everyone in this thread is massively underestimating the power of Heath Ledger.

Nolan himself claimed that he was helplessly making knuckle children while watching dailies of Ledger onscreen.

Heath Ledger once took a crap in my mouth, and it tasted like cherry pie and vanilla ice cream.

I expect he may win a Nobel prize for this performance . . .

. . . and he has a toenail on the tip of his penis.

 

[cryptic name]

i dont really know what to say. i liked nicholsons sometimes light/sometimes dark portrayel, made you laugh one minute and cringe in fear the next. ledgers joker looks to be just plain dark with no silliness whatsoever. umm....well.....the silliness and funny darkness is what makes the joker the Joker. if hes just a crazy insane unfunny person, you might as well get some random psycho like kevin spacey from seven and put him in the role instead. the bad jokes and stupid gizmos are a part of the character, simply put. thats like having penguin but without his umbrellas. i will have to see ledger to know if he will make this work, cuz so far im havein my doubts. i certainly wouldnt say that i see the comics joker, this looks to be somethin original just for the movie. like devito's penguin was for Returns.

im just afraid they are taking the fun out of the character for the sake of "realism". im surprised the fanboys haveing screamed "Sacrilidge!" yet. i have never really liked heath ledger in anything (ever since i saw him in that godawful horror flick, forget its name), but jack nicholson i already knew he had a superb reputation for playing nutty crazyass characters so he seemed taylormade for joker. cant say the same thing about ledger, not in the slightest.

first of all, nobody's seen nearly enough to make the assumptions you make about the character. and ledger really is a talented actor, just because he hasn't done something yet, doesn't mean he can't. what will be different is we've seen nicholson play the same kind of part many times, so his joker just comes across as nicholson. heath will be new, different, exciting. it will be the joker.

 

[DV8]

Here's the thread DV8 http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=243164

dam!! thanks