Jared Leto IS The Joker - - - - - Part 14

[Plaidchuck]

Was his performance that bad? Or just the writing?

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Was his performance that bad? Or just the writing?

For myself personally, I wasn't the hugest fan of his performance. It wasn't super bad, but the writing didn't help as well, especially in terms of the one-dimensional characterisation. I felt Leto didn't feel quite natural in the role, some moments of over-acting and just trying to feel and look crazy.

 

[MasterChief2829]

One dimensional? Dude is crude, humorous, menacing, crazy, boss, emotional, all in the short amount of time we see him.

Exactly. You judge what we were given, not what we might get in the future. That's how I'll be judging Letoker when I see him.

Okay judge him, I judge him and think he's brilliant. But I think it's ridiculous for people to compare 8-10min maximum of screentime in a complete side role, to the other Jokers who were the main villains... it is apples and oranges. Joker is not a villian in this movie and he is not there to shed light into his story outside of Harley.

Could you spoil it for me? I don't think I can wait until Friday to find out what it is.

Spoiler

Well Joker has a couple of crude lines of dialogue. I don't want to try and quote because it was hard to hear so I'm really paraphrasing here (I blame the theater we were in) but after Joker and Harley kiss he says something to her about a bare skin waiting on them. And earlier he is bragging to Common about Harley and rambling on about her. During this rambling he says "she's the itch in my crotch" lol.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Okay, but I think it's ridiculous for people to compare 8-10min maximum of screentime in a complete side role, to the other Jokers who were the main villains. Joker is not a villian in this movie and he is not there to shed light into his story outside of Harley.

It's fair to a degree, but comparisons to other Jokers is inevitable. Even without comparing him to other Jokers (which I've personally avoided as much as possible), I still felt like he didn't make a great enough impression of me with his small screen time even though he's not the main villain.

But I'm glad you enjoyed his performance nonetheless

 

[The Joker]

It'd be like me saying judge Captain Phasma on what will happen with her in the future, not what we were given in The Force Awakens. This film however has the added basis of The Joker being an insanely well known character.

Yes, it's the Joker, so there's already huge expectations attached to him.

Okay, but I think it's ridiculous for people to compare 8-10min maximum of screentime in a complete side role, to the other Jokers who were the main villains. Joker is not a villian in this movie and he is not there to shed light into his story outside of Harley.

I wouldn't be comparing him to other Jokers even if he was the main villain of the movie. I judge a character for what they are, not how they measure up to other incarnations. I saw some feedback slamming Letoker for failing to live up to Heath's standard and I didn't think that was fair. I never expected him to match Heath. I won't be using Heath, Jack, Cesar, or Hamill as a yard stick. Heath did something totally different to Jack, so measuring him against Jack is pointless. That's why I won't be unfair and use Heath to measure Leto, because he may give something different and great, too.

Saying that, 10 minutes or not, there are things that can be compared to other Jokers like acting, nuances, general style and personality etc. Those are things not limited by screen time that would be fair to compare if you were so inclined to make comparisons.

 

[MasterChief2829]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcZHGXh3tOg&t=2m12s

 

[JtheDreamer]

It's fair to a degree, but comparisons to other Jokers is inevitable. Even without comparing him to other Jokers (which I've personally avoided as much as possible), I still felt like he didn't make a great enough impression of me with his small screen time even though he's not the main villain.

But I'm glad you enjoyed his performance nonetheless

It was inevitable, but it's not like the WB wasn't trying to push the envelope. They promo'd nonstop about how deep Leto got into the character and all the crazy shenanigans he was pulling on set.

For shame his involvement was falsely advertised. So far I'm not reading nice things about his performance. Starting to wonder if they cut him out because it didn't go well with test panels.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

It was inevitable, but it's not like the WB wasn't trying to push the envelope. They promo'd nonstop about how deep Leto got into the character and all the crazy shenanigans he was pulling on set.

For shame his involvement was falsely advertised. So far I'm not reading nice things about how he performed. Starting to wonder if they cut him out because he didn't perform well with test panels.

Yeah you're right there as well, he was heavily pushed in the promotional material. I work in advertising and marketing myself and it's frankly obvious the big reason they did it was because The Joker is seen as a money maker, and putting out hyperbolic claims about how method Leto got with his role only serves the marketing.

 

[MasterChief2829]

Yeah you're right there as well, he was heavily pushed in the promotional material. I work in advertising and marketing myself and it's frankly obvious the big reason they did it was because The Joker is seen as a money maker, and putting out hyperbolic claims about how method Leto got with his role only serves the marketing.

Yeah. It was quite obivously being used as a marketing tool because you got Will over here repeating that he just met the real Jared Leto when he did the same thing at Cinemacon and the MTV Movie Awards lol

 

[tanita_mors]

maybe the reason why the reports are so conflicting is that they cut huge chunks of his story-line from the movie including most abusive interactions between him and harley. when the hype for the movie and promo talk started, months if not a year ago, leto was going to have a bigger role and more screen time - those 40 minutes we were told about and then in that last few months, first reshoots and those cuts happened and they couldn't just backtrack - it would have made them seam weak.

 

[AnneFan]

Yes, it's the Joker, so there's already huge expectations attached to him.

Indeed.

 

[Primal Slayer]

With how much they advertised him, i would definitely expect him to be in at least 30mins of the film and not just have like 4mins on WW.

 

[Bruce Malone]

Joker is a huge selling point for the film and from what I've read now Will Smith is really the protagonist of the film, but they are selling the Joker waaay more than Deadshot.

So it could leave some/a lot of people miffed if he's only in it briefly.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yes, it's the Joker, so there's already huge expectations attached to him.



I wouldn't be comparing him to other Jokers even if he was the main villain of the movie. I judge a character for what they are, not how they measure up to other incarnations. I saw some feedback slamming Letoker for failing to live up to Heath's standard and I didn't think that was fair. I never expected him to match Heath. I won't be using Heath, Jack, Cesar, or Hamill as a yard stick. Heath did something totally different to Jack, so measuring him against Jack is pointless. That's why I won't be unfair and use Heath to measure Leto, because he may give something different and great, too.

Saying that, 10 minutes or not, there are things that can be compared to other Jokers like acting, nuances, general style and personality etc. Those are things not limited by screen time that would be fair to compare if you were so inclined to make comparisons.

Yeah, I feel like Leto really has the toughest job of any of the actors in this film because people are going to walk into this film wanting him to be exactly like Ledger and yet somehow putting a new spin on the character. And if he can't pull off that (absolutely impossible) feat, they're going to say he sucks. I'm not necessarily even talking about critics; I just mean people in general who were so enamored with Ledger's performance (which was great, don't get me wrong) that they won't accept anything else.

Anyway, I really hope I like his performance because I think the guy is a great actor and I'd hate to think that Leto could be one and done if people don't care for his performance. Then again, I suppose the next thing we'd see him in is the Batfleck movie so... maybe Leto would be better off riding off into the sunset.

 

[MasterChief2829]

Yeah Jared has talked about how the best way he can respect their performances is to do something completely different

Jared Talks Past Great Joker Actors:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sExseFMDdAE

 

[Rowsdower!]

I think you have to. If you just do a Ledger impersonation, that's going to be awful. Here's to hoping Leto's performance is great, regardless of whatever the rest of the movie turns out to be.

 

[Guts]

Spoiler

Well Joker has a couple of crude lines of dialogue. I don't want to try and quote because it was hard to hear so I'm really paraphrasing here (I blame the theater we were in) but after Joker and Harley kiss he says something to her about a bare skin waiting on them. And earlier he is bragging to Common about Harley and rambling on about her. During this rambling he says "she's the itch in my crotch" lol.

Upon reading that I first thought of Jack Nicholson and then realized that I wasn't thinking of his Joker but Jack Torrance from the Shining and his comment about Wendy being a sperm bank.

 

[Joy in J-Land]

I've been reading through the RT reviews and Leto's performance has been getting better reviews than the movie. In fact, some of the best commentary I've read about his Joker has been in the rotten reviews. This is a typical pattern for Leto's performances--even when the movie gets panned, he tends to get good reviews. Based on what I'm reading, I don't think the Joker's scenes were trimmed because of Leto's performance. That makes me feel a little better anyway.

 

[The Shape]

With how much they advertised him, i would definitely expect him to be in at least 30mins of the film and not just have like 4mins on WW.

30 minutes is roughly the same amount as Heath Ledger's Joker screen time. You honestly expected the same focus and screen time for Leto in SS?

 

[Bruce Malone]

30 minutes is roughly the same amount as Heath Ledger's Joker screen time. You honestly expected the same focus and screen time for Leto in SS?

Leto is being advertised pretty much as much as Ledger was in The Dark Knight.

I think most people actually are expecting similar screen times.

His face is everywhere on the billboards and magazines going back to that first image Ayers released like a year ago that went viral.

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

I'm of the opinion the Joker never should've been in this movie. He's so superfluous the movie would've been better off without him.

Spoiler

He barely interferes with Task Force X's mission, imo.

 

[harlequinade]

I'm of the opinion the Joker never should've been in this movie. He's so superfluous the movie would've been better off without him.

Spoiler

He barely interferes with Task Force X's mission, imo.

He is the catalyst for Harleen's transformation, tho. You cannot explain her without him

 

[DeadStroke]

I'm of the opinion the Joker never should've been in this movie. He's so superfluous the movie would've been better off without him.

Spoiler

He barely interferes with Task Force X's mission, imo.

Makes it all the more weird Leto was sending the rest of the cast gifts.

Made it seem like he was going to have showdown with them most of the 3rd act.

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

He is the catalyst for Harleen's transformation, tho. You cannot explain her without him

True, but his place in the film's central plot is superfluous at best.

 

[TheVileOne]

Leto is a terrible Joker. He does some slightly interesting things, but he's simply not The Joker.