Nicholoson's Joker--Yea or Nay?

[I-T-B]

I really liked Jack Nicholson as the Joker, but I don't think it was the perfect interpretation of the Joker, at least not for me. It can be done better. I don't know if Ledger will be the one to do it better, but I sure hope so. I have faith in Christopher Nolan, and if he believes Ledger be the best choice, then he probably is, at least for this movie. My concern is that with the character shaping up to be so dark, he will be compared to Nicholson by the general public, the people who don't read comic books. With Nicholson giving a fairly campy performance, and Ledger giving a much darker peformance (at least from what we've heard), I'm worried that Ledger won't be accepted as the Joker. To compare the two will be unfair, they each have different scripts, and each film will have a different tone. Some people may prefer Jack and some may prefer Heath, but I think it will come down to peoples favorite interpretation of the character, rather than the actor playing the role.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Jack sucked as the Joker. He wasn't exactly like the comics, and he wasn't as dark as humanly possible. He should have slaughtered thousands of people.

 

[El Payaso]

hehehe

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

Big yes. He was excellent.

That`s right,new Batman film viewers might not think too much of it.But i think Nocholoson`s Joker was perhaps the best ever..besides Mark Hamill`s Joker.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Jack sucked as the Joker. He wasn't exactly like the comics, and he wasn't as dark as humanly possible. He should have slaughtered thousands of people.

Let's say this twinkie represents the amount of sarcasm flowing throughout the Batman boards. Well a research conducted at 11:05AM shows it would be a twinkie 7 feet tall approx 500 pounds.

 

[I-T-B]

That's a big twinkie.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I'm not being sarcastic when I say Nicholson was great, Romero was perfect, and I think Ledger will be amazing.

 

[StylishHokie21]

Definitely a yes. Seriously how could anyone not like Jack as the Joker? He wasn't dark enough? He was portrayed as a vicious psychopath just like in the comics. The look and laugh was spot on.

Heath Ledger is no Jack Nicholson, but that's not to say he will suck at the role. I didn't like the first official picture of him as the Joker, but I'm still willing to give him a chance.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Definitely a yes. Seriously how could anyone not like Jack as the Joker? He wasn't dark enough? He was portrayed as a vicious psychopath just like in the comics. The look and laugh was spot on.

Heath Ledger is no Jack Nicholson, but that's not to say he will suck at the role. I didn't like the first official picture of him as the Joker, but I'm still willing to give him a chance.

Check out the latest picture then - he looks f****** awesome.

 

[StylishHokie21]

Check out the latest picture then - he looks f****** awesome.

Where at? Sorry I'm a noob.

 

[Muramasa007]

I say...Nay. I think he is waaaaaaay too campy and he was not intimidating...

 

[Mr. Socko]

 

[SHADOWBAT69]

Romero gave us a comical Joker. Nicholson gave us a mix of both comical and threatening. I have a feeling Ledgers Joker may be a bit closer to Nicholsons performance than what many may be thinking. Im just imagining Ledgers performance being like Jacks with a sharper edge.

 

[Redwoods Wolf]

I almost wonder if Nolan will go the Frank Miller Joker route in TDK...but then I tell myself Nolan would know better than that.

 

[Damiean Dark]

imagining Ledgers performance being like Jacks with a sharper edge.
__________________

If thats what your hoping for i think you will be very dissapointed.

 

[Yurka]

I loved Jack, the scene after he kills Grissom in the penthouse when hes sitting at his desk is straight Joker.

 

[El Payaso]

^ Ooooo! Oop-oop! HAHAHHHAA!


And Romero was good but meh, when he was with other villiains he didn't even had the ambition to kill them to be number one.

 

[Agentsands77]

I like Romero and Nicholson equally. They're not the same, but they're not that different, either. They're both lots of fun.

 

[panda_eater]

who else could've played the role in 1989? it could have been so bad, like tommy lee jones. there's no other actor that mixes humour and seriousness like jack, robin williams, tim curry or anyone else would have played it too comical or too serious

 

[sabu41]

mark hammil hands down... Cesar Romero was good

 

[Cassandra]

Mark Hamill is my favourite Joker but I love Nicholson also. Nicholson's Joker was my first introduction to the character so I have a real nostalgic connection for his version. I'll always love Nicholson's Joker, not least just because his performence is so much fun to watch.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Did anyone else like the perma-smile? I personally thought it brought him closer to the comics version. In the comics, Joker's grin is always exaggerated and looks very wide. Now use a perma-smile, have the actor grin over it and it too will look very exaggerated. No one has a grin as big as Jack's in B'89, which is just how it is in the comics.

 

[Darkest Knight]

The perma smile is where it's at. Visually it is so creepy. And really, it's a better translation to film. It conveys that he's disfigured and has an abnormal grin. Jack's Joker gets a big YEAH!!!!

 

[Cain]

Yeah on an aesthetic level it's the only real way to capture the comic panels since most of the time he's always smiling.

Even dead he still has that creepy **** eating grin, that was simply awesome

 

[Ibn]

Did anyone else like the perma-smile? I personally thought it brought him closer to the comics version. In the comics, Joker's grin is always exaggerated and looks very wide. Now use a perma-smile, have the actor grin over it and it too will look very exaggerated. No one has a grin as big as Jack's in B'89, which is just how it is in the comics.

Perma grin was excellent for all the reasons everybody's said. Especially the last comment about him being dead and still smiling. Awesome. Also, El Payaso, I've been trying for the longest time to get SOMEBODY else to see that Jack looked EXACTLY like Bob Kanes Joker, who Burton used as an influence for the flick. Jack was the perfect choice at the time. And he was extremely sick in the movie. I don't know where anybody gets off saying that he wasn't intimidating or scary or whatever. He came off as a humorous, fun individual while committing the most heinous of acts. The way he killed grissom to me is one of the great movie murders of all time. Jack to this day holds the best villain performance in any superhero adaptation.