The Dark Knight Reactions to trailer: Del Toro, Dini, others

[The Caped Knight]

Super article

 

[TV's Frank]

It's amazing how well Batman TAS still holds up. I watch it almost every night when it comes on that Toon network or whatever it is. Even when the show gets cheesy or over-the-top (it's still a cartoon for kids and teens), it's the voice acting, the soundtrack, and the visuals that totally makes up for it. It's a shame that I haven't bought the complete DVD set for the show yet.

-TNC

Watching it as we speak! LOVE IT!

 

[bassturd]

Del Toro's Hellboy 2 trailer just came out. I wonder how Nolan would comment on that. It's nice to see how different 2 comicbook movies can be. Hellboy 2 looks very fantasy driven, some of the rich colors on the sets reminded me of Pan's Labyrinth. While the Dark Knight is much more realistic and grittier and dark.

Personally I definitely lean more towards the Dark Knight but a lot of people were flipping out over the Hellboy 2 trailer (atleast the site where I saw it). But I guess it's like comparing apples and oranges...I have no knowledge of the Hellboy comic. But I did enjoy the first film a lot and the 2nd looks even better. Just like the Batman movies.

 

[Mr. Socko]

The first Hellboy was cool, second should be as well. I'm of'course looking forward to The Dark Knight more. But I actually like Guillermo Del Toro more than Nolan. I just feel Nolan is working with far better material. I'd like to see what Del Toro could do with Batman, I love his fantasy atmosphere and amazing visuals as well as his ability to blend it all with a great story.

 

[Octoberist]

I thought the first Hellboy was okay. I think it was the last act of the movie that felt...rushed. That, and it had an awkward ending.

I'm looking forward to Hellboy 2 for sure.

At times, I kinda wish Nolan's Gotham was more dirty looking, like the NYC in Hellboy 2..

 

[TheDarkVictory]

The first Hellboy was cool, second should be as well. I'm of'course looking forward to The Dark Knight more. But I actually like Guillermo Del Toro more than Nolan. I just feel Nolan is working with far better material. I'd like to see what Del Toro could do with Batman, I love his fantasy atmosphere and amazing visuals as well as his ability to blend it all with a great story.

pan's labyrinth is beautiful.

 

[rashad]

pan's labyrinth is beautiful.

Pan Labyrinth was beautiful indeed. A few of the creatures in the HB2 trailer look like they can be from Pan Labyrinth. lol

 

[TheDarkVictory]

Pan Labyrinth was beautiful indeed. A few of the creatures in the HB2 trailer look like they can be from Pan Labyrinth. lol

yeah for a second i thought that the pale man got like...wings and dyed black and showed up in hellboy for some reason. i guess del toro likes his insane scary weird eyed monsters.

 

[rashad]

yeah for a second i thought that the pale man got like...wings and dyed black and showed up in hellboy for some reason. i guess del toro likes his insane scary weird eyed monsters.

Seems that way. Del Toro and his team do an amazing job of creating/re-creating said monsters.

 

[TheDarkVictory]

yeah, thank god they've got doug jones. that guy better get a nice paycheck.

 

[Naite22]

Just close if already posted.

Dark Knight' Trailer's Joker Shots Have Guillermo Del Toro, Others Smiling

Link:

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1576855/20071219/story.jhtml

Text:



The makeup. The walk. The cockeyed posture and bubbling psychosis: For legions of Batman fans across the globe, Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight" is no laughing matter. So why are so many people smiling?


"I love it," "Hellboy" director Guillermo del Toro gushed to MTV News. "Every time I see more of Heath Ledger's Joker, I like it more. That's a good sign because if something is going the wrong way, the more you see about it, the less you ingratiate yourself with it."
Del Toro isn't alone. Just days after the first leaked online, fans and critics alike are singing the praises of Ledger's portrayal, which many are already calling a pitch-perfect dramatization of Batman's greatest nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime.
It's a difficult role for any actor to pull off, say fans, a delicate balancing act that straddles the line between crazy and crazy-scary. That Ledger appears to pull it off so effortlessly is nothing less than a testament to director "Batman: The Animated Series" producer and writer Paul Dini insisted.
"Heath Ledger's Joker seems perfectly suited to the dark Gotham City created by Christopher Nolan," Dini asserted. "He seems more street than any other version of the Joker, with his clownish visage recalling hastily applied graffiti paint rather than chemically dyed skin."
Dini is legendary among Batman aficionados for his work on the Emmy Award-winning "Batman: The Animated Series." The show's more famous canonical influences include an adopted redesign of Mr. Freeze (as well as a new back story for the super-villain) and the introduction of the Joker's demented sidekick, Harley Quinn — but it was his work with the Joker himself that often earned Dini the loudest praise. His version of the character (voiced by Mark Hamill) could turn on a dime, from twisted psychopath to demented prankster — always ready with a laugh or a gag for his enemies.
Dini sees very little of that schizophrenia in Ledger's performance, a quality that he believes makes the character that much more terrifying.
"His attitude is mordant and sardonic as opposed to manic," Dini reflected. "No goofy gags or puns for him. This Joker doesn't split sides ... he splits skulls."
As much of an influence Dini's noirish vision may have had on the darker themes of Nolan's Batman universe, no artist, perhaps, has made as big an impact on "Begins" and "Dark Knight" as Jeph Loeb, the legendary comics author of "Batman: The Long Halloween," a 13-issue limited series that examined the origins of Harvey "Two-Face" Dent and the rise of Batman's familiar rogues gallery after the fall of crime boss Carmine Falcone. By his own admission, Nolan credited the series as a powerful inspiration for his take on Batman.
The respect and admiration is mutual, Loeb said.
"I saw the trailer and loved it," he enthused. "I'm as big a fan of Nolan's and [writer David] Goyer as they are of me! They talked extensively about the influence of my work on both films — so what's there not to like?!"
In particular, Loeb singled out Ledger's Joker as particularly terrifying, contrasting it with previous incarnations of the character that might have been too "clowny."
"I was never a big Nicholson fan," Loeb said of Jack's Joker in Tim Burton's "Batman." "[Ledger] however feels just about right. I eagerly anticipate more!"
"If any franchise can benefit from being grittier and darker, it's Batman," Del Toro added. "With this I find him really scary. I find him really, really edgy and scary."
With a scarier, grittier Joker on the loose in Gotham, what exactly is a crime-fighter to do?
Find out how the heck he got out in the first place, joked Adam West, best known to a whole generation of fans as TV's Batman.
"The Joker? Heath Ledger?" the icon playfully questioned. "I thought the Joker was still serving hard time in Gotham State Prison."
POW! BAM! Ledger's Joker arrives in all his glory July 18.

Dear God I loooove that quote!t:

 

[rashad]

yeah, thank god they've got doug jones. that guy better get a nice paycheck.

He deserves it.

 

[Crook]

Dear God I loooove that quote!t:

I'm one of the few that didn't.

 

[Kakihara]

It's cool to see Del Toro get some praise from you guys. He's one of my favorite directors, ever since Cronos and The Devil's Backbone. I find Hellboy to be his weakest movie. It's not bad, but I think Guillermo and Mignola are so layered in their own motifs and styles that when the two came together their particular narrative and visual styles didn't blend well. Hellboy 2 looks interesting to say the least. I'll keep my fingers crossed...

 

[slicendice]

hellboy 2 trailer looks pretty neat, I was surprized to hear rammstein playing, I guess hollywood is finally giving those krazy krauts some love.

 

[Naite22]

I'm one of the few that didn't.

Why not!

 

[Crook]

Cause I think no matter what interpretation of the Joker there is, manic should always be part of his character trait. The previous sentence described my ideal take:

"His version of the character (voiced by Mark Hamill) could turn on a dime, from twisted psychopath to demented prankster"

A guy that can be serious and deadly, but just as well be deviously joyful.

 

[Kakihara]

Cause I think no matter what interpretation of the Joker there is, manic should always be part of his character trait. The previous sentence described my ideal take:

"His version of the character (voiced by Mark Hamill) could turn on a dime, from twisted psychopath to demented prankster"

A guy that can be serious and deadly, but just as well be deviously joyful.

I think Dini just made an observation looking in. Even from the trailer it looks like Heath's making his incarnation free to get giddy at times and downright threatening at others. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[GDM]

Well in the prologue he kills the goons with no remorse or hesitation and then puts a smoke grenade in the manager's mouth. I think he can turn from psychopath to demented prankster in this movie.

 

[TV's Frank]

Cause I think no matter what interpretation of the Joker there is, manic should always be part of his character trait. The previous sentence described my ideal take:

"His version of the character (voiced by Mark Hamill) could turn on a dime, from twisted psychopath to demented prankster"

A guy that can be serious and deadly, but just as well be deviously joyful.

sardonic |särˈdänik|
adjective
grimly mocking or cynical : Starkey attempted a sardonic smile

mordant |ˈmôrdnt|
adjective
(esp. of humor) having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting : a mordant sense of humor.

He wasn't saying he isn't funny. He is just saying he isn't quite as goofy or off the wall. Which is fine, because it's been done by a certain Mr. Nicholson and I love and respect his take. I also like that Nolan and them respected it and did not want to do the same thing again.

 

[TV's Frank]

Well in the prologue he kills the goons with no remorse or hesitation and then puts a smoke grenade in the manager's mouth. I think he can turn from psychopath to demented prankster in this movie.

Yeah. We haven't seen everything yet and that's a good thing because we could be in for a little surprise when the movie hits. I have no problem with him getting a little goofy at times, but don't do it incessantly.

 

[Ama Zing]

Um, it's the Hype. This is nothing new.

But honestly? Notice that Dini acknowledges the striking differences between the Nolanverse's Joker and other portrayals. And still likes it. This is a lesson that I think could stand to be learned by everybody here.

All these past portrayals of the Joker (of which there are many) are just that - past portrayals. They were once new and groundbreaking themselves (just as Heath-Joker is now). This is why I find it silly when people try to justify Heath-Joker's legitimacy by trying to prove that it's "just like" the comics. Um, no. It isn't. There are several significant differences. But THAT'S. OKAY. Every new depiction has been different from what's come before. That's the nature of this canon.

I feel sorry for folks who are so desperate to see these films line up with their own personal childhood vision of Batman, that they can't appreciate Nolan's own vision. Which, while certainly different, has a lot of merit - and is fascinating to discuss on its own terms.

IMHO.

*points to signature*

QFMFT

 

[metalhead971]

QFMFT

Agreed.

 

[Mr.E.Nygma]

Del Toro, Dini...WOW! All men of their woorrrrdddd!

Good directors giving thoughts on an inviting film...can't be bad!

 

[byte19]

Um, it's the Hype. This is nothing new.

But honestly? Notice that Dini acknowledges the striking differences between the Nolanverse's Joker and other portrayals. And still likes it. This is a lesson that I think could stand to be learned by everybody here.

All these past portrayals of the Joker (of which there are many) are just that - past portrayals. They were once new and groundbreaking themselves (just as Heath-Joker is now). This is why I find it silly when people try to justify Heath-Joker's legitimacy by trying to prove that it's "just like" the comics. Um, no. It isn't. There are several significant differences. But THAT'S. OKAY. Every new depiction has been different from what's come before. That's the nature of this canon.

I feel sorry for folks who are so desperate to see these films line up with their own personal childhood vision of Batman, that they can't appreciate Nolan's own vision. Which, while certainly different, has a lot of merit - and is fascinating to discuss on its own terms.

IMHO.

*points to signature*

and the vultures come out to play!
i love your quote transcended, 100% accurate. if we like jack soooo much, we wouldn't have made any of these films in the first place! complained bout nolan, still do some of you. (i don't like the quick cut stuff in the fights) complained about bale (Swear to me! so cheesey)and now it's heath (wtf? he can't play the part!) "he's no jack!" why would you need another jack?
there are three ppl of fans out there; love the comics-hate the movies: they ain't true to the orignial vision!
love the movie-hate the comics: tim ourton is a god! much more real than those "books"
and then there's me, completly loves both! been reading the comics since 1980, watched the tv. show when i got back from school in the 70's, watched tim's vision 42 times. it's in my blood!