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Nerd Alert!
Have You Ever Danced With The Devil By The Pale Moonlight? This is the first official released image of Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight. I'm intrigued by it. I think it's safe to say no one was expecting The Joker to look like this. Fanboys will probably be up in arms about this new Joker's apperance. Fuck 'em. I like it. This one image shatters the old notion of Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero's interpretations of the Clown Prince of Crime. This Joker doesn't look like a clown. He doesn't look like he'll be funny. That ain't a bad thing. This Joker looks like what he is, what The Joker was conceptually when he was created in 1940 -- a deformed serial killer. "With a taste for the theatrical." Most importantly, he looks terrifying. There has never been a scary Joker in the Batman television show or in a Batman movie. So far, I like this direction quite a bit. Still, let's see that smile. August 1 , 2006
Wait'll they get a load of Heath I was gonna go for the title "Jokeback Mountain" but I figured E! or EW or one of the other fruity entertainment sites would be pillow fighting over it by morning. Unless this is some weird August Fool's Joke, Heath Ledger is going to officially put on the purple suit, green wig, and become The Joker in the sequel to Batman Begins, currently titled The Dark Knight. Ledger is an interesting, offbeat choice but I think he's also a good one. For one thing, this will be the first time the Joker will ever be brought to cinematic life and not be played by some old man. Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson each had at least 25 years on Ledger when they were the Joker. A young Joker fighting a young Batman has never been done before in live action television or in feature films. And as director Christopher Nolan noted, it will be very interesting to watch Heath Ledger fight Christian Bale as comic book arch nemeses. Ledger has the prestige coming in of being a Golden Globe and SAG Award winner and an Academy Award nominee. He's a good actor. Smart asses can also retort that Ledger has the prestige of coming into the Batman movie universe as one half of the most famous gay cowboys in America, but then again, the Joker wears purple suits and has rosy lips redder than a baboon's ass. "Ragingly heterosexual" is not necessarily an ironclad description of the Clown Prince of Crime. And he won't be a gay Joker anyway unless Nolan has been having Joel Schumacher over for slumber parties and late night s'mores. Now, I don't think a great many people are going to rush out to The Dark Knight in 2008 specifically to see Heath Ledger portray the Joker, but certainly there will be a strong curiosity factor involved, depending on how Ledger makes his first impression when the posters and trailers drop. Besides, Nolan's history with Batman has not been to stunt cast big names, instead wisely choosing the best actors he could find to portray the characters. We all know the dangers of stunt casting in Batman movies by now: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze! Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl! Elle McPherson as the Woman Who Wants to Marry Bruce Wayne And Somehow Hasn't Realized He's Gay Gay Gay! Having said that, now that Heath's the Joker, I'm hoping no one at Warners has any bright ideas about bringing his significant other Michelle Williams on board as Harley Quinn and having us a Dawson's Creek reunion with Katie Holmes in the process. Personally, after Batman Begins rocked my batsocks off last year, Christopher Nolan has earned cart blanche from me to take Batman in whatever direction he chooses. As far as I'm concerned, the Dark Knight is in good hands. The Dark Knight's return can't come soon enough. And if Heath Ledger's Joker says, "Ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?" that'll bring a smile on my face bigger than Mr. J's. |
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