After a few false starts I finally ended up seeing this film, on the heels Heath Ledger’s posthumous Oscar for his role as the Joker. Since my review of “Batman Begins” started off my list of blogs, it’s fitting that I should follow it up with a review of this film as well. Bottom line? I didn’t like it.
First off, the makeup wearing off the Joker’s face later in the movie indicated that he didn’t have any biological issues. Contrast this with the original comic, in which The Joker was originally a villain named Red Hood, who wore a specially designed red mask over his head, similar to Mysterio. He fell in a tank of chemicals, which turned his skin white, his lips blood red, and his hair green – and completely warped his mind. Like The Invisible Man, there was a link between his physiological changes and his psychological ones. But here? Just makeup and fancy clothes. Come on.
Second, I didn’t like his attitude. Too much cutesy dialogue. Jack Nicholson was more impressive in the role way back when. “This town needs an enema.” I’ll concede, though, that this fairly subjective on my part. Nicholson was content to make the Joker into a flamboyant, though evil, clown. While the Mafia goons refer to Ledger’s Joker as “the clown”, his portrayal was considerably darker, almost twisting him into a pervert. Moreover his clothes were a bit too much… GQ. Is this a villain or a fashion mannequin? Come on.
Third, I hated this odd business whereby somehow the Joker seems to be able to rig the entire damn city (looks like Chicago to me) with explosives, including two whole ferries and an entire network of hospitals. “Excuse me, can I borrow both ferries? I need to install a full array of gas drums in the bottoms and rig them up.” I suppose that’s his super power: magically capable of installing vast amounts of explosives wherever he wants, no questions asked (particularly implausible post 9/11). And this business of “hostages dressed as villains with guns duct taped in their hands” had been done before, but I can’t recall the film. Nor did I care for this ongoing deal where the Joker forced people into impossible choices: save Rachel or Dent, and the ferry passengers – ordinary people on one, convicts on the other – likewise have to choose to blow up the other ferry before they themselves are blown up. The real immoral person here was the Joker. F**k these stupid games.
Fourth, Batman as the Ultimate Asshole. Sure, we need Batman to be the fall guy so that Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) can die as a hero, not as Two-Face – and the city’s faith in its top prosecutor maintained (good for morale, I guess). So Batman, who is essentially good (as is Bruce Wayne) allows himself to be crucified as a villain to satisfy a more important public goal which is still in Batman’s ultimate nature to support: public order and the overall well-being of the people of Gotham.
Sounds much like… “The Watchmen”. The similarities are there: The Comedian = the Joker? The Owl (nocturnal flying animal – rich guy with lots of gadgets) = Batman? Ozymandias = Bruce Wayne? Most importantly, for this issue: Dr Manhattan has to be the fall guy for Ozymandias to keep the US & USSR from blowing each other up.
“The Watchmen” was very faithfully derived from the graphic novel of the same name, originally published from 1986-87 and written by Alan Moore, best known for “V For Vendetta”. “Dark Knight” is loosely based on the Batman comics “The Long Halloween”, from 1996-97. The latter does not have this business about Harvey Dent’s identity being saved, and Batman’s reputation unfairly tarnished, to spare the city, so it’s the movie version which rips off “The Watchmen”, not the original comic. The comic’s main focus wasn’t even on the Joker, who was a minor character, but on the Holiday killer, whose identity was hinted at but never conclusively established.
Finally, BOTH movies owe royalties to Clint Eastwood: Bale’s inexplicable grumble as Batman (where’s the poncho and cigar stub?) and Rorshach’s similar growl.
My “Batman Begins” blog had some scathing criticism for the last two Batman movies before “Batman Begins”. In a sense, though, they were more in tune with the philosophy of the Batman TV series from the late 60s, with Adam West as Batman; the first two (with Joker, Penguin & Catwoman) were more aligned with “Batman Begins”. So we have two competing schools of Batman: the Camp School, and the Dark School. Obviously both can be done well – or poorly. The Camp School runs the risk of being stupid, while the Dark School ends up as simply pretentious. Which do I prefer? I don’t know, but I know I don’t like bad movies. In terms of this dark, urban distopia theme, I prefer the “Robocop” movies. So I guess my preference has to be for the camp element; unfortunately no one seems to be able to reconcile the two. Now THAT would be remarkable.
You have a completely different and very thorough take on all aspects of this film than I have seen before.
ReplyDeleteI liked Ledger better than Nicholson in the role for some reason. I'm not a comic reader nor am I really into Super hero flicks, so I come at it with a different perspective, I don't know the history. But I appreciate learning a few insights here.
Two things I disliked about this movies were: The leading lady. She was called beautiful many times in the film and by reviewers. I did not see her as fulfilling the role fit for a glamorous beauty...a woman equal to what was supposed to be the dream girl for an International, handsome, buff Millionaire Playboy. I found her quite unremarkable, moon-faced, bland, lanky, drab, mousy and a Plain Jane.
Then there is Bruce Wayne's voice. I understand it was nessesary for him to put on a voice in the presence of those who know him as Bruce Wayne, but the gruff, phoney whisper he spoke in irritated me.
The beg to differ.
ReplyDeleteIf you really break it down the Joker is actually milder than the Comedian.
Example:
Joker will kill someone if it is part of his scheme or if he is trying to prove his point. Throughout the film, I don't really remember him really killing anyone for a solely selfish purpose. He kills to prove something he believes in.
The Comedian will kill someone because he think it's fun or the person piss him off. Throughout the film, I can remember him killing people for fun or for a selfish purpose. Example will be his Vietnamese girlfriend, raping Miss Jupiter and such
Joker = Looks crazy but is intellectual
Comedian = Looks mild but is truly carnally nuts.
Just my opinion :)
I meant as a loose approximation, the names are very similar. But Ozymandias and the Owl were two separate persons, so the analogy only goes so far.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I liked the movie, and his performance, I would agree that his ability to rig everything to blow was stretching it pretty far. I decided that I'd just have to "play along" on that. If they had included a few very brief shots of him paying people off, or having security guards snatched and replaced with his own guys, who were knowledgable in demolition, it might have explained how he was able to sabotage the ferries and the hospital. A shot of some of the crew tied up and stowed somewhere would also have helped enormously. A more reasonable time frame for those jobs would have been better too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I did like Heath's performance in the role. I don't have much to compare it to, I'm not familiar with the comic books, or the past versions, beyond the TV show. I just like the way he played the psychology of the Joker.