Joker Stole The Show

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2008)

I've always been a fan of the Batman legacy, and when the hype was going around about Batman Begins and a fresh start for the Caped Crusader since Tim Burton's movies, I was looking forward to the movie. But at the movie's ending, a sequel was guaranteed. When I went to see The Dark Knight on the day of it's release I thought it was brilliant, a great sequel, Christopher Nolan did an amazing job once again. Christian Bale was excellent as Bruce Wayne/Batman again, Aaron Eckhart was also brilliant as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, he made that part his own and pulled off the good guy District Attorney role brilliant, and he pulled off the evil coin flipping Two-Face brilliant also, so I can only applaud Aaron on a brilliant performance.
The person who stole the show was the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. When it was announced that Heath was to portray the Clown Prince, everyone was unsure on Nolan's choice of actor, including myself. But Heath proved everyone wrong, he did a brilliant job as The Joker. With Jack Nicholson's unforgettable performance in The Joker's first big screen appearance to compete with and no doubt Nicholson is a superb actor, a true legend. But as much as Nicholson did a good job as The Joker, Heath Ledger's performance puts Nicholson's in the shadows. To change the character from Nicholson's joke filled, funny man persona to Ledger's sick, twisted, psychopathic persona was brilliant and the actor pulled it off brilliant. The way he captured the insane clown personality was perfect, the character was brilliant, taken away from your normal villain, who robs banks for money, trying to take over the world, blah blah blah... But Ledger's Joker was the villain who if he had the money he'd burn it (like in the movie), he don't care for world domination, Joker's only interest was to as Michael Caine's (Alfred) line goes, "Some men want to watch the world burn" which is what Joker wanted, he don't care for anything or anybody, not even himself. Which was genius, his performance as the Joker will go down in history as one of the best, and will not be forgot for a long time.
As for the rumours going around on the net on threads saying Nolan should cast the Joker character in a 3rd Batman Movie (if there will be a 3rd) I think they shouldn't cast another Joker, even though the Joker wasn't killed off at the end of The Dark Knight, they shouldn't re-cast a Joker for a 3rd because I don't think that any actor in the business can fill Ledger's boots as Joker. Even though there are some brilliant actors out there, they should introduce new villains for a 3rd and let the superb performance Heath Ledger gave us be remembered for what it was... Excellent
And just adding I've read some threads and rumours surrounding a 3rd movie, about Philip Seymour Hoffman as Penguin and Johnny Depp as Riddler, for one, Hoffman is a brilliant actor and would be brilliant in the part. Depp don't need my praise his work speaks for itself, the man is amazing. So I'd give the nod to those two for those roles, but the rumours around about a possible return for Eckhart's character Dent/Two-Face would be good too, with Eckhart still playing the role, but if they keep Eckhart as Two-Face they should cast another villain and not cramp it up with too many characters like Spider Man 3 did which was poor. Anyway, Brilliant movie, amazing work from Nolan, brilliant performances from the cast, mainly Ledger, and here's to a 3rd movie.
Rest In Peace Heath Ledger