Ledger Gets Oscar Buzz for Dark Knight
Early reviews for The Dark Knight have been rave and critics are heaping nothing but superlatives on the late Heath Ledger for his portrayal of the Joker.
A growing swell of supporters including co-stars Christian Bale and Gary Oldman are talking posthumous Oscar for Ledger. If that happens, Ledger would be the first person so honored since Peter Finch in 1976 for Network.
Obviously Ledger’s take is a more sinister and disturbed creature than Jack Nicholson in 1989’s Batman. And I say that as someone who loved that film and Nicholson’s performance. Some are blaming the “dark places” Ledger had to go to for this character as reasons for his premature death. I don’t know about that but I’m excited to hear the good words about the film and about Ledger’s performance.
Coming on the heels of spot-on adaptations of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, another top-notch Batman movie is icing on the cake. We still have Hellboy II:The Golden Army coming up as well. I couldn’t be more psyched to be a comic book fan right now.
TM & © DC Comics.
Photo by Stephen Vaughan
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POSTED IN: Books & Comics, Fandom, Movie News, Movies
4 opinions for Ledger Gets Oscar Buzz for Dark Knight
Rhyno
Jul 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Yeah, I knew those rumors were gonna start as soon as his untimely departure was flashed across all the TV news media stations…Especially, since “TDK” was the last film he finish before it happened.
Honestly, I really hope Nolan’s direction, the writer’s adaptation & Ledger’s performance of this Joker works cuz I was disappointed 2 hear that “TDK” villian was The Joker…again. I mean, you just can’t top Jack’s portrayal of Batman’s archnemisis.
–Godspeed–
Brian Allen
Jul 3, 2008 at 1:01 pm
From everything I’ve read so far, Ledger’s portrayal is darker. Not a psychotic clown as much as just psycho. There’s room for all portrayals, I think. I love Nicholson’s Joker and it fit that movie perfectly.
In the same vein, Cesar Romero’s goofy, campy Joker was a perfect fit for the Bats of the 1960s.
Rhyno
Jul 3, 2008 at 1:21 pm
You’re right, under artistic license, there is room for all portrayals of Joker…I guess. Even though it’s been 19yrs since Jack portrayed Joker, his performance is still, to this day, legendary & quoted by fans everywhere. Add to that, the plethora of Batman villians yet to be portrayed on the silver screen. The Mad Hatter for one. It just makes it seem too soon for a Joker redux.
Ahhh, who am I kidding, no character draws the crowd like The Joker. Obviously, I’m just a staunch Nicholson fan.
Brian Allen
Jul 3, 2008 at 4:53 pm
It’s funny. When they introduced the character in the books, they killed him off. He was quickly resurrected once they realized the mistake.
Years later, the movies made the same mistake of killing off Bats’ arch enemy. Now, unfortunately the new Joker has met his untimely demise. This is a character that can’t catch a break.
Of course, the same thing has been done at the end of every Spidey movie. The Spidey book writers resurrected the Green Goblin because they realized he was Spidey’s arch nemesis.
While 2 out of every 3 Superman films is bad to mediocre at least their writers don’t go: Time to kill Lex Luthor in this scene.
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