Batman Begs sequel title & casting info

[The Watcher]

the only other people attached to the role were Paul Bettany, Adam Sandler and Robin Williams

- robin williams is too old
- nobody would take adam sandler serious

and paul bettany was edged out by heath ledger

[Sikotic™]

Paul Bettany would of been a much better choice. He's a better actor than Ledger. I guess sticking your tongue down another man's throat was a prerequisite for the part of Joker.

[TheDeli]

Would have like Paul Bettany to be the Joker he would have been the better choice out of Ledger, Sandler & Bettany (Johnny Depp would have been in a different league though  )

But I'm sure that Nolan knows what he wants and how he see's it

Looking forward to this as Batman Begins was great

[The "Untouchable" DJR]

They got the first film right, hopefully this one will be as good.

[evan the dude]

damn that was a surprise haha. i think heath will do a good job though, he is a pretty good actor. he has to pull it off *perfectly* though. if he slacks in any way it's gonna fuck any chance of any new batman sequels with christopher nolan behind the helm. the critics would beat the shit out of the movie.

[T-Dogg]

Damn, Heath Ledger? Just... Damn.

Paul Bettany would've been cool IMO, but Heath Ledger? God...

Well, the first in the series was really good, so this could turn out fine. But still the idea of Heath Ledger as Joker bothers me.

And for what it's worth, I think Jack was excellent as Joker. Superb. I don't care what none of y'all comic geeks say.

[The Watcher]

Jack's a good actor, but just couldn't pull off the Joker

[Sikotic™]

And for what it's worth, I think Jack was excellent as Joker. Superb. I don't care what none of y'all comic geeks say.

Real spit, mayne.

[MontrealCity's Most]

I dont realy care who play the role, i dint know dude who played Batman and most of the characters in Batman Begins and its one of my favorite movies.

[M Dogg™]

Paul Bettany would have been a perfect Joker. His not bigger than the part, which I think Ledger because you see Ledger kissing a guy. Depp is WAY too big for the part, and everyone else is not quite good enough, except Williams who I think should have played Riddler instead of Jim Carry. Anyway, Paul Bettany would have brought back the very dark Joker, the Joker I've been wanting to see since Jack perfected the role. I can't believe they gave it to Ledger over Bettany, 'cause The De Vinci Code should have locked Bettany.

[Shallow]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I know what you mean. While I think Depp could do it masterfully, I agree that people would think Depp before they think Joker.

And for what it's worth, I think Jack was excellent as Joker. Superb. I don't care what none of y'all comic geeks say.

I think he was excellent too. He's Jack he's amazing. He just wasn't Joker. He was Jack with face paint, and I'm pretty sure that's what the plan was. I blame Burton and the producers. Not Nicholson. For all I know he could have played Joker if he was told who or what Joker was at the time. Like M Dogg said about Depp, Jack was bigger than the part and played himself which made it worse. Comic geek or not it's just common sense to me. If Jack Nicholson was cast as Superman and played himself how stupid would that be. The performace and acting skill would still be great but it wouldn't be Superman. It'd be Jack in a red cape.

[E. J. Rizo]

Jack Best joker ever called it... no take backs!

but on the real i dont care what anyone says or how true to the comics he was or not... he played his role as the JOKER perfect.... when i seen it growing up i thought Joker not Jack ... i didnt really even know who Jack was at the time... so they changed the joker for the better for this film.... and he did it perfect... DARK and EVIL not just some clown bouncing around... lol

[Don Jacob]

if you mean jack as in this jack : i agree but if you mean jack as in this jack : i disagree




true to the comic or not.......good god damn role

Review by Matthew Doberman
At once whimsical and somber -- and, above all, dark -- Batman remains one of the better adaptations of a comic book character to the screen, and certainly one of the most stylized. This is not your father's Batman, and, given its relentless grimness, it perhaps shouldn't be your kids' either, if they are very young. In a broad sense, the film, falling on the cusp of the 1990s, reflects a final departure from the innocence of previous filmgoing generations to the cynicism and angst of a new one. Cinematic superheroes had moved from the simplicity of Christopher Reeve's Superman to the brooding, tormented, shadow-enshrouded Dark Knight. Michael Keaton, better known for light comic fare at the time, is surprisingly effective as the mysterious Batman, while Jack Nicholson hams it up to perfection as the maniacal Joker. Rounding out the leads, Kim Basinger's slinky, film noir heroine fits the spirit of the film well, even if she and Keaton don't develop much chemistry. More than just a solid achievement of Tim Burton's direction, this is one film in which the contributions of the set designer and the composer go a long way toward rounding out the full experience. Anton Furst won a set design Oscar for his vision of a bleak, soaring urban wasteland, a hodgepodge of architectural styles, reminiscent of Blade Runner and Metropolis, that suggests no particular time period; and Danny Elfman's score is appropriately dark and dramatic.
  4.5/5

allmovie bio:

Nicholson did not resurface until 1989, starring as the Joker in a wildly over-the-top performance in Tim Burton's blockbuster Batman.

how is that playing himself ^ when they go through his whole filmography and off screen life and describe his role as 'over the top' ?



again however the joker is suppose to be in the comic book is soemthing else than what the joke has ever beenon screen , plus in movie making that's the idea, to interpret a character in a different way, if you just cut and paste what's so entertaining about that?

brando did it with vito corleone
Di niro did it with jake lamatta
depp did it with hunter s thomson

when you read the godfather.....vito isn't as entertaining as Brando's interpretation
when you listen to jake lamatta it's not as entertaining as Di Niro's interpretation
when you listen to hunter s thomason it's not as entertaining as listening to depp interpret him

that's the idea of acting taking a character , capturing their esssence and giving them style


out of all the on screen joker's we've had the best to this point is Jack


here's another good analogy : all along the watchtower by bob dylan ....before jimmy hendrix covered it there were many many many many folk artists that stayed true to that songs , stayed within bob dylans idea of the song. But Hendrix came along and gave it more style, so much so that it changed the song forever , people don't look at that peice of work the same way anymore, even dylan plays it jimmy's way.

and in my opinion and many others' opinion that's what jack did for the role of joker. if you look at all the cartoons and anything Joker Related it's a slice off of jack's joker. and that's what i mean by Heath  Ledger better live up to the role, he can stay true all he wants to the comic but if he doesn't make that role his own and make it memorable then what's the point of me paying 8 bucks to see this movie, when i could just buy the comic book.

[The Watcher]

Jack Best joker ever called it... no take backs!

but on the real i dont care what anyone says or how true to the comics he was or not... he played his role as the JOKER perfect.... when i seen it growing up i thought Joker not Jack ... i didnt really even know who Jack was at the time... so they changed the joker for the better for this film.... and he did it perfect... DARK and EVIL not just some clown bouncing around... lol

if he wasn't true to the comics, how was he even the Joker? like Shallow said, it was Jack with face paint, not the Joker

Nolan won't fuck up this movie after getting Batman Begins almost perfect

[Sikotic™]

Comic book geeks are never happy with the way characters are portrayed in movies. No point in arguing with them.