The Dark Knight

[jackwanders]

Hey

i loved batman begins, but nobody, I mean nobody can replace Jack as the Joker

"Seem like i got a bat in my belfry"

Jack Nicholson AKA The Joker

Nicholson's joker was modeled after the more light-hearted version of the character used in the silver age. Originally, and again more recently, the Joker is more of a psychotic killer than a prankster who's only after wealth and power. It appears that Ledger will be basing his Joker after this character, and not the Nicholson-esque Joker.

[SMELTN]

Nicholson's joker was modeled after the more light-hearted version of the character used in the silver age. Originally, and again more recently, the Joker is more of a psychotic killer than a prankster who's only after wealth and power. It appears that Ledger will be basing his Joker after this character, and not the Nicholson-esque Joker.

You are exactly right..

Although as far as character roles and what we have seen on TV and in the old comics. And what we have come to know as what "The Joker" should?be,?Jack?was?PERFECT.??

I am still worried about Heath. I love him as an actor but, I am worried about his persona as The Joker.

[Lqv2015]

All I know is Heath needs to perform this role perfectly in order for it to be a great Batman film.

[jackwanders]

All I know is Heath needs to perform this role perfectly in order for it to be a great Batman film.

But what's "perfectly"? Who says what a perfect performance is? does he have to mimic Nicholson? Duplicate the Joker of The Killing Joke? It's not going to be possible to give a "perfect" performance. All we can hope is that the character is faithful, and that Ledger's performance is convincing.

That said, I think this would be a great look for the Joker of The Dark Knight, as Nolan is trying to keep the series a bit more grounded in reality. He'd have skin that's very pale, but not "I'm wearing white face paint" pale. His hair would be green, but a dirty green, and perhaps the redness of his lips is a result of blood as much as anything else.

It's from the cover of a recent Batman comic:

[acies]

Personally I was never a fan of Burtons image of the Joker, though I think Jack was brilliant in the role (pretty much stole the film), it just didn't feel like Joker. And Heath Ledger and Nolan have already said they will be taking a very different route with the Joker I am thinking ALOT darker.

@Jack31081: thats a pretty cool picture! Though am not a fan of the scaring, and hope joker doesn't have a forced or cut smile, like Burtons joker.

this painting just rocks:

[freedom77]

An interesting comment from Cillian Murphy in an interview:

Are we going to see Scarecrow come back in The Dark Knight? The answer, "I can’t comment on that."

I thought he was brilliant in Batman Begins, it would be cool to see him return.

[Koolslacker]

I loved the Batman Begins. I'll be going to watch the next one on the opening day.

[DanManIt]

I can't wait for the sequel. Batman Begins was excellent.

[Lqv2015]

Hopefully there will be more action in this one. We already saw how he became Batman, so now there's more time for him to kick butt.

I think Christopher Nolan should hire a martial art choreography specialist. I didn't like the fighting scenes from the first movie & I believe it should be better.

[Dysphoria]

Hopefully there will be more action in this one. We already saw how he became Batman, so now there's more time for him to kick butt.

I think Christopher Nolan should hire a martial art choreography specialist. I didn't like the fighting scenes from the first movie & I believe it should be better.

Actually I liked the fight scenes... I got the HD DVD and in the extras they show him how he trained for the fighting scenes, and I like that they are using a new specific fighting style that is a mix of different fighting styles and is more of a close combat style. I think batman should have a specific fighting style and not follow jackie chan's / jet li's kung fu style.

[Lqv2015]

No doubt I don't want a Kung Fu Batman. I don't want choppy fights editing.

[acies]

Hopefully there will be more action in this one. We already saw how he became Batman, so now there's more time for him to kick butt.

I think Christopher Nolan should hire a martial art choreography specialist. I didn't like the fighting scenes from the first movie & I believe it should be better.

As Euphoria said they did a hire trainers and such for Batman Begins. They used some special style, can't remember what it's called. I loved the fight scenes though!! I thought it was brilliantly filmed too, the way batman was so fast and appeared almost like a shadow.

[jackwanders]

No doubt I don't want a Kung Fu Batman. I don't want choppy fights editing.

Nolan's reasoning behind the way the fight scenes (such as the one on the docks) were edited was that he wanted to give the audience the same feeling that the bad guys had. That Batman was just coming at them from nowhere and disappearing just as quickly. Batman is SO fast no one can see what exactly is happening. The very quick cuts and the way the action isn't exactly centered on screen give us that same feeling.

Yes, it's hard to see and you might want to think, "Hey, I want to see this fight", but it's more effective in pulling the viewer into the movie and hitting him with that 'disoriented' feeling.

Now, granted, Nolan's never shot fight scenes before, so we may see some fine tuning of this idea in the sequel.

[acies]

Hope it's ok to bump this up (rather than start a new topic).

The Official site is up, although only a teaser for now, I am sure we can expect more soon (Y):

The Dark Knight

[H5N]

^Sweet, thanks. I'm really looking forward to this one. The first one was fantastic.

[Hupp]

The Joker Begins Dark Knight to cover Clown Prince's origin? by Stax May 11, 2007 - Rumors are spreading online that The Dark Knight may feature an origin story of sorts for The Joker, played by Heath Ledger. If true, an origin subplot would help clarify discrepancies about the Clown Prince of Crime's look in the Christopher Nolan-directed sequel to Batman Begins.

A blogger named "David" at blog.360.yahoo.com posted about his experience as an extra on the set of the forthcoming football drama The Express where he met another extra who claimed to have just worked on the Chicago shoot of The Dark Knight as Heath Ledger's stand-in.

If the following claims are true then be aware of SPOILERS ...

According to the blogger, "(The stand-in) hung out with Ledger who said that The Joker character in this movie starts out as a unhinged, green-haired nutjob who wears a malleable clown mask when he does all his crime jobs. He said that he found out that as the movie progresses something happens to him in a Batman encounter that permanently fixates his face in the clownish appearance."

"One of the scenes he was working on was a scene where Joker hijacks a school bus and drives it into the Gotham National Bank. So, it's a bank robbery scene that was filmed at the old post office off Canal St. near Van Buren (right by my work). He said they filmed there for about a week and the bank manager was played by William Fichtner. ... I'm hoping to get in on that set as an extra as well when they come back for a couple of months in June. He mentioned that they want him to keep his hair the way it is, kinda long and straggly, for that their return."

Of course, these are all details that anyone who followed the news and rumors during the film's stint in Chicago could have compiled. Still, if the claims are true then it suggests the Joker will have two different looks in the film.

A source for Batman-on-Film.com, however, believes the blogger's source was likely an extra rather than a stand-in for Ledger. BoF's scooper said, "Unfortunately, I can't confirm The Joker origin info. Based on personal speculation from what I do know, it sounds very plausible. The only two things I know is that XXXXX mentioned at what point in the movie the bank robbery occurs, and Ledger did have Joker make-up on for the camera shot where he takes his clown mask off. However, it was obvious that the make-up did not continue down his neck and it seemed that it was to look as though the character put it on himself. Again, this is personal speculation, but knowing those two things, I think the origin [reported in the blog] is very plausible."

taken from ign

[Osiris]

Oh well I dont see any problem with that turn of events. Seems like a more plausable origin storyline then the way the Joker comes about in the original movie to a degree.

Whens this expected to hit cinemas?

[acies]

about a year from now I think.

[Osiris]

ah got my hopes up, almost thought this was an 07 release :(

[acies]

lol, sorry. There only filming it now. But still pretty exciting. :p

[rickbman]

Whens this expected to hit cinemas?

The planned release date in the U.S. is July 8, 2008... not sure about other countries though.

[Tokar]

I absolutely loved Batman Begins. And just when I thought it was over, they made the movie ridiculously awesome by not only blatantly suggesting a sequel, but pretty much tying it in in a very unique way. How often do you see a movie refer to its sequel by hinting towards what will be going on?

Obviously Spiderman did that with Harry Osborn...but it wasnt like "here Spidey...we have reports of some guy using Tritium to make a replica sun..." or "we found this sand in the middle of NYC, we wouldnt think much of it, but it led down 5th avenue...from 5th street down to 58th street, then made a hard right onto 58th street for a couple avenues...". True, the Batman series lends itself to the tie-in ending because of the human element of everything...but it was just done so well...mmmmm.

Now that they got the whole rid of the whole "this is how batman began" element they should use the 2 hours of movie time to focus on two villains giving proper screentime to both villains (something Spiderman 3's failed to do...I wish there was more Topher Grace on screen, he is such a great actor...). Maybe they can spend time on the retrofitting of the bat cave, having it become the CIA's dream base of operations. As of the end of the first movie I thought of it as nothing more than a parking garage for his vehicle and a closet for his batman clothing...haha.

Seeing as how Morgan Freeman will be returning, they should add a few more scenes were Wayne wants some new toys.

"Fox, would you happen to have a personal armed submarine?"

"Ya know, I might just have the thing. IT WAS BUILT AS A BRIDGING VEHICLE! WHEN ARMIES NEEDED TO CROSS RIVERS THIS BABY WOULD GO AMPHIBIOUS, TOWING CABLES ACROSS PULLING THE BRIDGE OVER. WE NEVER COULD GET THE DAMN BRIDGE TO WORK BUT THIS BABY WORKS JUST FINE."

"Does it come in black?"

"Fox, would you happen to have a personal armed jet?"

"Ya know, I might just have the thing. IT WAS BUILT AS A BRIDGING VEHICLE! WHEN ARMIES NEEDED TO CROSS GORGES THIS BABY WOULD GO VERTICAL, TOWING CABLES ACROSS PULLING THE BRIDGE OVER. WE NEVER COULD GET THE DAMN BRIDGE TO WORK BUT THIS BABY WORKS JUST FINE."

"Does it come in black?"

"Fox, would you hapeen to have a personal armed motorbike?"

"Ya know, I might just have the thing. IT WAS BUILT AS A BRIDGING VEHICLE!..."

"Does it come in black?"

Hahahaha!

Edited May 14, 2007 by Tokar

[acies]

LOL, I don't think they should go too crazy with it!!

element they should use the 2 hours of movie time to focus on two villains giving proper screentime to both villains

Also it's unknown how many "villains" will be in the movie, so far I think it's Joker and a Mob Boss. Harvey Dent is in it but whether or not he will be "two-face" for the film isn't known. There are also Rumours that Cillian Murphy will return as the Scarecrow.

[Tokar]

LOL, I don't think they should go too crazy with it!!

Also it's unknown how many "villains" will be in the movie, so far I think it's Joker and a Mob Boss. Harvey Dent is in it but whether or not he will be "two-face" for the film isn't known. There are also Rumours that Cillian Murphy will return as the Scarecrow.

They integrated him very well in the previous movie...it is hard to see how they could integrate him any better this time. Yes he is free from jail...i guess they could have him pilfering about.

[acies]

Another Teaser site up:

http://ibelieveinharveydent.warnerbros.com/