Let me preface this review by saying that anyone who found either of Burton’s Batman adaptations better than Nolan’s “Batman Begins” doesn’t meet the minimum brain cell requirement for this Blog; kindly finish your Spaghetti-O’s and log out.
Oh, and if you enjoyed any of Schumacher’s monstrosities, fear not, there may be help on the horizon.
Blah, Blah, Blah, lets get to the good stuff. Everyone wants to know what’s going on with the latest Heath Ledger hype. Is his performance Oscar worthy or is everyone blowing it up because he passed away earlier this year? The short answer (and only answer) to this question is YES!
Yes some people are Heathcliff obsessed because this brilliant young actor has unfortunately passed on. However, before doing so, Ledger succeeded with ferocious veracity in transforming an already iconic comic book villain into the most terrifying yet intriguing villain of ALL TIME; without a doubt Oscar worthy.
To prepare for the role, Ledger locked himself in a hotel room for six weeks formulating the character’s voice, posture, and psychology. He recorded the Joker’s thoughts and feelings in a diary to help guide his performance during the filming.
I ask myself, would I like this movie as much if Heath Ledger wasn’t in it? The answer is a resounding “NO”. He brought too much to the table. Ledger reshaped not only the persona of the Joker, but raised the bar, perhaps too high for anyone within the superhero genera to ever reach again. I’m the first to admit that to even find an equivalent role where someone could hope to touch the quality of Ledger’s work would be difficult, but styles and formats change, so we’ll all have to just wait to see what the future brings.
WARNING, Spoilers ahead: Bruce Wayne is Batman!
