The Joker and The Dark Knight: Picture Spoilers Just a Little Too Early…
Several blogs have already made available and commented on some new pictures of Batman and the Joker from the upcoming Dark Knight film. The particular blog I first discovered them on is here and it includes a number of other Joker shots besides the one above. Don’t click on this link if you don’t want to see too much of the Joker too early.
I personally think Batman Begins was the first film to really capture the essence of the Batman from the comics, or at least the Batman from recent comics. It’s the first time a film has been about developing Batman’s character, rather than focusing so hard on his villains. I love Tim Burton’s Batman (it was actually my favorite film of all time before Begins) but it’s more about the Joker than it is about Batman.
So I’m really wondering why so many of these publicity shots are being released so early. It’s only December and the film isn’t slated to open until July 18, 2008. I have a lot of faith in Chris Nolan after what he brought to screen the first time. I really wish he wouldn’t allow any photos of the Joker to be leaked, or at least not any full body shots. We shouldn’t be allowed to have any impression of what Heath Ledger’s performance will be beyond what we could have pretty well surmised by the fact that this is a sequel to Begins– he’ll be creepier, more sadistic, more serious, and closer to what we’ve seen in the last 10-15 years in the comics. I do think this new Joker looks fantastic, although like several fans who have responded to other recent blogs, I too think in some poses he looks a little too much like Beetlejuice. I’m making probably a presumptuous assumption but I really think this new movie will top the first, making it once again the best Batman film, at least for me. The producers don’t need to try to prove it early! I’ve only included a picture here because they’re already everywhere, so if you hadn’t seen it already, sometime between now and the film, you would have. And when the full trailer comes out, my guess is there will be far more Joker revealed than I’d like.
Are the producers really worried no one’s going to go see this movie? Is that why so many publicity shots are being made available? This movie is already the most advertised around right now, and there’s still six months before it comes out. But another possible reason, which I would be more understanding about, is that the producers were worried that shots might get leaked anyway, so they wanted to make some on purpose to minimize that danger.
I also want to interject a quick comment about the new Joker himself. He’s only wearing makeup on his face! Does that mean he wasn’t dropped in a vat of acid or something? His face is obviously scared, so perhaps he puts on the makeup himself to go with the permanent smile. Just a little curiosity of mine.
I’m certainly not as annoyed about new Batman pictures, since the suit is naturally very similar to what we saw in the first movie. However, despite the fact that every good sequel should always work to improve on what was done the first time around, I wish they had stuck with the original suit. This new one has several grey areas in it, and I thought the full black suit made a lot of practical sense because in Begins, Batman was trained primarily as a ninja and it’s easier to be “invisible” if you’re wearing all black. There’s also a little too much armor which I think makes it look a little too close to the Val Kilmer suit from Batman Forever.
However, these new pictures aren’t making me worried about the film. But now that we’ve already seen several new pictures of Batman, the Joker, and even something that resembles a bat-cycle but is based on the tumbler from Begins, I hope little else is released before the movie is.
LLAP
-Cap’n Logan
Tags: Batman Begins, Batman Forever, Chris Nolan, Comic Books, comic film adaption, Heath Ledger, Joker, The Dark Knight