Oh yeah, that's the stuff
Jul. 18th, 2008 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebratqueenBack from Batman.
I'm a picky Batman fan in that I think the animated series did it best. So my touchstone here isn't comparing Heath to Jack as it is comparing him to Mark Hamill. And if you're not nodding your head and going "Oh of course Mark's Joker" then we're not on the same page and perhaps never shall be.
So with that as the lead in - yeah, Heath is that damn good. To the point where I honestly got teary at times because I couldn't help but think that we weren't going to see this again, both for the character specifically and for Heath's talent in general.
It's the little things, both in terms of what Heath brough to the character and in terms of what the movie did. Like of course he's going to wear the nurse outfit. With the wig. And shoes and black socks which of course aren't his shoes and black socks since he rocks the purple and green argyle but it's part of his nurse's outfit, damn it. I mean you take one look at that and you know Joker loves everything about it. It's just so him.
Granted that the animated series Joker had to be more cartoony since the show was theoretically for kids (HA!). But the Nolan Batman films make me nod my head and go Yes, yes, this because the core of the universe and the characters is the same, just with a slight twist to be adults and movies and more (comparatively) realistic. So while TAS Joker would do it all for the laugh, movie Joker did it all for his definition of a laugh, which was making the world around him as chaotic as, presumably, his mind.
Which brings us back to Heath. And yanno you have got to tip your hat to a guy who can embody a character so well that you can identify him within a second of seeing him on screen and from behind. That's feeling it down to the core. The laugh? Good. The body language? Perfect. But there was so much more. Like not only that flick thing he did with his tongue, but the fact that he used his teeth like somebody who had tooth problems. Which makes so much sense since - well why would the Joker brush? Hell, given the scars it probably hurts to brush, and you know that wasn't something in the script so Heath had to have sat there and said "Okay, what's going on in his mouth?" and then answered that question both in an obvious and character historical fashion. And then you realize that he never washes his hair either...
...and then that connects to the rest of the movie as a whole. Like after one of the explosions when the Joker's hair is right at home in the aftermath and, well, it's what his hair always looks like. So... yeah. Of course. And how the guy with the stomach problems had the same yellow-horrible teeth like Joker did so you're getting this visual cue about the deep levels of badness to come here and some random behind the scenes person figured out to do that.
Then you get Harvey, who can so easily be clunky metaphors a-go-go, and how do you explain him and the coin without the anvils. And clearly the explanation is needed given that one person in the audience was genuinely surprised that Harvey's face caught on fire to the point where you wonder just how much of this whole "Batman" concept they're aware of to begin with. So it's not wrong to assume sometimes the audience needs the hand puppets.
So taking that as our given, they did a good job with Harvey's coin getting fucked up at the same time Harvey did, and because it was with Rachel, since symbolism and blah blah blah. And for the love of God they remembered he doesn't flip the coin more than once. NOT that I retain any bitterness over CERTAIN movies or anything like that OH NO. I was actually cringing when he flipped the coin again in the car scene and then going YES, THANK YOU GOD YES when we found out flip 2 was for the driver. (Though all in my mind because I'm not that obnoxious.)
And we have our lighting symbolism, and admittedly I had a moment of okay, why are they shadowing the side of his face that stays normal? Because at the time I was thinking foreshadowing would mean getting the left side of his face. Then I realized no, they knew what they were doing. The right side of his face goes dark because that's his good side, which of course was not the side in charge when he was beating up the prisoner. So again... yes. Of course.
More random thoughts:
The Rotties were nice but I can't have been the only person going "BUT THOSE AREN'T THE BABIES!"
I'd heard there was a Harley cameo and there wasn't, so woe for that. Especially since now there never will be and you know Joker and Harley would've rocked the shit out of the third movie if they were in it.
It takes a LOT to beat Harvey's theme from TAS, and while this soundtrack didn't surpass it, it did a commendable job.
Because of TAS I thought the Latina detective was Montoya. So it took me a while to figure out that no, she wasn't and therefore yes, the Law of Economy of Characters was still in effect. Which is woeful on oh so many counts.
Speaking of which... Rachel. Maggie did a good job with her, and I'm all for the Whedon school of killing characters off to show you mean business but... sigh. Did an otherwise good movie series really need to haul out the refrigerator? And, if so, couldn't they have done that back when she was played by Katie?
Speaking of, dudes? Up the chick factor. You've got plenty of awesome characters to choose from here and you are seriously falling down on the job. That one comment from Fox better mean we're seeing Selina in movie 3, damn it.
Also Bruce? May want to come up with a code name for the people you work with when you have to talk to them while you're out in the field.
I was torn on Bruce's decision to be known as a killer, but then I realized that's actually a pretty good move on his part. It lets him have a reputation for not following rules, all the while he still follows them. So it was a clever way to combat against Joker's valid point.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but there we are. My rambly attempt to write out what amounts to "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
I'm a picky Batman fan in that I think the animated series did it best. So my touchstone here isn't comparing Heath to Jack as it is comparing him to Mark Hamill. And if you're not nodding your head and going "Oh of course Mark's Joker" then we're not on the same page and perhaps never shall be.
So with that as the lead in - yeah, Heath is that damn good. To the point where I honestly got teary at times because I couldn't help but think that we weren't going to see this again, both for the character specifically and for Heath's talent in general.
It's the little things, both in terms of what Heath brough to the character and in terms of what the movie did. Like of course he's going to wear the nurse outfit. With the wig. And shoes and black socks which of course aren't his shoes and black socks since he rocks the purple and green argyle but it's part of his nurse's outfit, damn it. I mean you take one look at that and you know Joker loves everything about it. It's just so him.
Granted that the animated series Joker had to be more cartoony since the show was theoretically for kids (HA!). But the Nolan Batman films make me nod my head and go Yes, yes, this because the core of the universe and the characters is the same, just with a slight twist to be adults and movies and more (comparatively) realistic. So while TAS Joker would do it all for the laugh, movie Joker did it all for his definition of a laugh, which was making the world around him as chaotic as, presumably, his mind.
Which brings us back to Heath. And yanno you have got to tip your hat to a guy who can embody a character so well that you can identify him within a second of seeing him on screen and from behind. That's feeling it down to the core. The laugh? Good. The body language? Perfect. But there was so much more. Like not only that flick thing he did with his tongue, but the fact that he used his teeth like somebody who had tooth problems. Which makes so much sense since - well why would the Joker brush? Hell, given the scars it probably hurts to brush, and you know that wasn't something in the script so Heath had to have sat there and said "Okay, what's going on in his mouth?" and then answered that question both in an obvious and character historical fashion. And then you realize that he never washes his hair either...
...and then that connects to the rest of the movie as a whole. Like after one of the explosions when the Joker's hair is right at home in the aftermath and, well, it's what his hair always looks like. So... yeah. Of course. And how the guy with the stomach problems had the same yellow-horrible teeth like Joker did so you're getting this visual cue about the deep levels of badness to come here and some random behind the scenes person figured out to do that.
Then you get Harvey, who can so easily be clunky metaphors a-go-go, and how do you explain him and the coin without the anvils. And clearly the explanation is needed given that one person in the audience was genuinely surprised that Harvey's face caught on fire to the point where you wonder just how much of this whole "Batman" concept they're aware of to begin with. So it's not wrong to assume sometimes the audience needs the hand puppets.
So taking that as our given, they did a good job with Harvey's coin getting fucked up at the same time Harvey did, and because it was with Rachel, since symbolism and blah blah blah. And for the love of God they remembered he doesn't flip the coin more than once. NOT that I retain any bitterness over CERTAIN movies or anything like that OH NO. I was actually cringing when he flipped the coin again in the car scene and then going YES, THANK YOU GOD YES when we found out flip 2 was for the driver. (Though all in my mind because I'm not that obnoxious.)
And we have our lighting symbolism, and admittedly I had a moment of okay, why are they shadowing the side of his face that stays normal? Because at the time I was thinking foreshadowing would mean getting the left side of his face. Then I realized no, they knew what they were doing. The right side of his face goes dark because that's his good side, which of course was not the side in charge when he was beating up the prisoner. So again... yes. Of course.
More random thoughts:
The Rotties were nice but I can't have been the only person going "BUT THOSE AREN'T THE BABIES!"
I'd heard there was a Harley cameo and there wasn't, so woe for that. Especially since now there never will be and you know Joker and Harley would've rocked the shit out of the third movie if they were in it.
It takes a LOT to beat Harvey's theme from TAS, and while this soundtrack didn't surpass it, it did a commendable job.
Because of TAS I thought the Latina detective was Montoya. So it took me a while to figure out that no, she wasn't and therefore yes, the Law of Economy of Characters was still in effect. Which is woeful on oh so many counts.
Speaking of which... Rachel. Maggie did a good job with her, and I'm all for the Whedon school of killing characters off to show you mean business but... sigh. Did an otherwise good movie series really need to haul out the refrigerator? And, if so, couldn't they have done that back when she was played by Katie?
Speaking of, dudes? Up the chick factor. You've got plenty of awesome characters to choose from here and you are seriously falling down on the job. That one comment from Fox better mean we're seeing Selina in movie 3, damn it.
Also Bruce? May want to come up with a code name for the people you work with when you have to talk to them while you're out in the field.
I was torn on Bruce's decision to be known as a killer, but then I realized that's actually a pretty good move on his part. It lets him have a reputation for not following rules, all the while he still follows them. So it was a clever way to combat against Joker's valid point.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but there we are. My rambly attempt to write out what amounts to "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
