Monday, June 25, 2007

The Clown Prince of Crime

Last week, Entertainment Weekly posted a first look at the new Batsuit for Christopher Nolan's forthcoming Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight. The big change over the prior film is the "motorcycle-like" helmet that allows Bale to turn his neck. As I stated long ago, I prefer less armor, though I know that ain't gonna happen. Besides, I don't think the suit matters as much as the script, and having just rewatched The Prestige, I'm fairly confident that that is in the best hands imaginable.

That being said, I've discovered a really excellent fan-produced mash up of the Joker that I think I prefer to the early images of Heath Ledger that Warner Bros. has released. Take a look at this photo on the right. It's made using an old b&w photo of Conrad Veidt from the original 1928 film, The Man Who Laughs, which inspired Bob Kane to create the Joker in the first place. Looks like something by Brian Bolland come to life, doesn't it? Now, the Ledger shot is early-days, and Warner is deliberately testing the waters, hinting, holding back cards, not really showing anything... so it's way, way too early to make any concrete judgments. And as I said, with Momento, Batman Begins and The Prestige as evidence, I suspect Batman will be fine. And, hey, nobody asked me anyway, but just right now, I think I like black hair / black lips with real white skin better than makeup and the cut lips heresy!

Again though, it's the script that matters! I'm just sharing photos at this stage.

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