Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Joker casting for sequel to Batman Begins


I'll admit, I don't find Robin Williams quite as irritating as D&M do(he does get on my nerves when he's trying too hard to be funny). Even so, I really hope that he doesn't get the role of Joker for the sequel of Batman Begins.
I guess I don't understand why they're even going to do the Joker again. The original 'Batman' was on TV this past weekend, and in watching it, I realized just how damn good that movie was. I mean, Jack Nicholson totally nailed that role- why reinvent it? Why not try some new villians? Or better yet, how about a Batman-Superman crossover?

13 Comments:

Blogger Jack T Briggs said...

I totally agree. Leave Joker alone. It's been done by the perfect actor for the job already. Jack's too old to do it again and Caesar Romero is dead...so knock it off Hollywood! Not to mention the fact that Robin Williams is probably one of the most annoying people on Earth. I don't want him to soil a Batman franchise that is actually showing Batman the way he should be. Not like that Burton pile of shit that only had a few, if any, paralells with the comics. Besides the main characters shown, I mean.

27/6/06 06:52  
Blogger Cohort Mandibles said...

Batman sucks. I remember seeing Batman Begins, and that asshat just got that "ultimate suit" that cost millions upon millions of dollars. Then he had to spray paint it black. Haha nice job, I wonder if he used Rustoleum, or Martha Stewart's brand?

27/6/06 07:06  
Blogger Garble said...

I don't have any problem with them brining back the joker. He's a great villain and it's comic book story. Bringing back the dead, or just pretending that they never died, is a staple of the genre.

As for Robin Williams as the joker...I think he could do it. He doesn't look like the joker but I think he could be creepy enough. Plus he's not a half bad actor.

It's going to be more about the writing and directing.

1. They need to /show/ why the joker is scary in the story. Not leave it up to the audience to accept it prima facia
2. The director needs to keep Robin Williams in check and avoid turning it into a silly stand up routine.
3. Robin Williams needs to stay of the blow.

Now the better question is;
Who would you cast as the joker?

Going by looks alone I'd pick Dennis Leary. He's got the same shape of face. He's got a lot of energy and he's got name recognition. They're not likely to cast an unknown.

27/6/06 07:13  
Blogger Cohort Mandibles said...

Robin Williams is too damn short. The joker is not a midget. Someone else needs to play the part.

27/6/06 07:18  
Blogger Jack T Briggs said...

I would cast nobody. Reuse some villians from the Schumacher abortions. But do them RIGHT this time. The way I see it...Batman Begins has NOTHING to do with the movies that idiot made. So everything is free game. Or do what you said Garbs, do a crossover. I would LOVE to see a movie where Batman stomps on Superman for 2 hours.

27/6/06 07:27  
Blogger Cohort Mandibles said...

How would Batman stomp on Superman? Isn't Superman practically invincible, and Batman is just a rich pretty boy with a fancy suit?

27/6/06 07:58  
Blogger Garble said...

They've had batman win a fight with superman before. It usually involves power armor (which batman only uses against superman for some odd reason)

27/6/06 08:03  
Blogger Garble said...

So you liked the first burtan movie. I get that. But why not use the joker. This isn't great art. It's a comic book movie. It's a great character. Far better than two face or the riddler.

A crossover would be cool. If I were king they'd do another batman movie and forshadow the superman cross over. I'd also do another superman movie and reference batman. But in a negative light. Show batman as extremely dangerous etc. etc. Use that film to demonstrate that superman is loved and admired and that batman is feared and at best tolerated.

Than in the third movie for both series do a cross over.

My cross over would feature Lex Luthor heavilly. The plot would go something like
1. Show that Lex Luthor hates superman because he wants humanity to be supreme, not some alien savior. Make LL sympathetic in the beginning.
2. LL recruits batman to his side by setting up a fight between superman and batman. (They did something similar in a recent one off.) Luthor gives Bruce Wayne Kryptonite and superman takes it back. Pretty easily; super breath + heat vision + elevation + Lead Box = short fight + badly damaged Batman. Luthor plants evidence to frame superman for killing a bystander in the fight. Really clinches the deal. Might have Luthor be really aware of Bruce’s back story. Have the a mother and father killed in the fight and just a little boy survive.
3. The human team starts messing with superman. Since he’s so hard to kill the idea is to drive him away again. Luthor’s plan is to Nuke Kansas and make it look like superman’s fault. (He’s also buying options on corn, should be profitable after the bomb) Batman seems to be a dupe about the full extent of this. LL is pretending that it’s really about mankind attaining parity with superman. Basically they team up to make power armor.
4. Batman realizes that Luthor is insane / knew all along and was just getting info on the full extent of the plot and turns on him.
5. At this point things are too far gone and Batman has to get superman’s help to stop Luthor’s plan.
6. Big fight number 2: Superman by this point is so pissed that it’ll be a challenge for Batman just to talk to him. Nice fight but it ends in a draw. This would be a moral victory for Batman.
7. They team up to save the day. Basically Batman tell superman what he needs to do, Superman goes and does it. Batman destroys the armor factory and all related research.

In my movie Bruce Wayne is pathologically driven and batman is scary. Lex Luthor seems sane just easy enough to identify with to really creep you out when you see how far he’ll go. Clark Kent is an starry eyed idealist in love with the humanity and Superman is an unstoppable force of nature.

27/6/06 08:04  
Blogger Jack T Briggs said...

I tolerated the first Batman movie. Nothing more. It was as close to Batman (looking past its glaring mistakes) as any of the movies got BEFORE Batman Begins. I just think Jack did Joker so well, it would be a shame to have someone else do it then fuck it up. It would be like trying to re-make Episodes 4-6 of Star Wars. No fucking way.

27/6/06 08:22  
Blogger Garble said...

The possibilities fall into three realms.
1. They make a horrible, dull, cringe inducing movie.
2. They make a movie as good as the original.
3. They make a better movie.

If the do 2 or 3 we, the viewers win because we got a cool movie.

if they make a bad movie that doesn't do any damage to the movie that was already made.

Besides, i like joker stories. Bring 'em on.

27/6/06 08:27  
Blogger Matt McMinn said...

Jack Nicholson is the Joker. End of story. However, having just seen the new batman on Sunday, I would like to see the Joker done in that style, but I don't think it would work. Part of the reason that the joker worked so well is because the movie wasn't strict: it allowed the joker to be full on crazy without seeming goofy, simply because the movie was somewhat goofy. Can you imaging Christian Bale fighting the Joker to a Prince song? No, but Michael Keaton pulled it off.

Joker could still be done well though, given the right actor. Denis Leary is too straight, and after having seen how creepy robin williams can be as a bad guy (insomnia, one hour photo) I think he could probably pull off Joker. Although he might be too old. Jason Lee might work, if he could make the fight scenes believeable (which I think he could, Joker's not much of a physical fighter)

27/6/06 08:34  
Blogger Jack T Briggs said...

Yeah! OK. I've changed my mind. I would be willing to see Jason Lee play the Joker. McMinn came up with a winner!

27/6/06 08:40  
Blogger Jim Brannick said...

I think what it boils down to is that audiences will have trouble accepting a new joker. The Keaton-Nicholson version is not so old that people have forgotten (in contrast to the gap between the Adam West TV show and the Burton original).
Plus, Robin Williams is probably the only person will the gall to take on such a role. Think about it, you'd be constantly compared to "Jack" who is still a living icon for crying out loud. No respectable actor would want that role, if for no other reason than out of respect for Jack.

27/6/06 08:55  

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