Jokers are Wild!

Can everyone please stop attacking Nicholson's Joker just because there's a new Joker in town? I know that Nicholson gets this reputation for "Jack playing Jack", but anyone who's ever picked up a Batman comic with the Joker in it in the past decade or so and has seen Nicholson's performance should see that he was pretty dead on: a psychotic, sadistic, egotistical mass murderer with a flair for the theatrical. Will the late Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight surpass this? Maybe. Probably. I have a feeling that The Dark Knight is going to be the best Batman movie ever made, even better than the animated Mask of the Phantasm. Still, let's not deny how good Burton's original Batman movie was, and it's not just out of nostalgia. It was a great movie. Not perfect, but great. I like it more than Begins, even, if just a little. Anyway, here's a comparison: and then this: Entirely different approaches to the Batman franchise. And let's, for a moment, forget "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin". Those weren't Burton films. Burton's Batman films brought out the surreal freakishness of the characters. Nolan's Batman films seem to demand a commitment to make the world of Batman as real and tangible as possible, applying all the real world science, technology, and mannerisms as necessary. So, in a way, it's very limited, but also allows for a more human instinct to it, and reason, as well. Whichever approach seems to be your preferred one is fine with me, but trust me, Nicholson knew what he was doing in his role in that Burton film. That was fucking perfect for what it was. Ledger looks like he will be very good for what the Joker calls for in that film.