The Batman Franchise really hasn't had any trouble lately. Batman Begins was the best of the series when it came out and The Dark Knight raised the bar even higher. Director Chris Nolan clearly knows what he's doing. The series has depth, a realistic take on the world of Batman, great stories, and great actors. However, it's always difficult to maintain quality. The Spider-man, X-men, and Blade trilogies all were well liked then had third movies that were poorly received. Nolan's Batman franchise is in a league of its own but even this series is not invulnerable to failure. It would sure be a shame to see such a great series end on a low note. So how exactly should they go about giving this trilogy a fitting end?
To Recast or Not to Recast?
Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker was one of the best things about The Dark Knight. Some would even go as far as to say he made the movie. While I believe there was much more to the movie than just his performance, it was definitely unforgettable and the movie would not have been the same without him. Originally, Chris Nolan planned on having the Joker return in the sequel to The Dark Knight and continue to play a major role. The untimely death of Heath Ledger changed everything. One way of looking at it is that the show must go on. They replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel so this would be similar. Another way is that you don't just replace an actor like that who has given such a special performance. It's not like replacing an actor who just decided to leave. Since Heath died, replacing him could be seen as insensitive and disrespectful. I'm pretty sure that Chris Nolan feels more like the latter which is understandable since he actually knew the guy. The task of taking on the role of Heath's Joker would be daunting for any actor. Heath pretty much created this version of the character. The new actor couldn't just do something new, because there has to be consistency within the story. Consequentially, he would have to try to imitate him, but no imitation would be as good as how Heath would have interpreted it.
I have faith in Chris Nolan because he's done a fantastic job so far. I think whatever vision he has for the franchise is the way to go. Now it would seem that if he doesn't want to recast then I would agree. However, I'm not sure I do. The thing is, he has said that he intended for the Joker to be in the next movie. If that's his original vision, I think that's how it should be. If he changes what he was going to do, there's the danger that the story that comes as a result wouldn't be as good as the story that he wanted to do. It's a tough situation and I can see both sides, but it seems that the next movie will have to go on without the Joker so when thinking about how to finish the trilogy, I'll think about the best way to do a story that doesn't feature him.
Topping The Dark Knight?
The Dark Knight was phenomenally successful both critically and at the box office. I could go on about how great it was, but I'm not writing a review and if you're reading this you probably already know. I guess the big question is, how do you top it? Well, unfortunately, I really don't think that's possible. The Dark Knight was pretty much the ultimate Batman movie. The Joker is Batman's arch nemesis and possibly the greatest comic book villain of all time. Heath Ledger gave an incredible performance as the Joker that blew Jack Nicholson's out of the water. Christian Bale's Batman is the best yet in my opinion. So, basically, the movie gave us the ultimate confrontation between Batman and his top villain. If you wanted to show someone what Batman was all about by showing them a story of Batman and one villain, you would show them a story with Batman taking on the Joker. The movie was pretty much the perfect snapshot of everything that's great about Batman.
Without the Joker, there's just something missing that places a limit on how good a Batman movie can be. Even if they were able to find an actor as equally suited for one of Batman's other villains as Heath was for the Joker, it still wouldn't be quite as good because it would be a lesser villain. This doesn't mean it can't still be a great movie. I just think people shouldn't set their expectations too high. They should look at it as part of the series but not compare it to The Dark Knight too much. The film makers should think about it the same way. They should try to live up to the standards they've set while making it its own thing.
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