When I first heard that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker in "The Dark Knight," I, like a lot of you, had my doubts. It came out of left field and was quite unexpected. However, after seeing the film and the amazing performance that Heath gave us, I was forced to "eat crow." That performance is arguably one of the best we've seen from any actor in any role in the last twenty-five years. But...I'm not here to talk about his spectacular work.
I've been watching some of the animated Batman features ("The Batman vs. Dracula" and "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm") and was blown away by the Joker and the voice work by none other than Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. He is awesome! That laugh of his can be quite chilling at times...exactly the way you think it should be. Not to mention his ability to embody the craziness that is The Joker...by only using his voice.
Add to this talent the stellar work by THE BEST Batman, Kevin Conroy, and any of the films that these two star in are anything but boring to watch. The interaction between the two is unmatchable.
I don't mean to take away from Ledger's performance, but the two are completely different, just as Jack Nicholson's and Ledger's performances are different. Each actor brings a new life and a new version to this iconic character.
I just needed to give Hamill credit for giving us such a fun and wacky version of this character.
