by Judith Hamilton

Created on: March 11, 2009

Heath Ledger by far was the better Joker. Jack Nicholson is a unbelievable actor and does a superb job in every movie that he acts in but I think his joker roll didn't cut the mustard. I remember after seeing him as the Joker I was disappointed. I think he delivered the way he was supposed to but I didn't care for the suit that they had him wear and the music sounded silly in the background. I don't think it was his fault because when they don't give him anything that good to work with I guess he had to work with what they give him.

On the other hand, Heath Ledger was awesome. I saw his gift for acting in the movie "The Patriot" and he was a natural. I went to see the Batman movie not knowing what to expect thinking that it may not be as good as everyone said it would be. I was pleasantly surprised because the movie and especially Heath Ledger's role exceeded my expectations. They said this was a dark role and difficult to play for Heath Ledger and at the time I thought how hard could it be playing a comedy kind of guy in a Batman movie. My husband, who read every comic book imaginable as a kid, explained to me that this movie would be a lot darker than the Batman Nicholson was in. I was impressed! The way Heath Ledger was dressed, his make up, the way he was introduced into the movie, the suspenseful music, and his impressive portrayal of the Joker character. Heath Ledger shone in this role he gave it his all and he came through with flying colors.

I absolutely love the scene where he is walking down the street, shotgun in hand, firing. The way he delivered his lines perfectly, his sometimes childlike charm with a huge flare for evil. Heath Ledger was the perfect villain.

I think that it's almost a little bit unfair to compare the two characters because the movies were so different. The Heath Ledger Batman movie had so much more darkness and violence in it. The Jack Nicholson Batman movie was a lot lighter. I don't think that this role was Jack Nicholson's best and like I stated before most of his movies don't disappoint but I prefer the darker Batman movie I think that the actors can deliver a deeper character with the more adult version of Batman. Heath Ledger was a true actor with the many different roles that he played in his short life and I feel that his Oscar was well deserved and I find it sad that we will never be able to enjoy his wonderful acting in future movies.

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