Heath Ledger was a bad Joker

[Che]

Now that I think it's not "too soon" anymore, I'm going to bring this up.

Heath was a mediocre Joker in The Dark Knight. He didn't seem unpredictable like all the other jokers. Whether in the cartoons, comics, past movies, etc, the Joker was always unpredictably insane, laughed at everything, and made cheesy jokes.

All Heath did was lick his lips when at all possible. The backstory wasn't even that great. "Do you know where I got these scars?" When I heard the first story he had for them in the movie I was intruiged, but after the second and third time I was completely done with him.

I liked where the story took Joker. A man that could turn the people against their own faith. But Heath didn't do it for me...

YouTube - Mark Hamill's Infamous Joker laugh

^ Mark Hamill, voice of Joker in the animated series AND Arkham Asylum for PC, Xbox360, and PS3.

Jack Nicholson is still the best, however, this is my pick for the person who would have played the best joker in The Dark Knight.

[Dodie16]

I didn't think that Heath was "bad", but I also preferred Jack Nicholson performance as the Joker in the Tim Burton version of Batman. I don't know if I would have put him in the Dark Knight, because ol' Jack is getting on in years, and I think it would have looked rather strange to have a very young Batman face off against a Joker that was quite a bit older than him.

I sort of think the reason that Heath got so much praise was because he died before the movie was released. I know that sounds really bad, but it's what I think. Media hyped up his performance as his "Swan Song", and got everyone's interest piqued about how Heath pulled off the role of the Joker. I think that Heath did a pretty good job, but it really wasn't what I made it out to be after hearing about it so much.

I grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series, and I think that Mark Hamill does indeed have the best voice for Joker.

[Walter Sobchak]

Some may disagree with what I am saying, but here it goes. Objectively speaking, you are wrong. Heath Ledger's Joker was far superior to anything Mr. Nicholson or Luke Skywalker ever did.

[Xanatos]

Far from it, he did an excellent job. I might go overboard by saying that he was better than Jack Nicholson but yes, in my opinion he is. Just the other day I watched Batman with Jack Nicholson as Joker, he's great no doubt about it but after seeing Heath on the act Jack looks like a regular clown to me. I got the impression like all he did was laughing in the entire movie and frankly that's exactly what he did.

On the other hand Heath looked and behaved like a crazy person just like a Joker (only less laughing). As for the backstory, I must agree with Che, I wasn't impressed but I liked the influence Joker had on the regular people, Harvey Dent even on the Batman. Both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger did an excellent job but in my opinion Heath is better Joker and frankly after seeing The Dark Night I can't imagine the person who would do better.

[Taco-Calamitous]

Are you not impressed with his back-story because he didn't really have one? Because that is pretty much the case; each time he divulged his story, it was different, and therefore we don't know what's true and what's fabricated crap. And personally, I like that.

I haven't seen Tim Burton's Batman for years, so I can't really compare. But I think calling Heath's Joker "predictable" is a bit of a stretch; I didn't know what the charact was planning, the first time I watched the movie. Did you?

Spoiler: Did you know he had planted bombs inside one of his thugs that he could set off by making a phone call, for one? Did you know he was going to set up the deaths of either Harvey Dent or Rachel?

Beyond that, I thought he was funny, too. "Do you think you can threaten all of us and just walk out of here?!!" "...yeah." [as he sits down next to an injured and furious Harvey Dent] "...hi." The whole speech about being like a dog chasing a car was pretty awesome, too. And he did laugh, just not constantly. For me, this Joker actually felt dangerous, unlike the other two, who just felt like evil clowns. So... I disagree. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Josh_R]

I disagree with you in the way that Heath was a bad joker because he was not. To me he was a pretty good joker...

But I agree with that Jack Nicholsan was the best, because he was. Jack was the shit and Heath is not better than he is..

[loner-kid]

I'm also going to have to disagree with you che, by no streach of the imagination was heath a bad Joker. He played his part well and while it's debatable whether he was as good at the part as Jack, it's ultimately pointless. They were playing different Jokers, completely. Jacks Joker was a mixture of the original clown and the more phsychotic reimaginings, while Heaths was almost entirely phsychotic. The reason for this is simply due to the writers and directors of the two movies, not the individual actors. So most of the time when people argue about which one is better is they stick to the version they prefer as opposed to arguing on terms of acting ability.

Also, although this has been pointed out, Heaths Joker isn't supposed to have a backstory. He's an enigma, nothing else but the Joker. A crazy man who laughs at the world and tries to see how much damage he can do.

[T.G. Oskar]

I'll submit to the Nostalgia Critic's appraisal of Heath's Joker. I rarely tend to make a point without at least seeing the movie and having a solid point, but I can concede with the Critic on his appraisal.

He actually compared Nicholson's Joker with Ledger's Joker, and surprisingly, albeit with the bulk of bias around, he claimed Ledger's Joker was better. If only, because instead of being a "boner", he was outright psychotic, yet he somehow managed to remain a consummate genius. Also, Ledger's interpretation takes a turn for the image of the Joker as presented on Batman: The Killing Joke, where he makes everything personal and frightening. Nicholson, on the other hand, made a Joker that was elegant, but barely mad. In fact, Nicholson's Joker was kinda...sane. He was still a criminal, he still had his weird gadgets and he was pretty hilarious...but not the kind of modern psychotic Joker.

What I can add, though, is that Ledger's Joker suffered a bit from Bale's Batman. No one, and I think everyone might agree, can do Batman as well as Michael Keaton. Maybe if both of them were present, it would have worked like some sort of revealer. To make it clear: it would be the talent of an established character, someone who knows how to do the character, against someone who quite enough was trying to delve into a reinterpretation of his given character. In that sense, Keaton's Batman would have served as a contrast point to Ledger's Batman.

I'd also add about the perception of the Joker's character portrayal. Those who liked Ledger's Joker may like the portrayal given recently, which makes the Joker a darker, more sinister villain. The original Joker was just...a bit bland, although I won't tell mediocre since the concept by itself is pretty solid. Those who liked Nicholson's Joker liked his unique portrayal, if only because Nicholson does those kind of characters rather well. But, in the scale of which Joker portrayal it stands, Nicholson's stands right...around the middle. Dark, but still playful. (For reference: the Batman TV series Joker would be the "lighter" opposite)

[Tiffany]

I never thought it was possible to top Jack as all-time best joker. He played it well, and had the "crazy" aspect of The Joker down pat. I find Heath did a better job at portraying the "dark" aspect of The Joker. Each had strengths, each had weaknesses IMO.

Then again, I find acting is always a matter of personal taste/preference.

[Maridia]

Heath is the best joker there was no question. Yes I love Mark Hamils voice and the cartoon. And Jack was amusing. This was a new direction that's what made it great.

The way joker acted in every other version he was trying to kill batman. In this he even says he doesn't want to. He loves screwing with him. He's bored ripping off mob dealers and Batman won't kill him and Joker finds him far too amusing to agonize. With being random, you're right he's more intelligent than that. He's crazy no doubt, but there's a method to his madness. He tries to turn the "good guys" bad and is intelligent enough to create chaos in a way to terrify the whole city. At the same time he shows his bizarre behavior with the rest of his demeanor. His lying about the scars, the make up, being strapped with grenades. He's tapped but through it all he knows how to manipulate everyone else from the mob to even the heroes. Heath's portrayal and Chris Nolans style of writing him are perfect. It's a very gritty and as real as you can get version of the Joker.