The Dark Knight (here be SPOILERS!!!)

[Ujitsuna]

Jack Nicholson was just being faithful to the character. The Joker always wasn't funny, he was cheesy and his insanity for some reason made him think he was funny.

[Tullaryx]

Actually, Nicholson was acting more like crazy Nicholson than as Joker. If there's one thing the animated series Joker did that was better than Nicholson's performance was to pick up on Joker as the psychotic prankster who really only did what he did to try and get a laugh from Batman. Nicholson's Joker was more a gangster who went off his ledge more than a tad and had clown face make-up.

From what I could gather, Heath Ledger's Joker will be a much darker version which looks at Joker as a serial killer with a flair for the dramatic. Anyone who has seen the first picture of Ledger as Joker can see the John Wayne Gacy influence. Nicholson as Joker didn't make one afraid of clowns. It looks like Ledger's will.
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[Tony Stark]

As a fan of comic books, I was rather fond of this change to the Joker's character, as I cared more about seeing a good movie than I cared about true-ness to the comic's character. And Batman, I thought, was a great movie and Nicholson did a great job having fun with that role.

These movies in general are much less artsy than Burton's but replace that artsy-ness with a mysterious darkness. I am hoping the "fear" motif remains, but it might not without the Scarecrow being a prominent character, though in retrospect, he could be -- he did not die in the first movie. He was merely made crazy and tazered.
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[Tullaryx]

Cillian Murphy has been seen around the location shoots in Chicago. There's a good chance that Scarecrow will have a small but integral role in the film since it will help set-up Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent into becoming Two-Face for the the third film.

As for true-ness to the character, I don't expect pitch-perfect immitation of the franchise's characters, but very good performances does not change the fact that how the character of Joker was written in the Burton film had less to do with capturing the character of Joker and more giving Jack Nicholson a stage to reprise a more over-the-top and showy version his character Jack Torrance from The Shining.
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[Tony Stark]

Aaron Eckhart will play Harvey Dent and Two-Face excellently, I think. He was secured as a phenominal actor in my eyes when he starred in Thank You For Smoking. Although, these characters are obviously extremely different. I always thought it was funny, the hidden comment about lawyers in Two-Face being a lawyer.

Cillian Murphy, again, gave a stellar performance in the first film and it would be extremely exciting to see him again, particularly as it allows for that fear motif to return which was one of the things I love about the first film. I am also excited to see what Morgan Freeman's character cooks up for Bruce this time. I did not like the Batmobile last movie, but who knows, they make change it. Do you have any word on this, Tull?

I protest your comments on Nicholson's Joker, and the character of the Joker and his character in The Shining are obviously very different but keep quite a few traits the same, so it is pretty easy to see why one would call them similar and his approach to the role similar. You act like his portrayal of the Joker was a travesty, but it wasn't -- it is one of the greatest performances Nicholson has ever done and one of the greatest villain performances caught on film, even the AFI recognizes this. The film was good, and the Joker was mostly what he was in the comics -- I don't see the problem with it.
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[Tullaryx]

Oh, his Joker wasn't a travesty. To say that it was would mean the performance wasn't very good. I just didn't think I was watching the actor losing himself in the character. I thought as soon as Nicholson went from Jack Napier to Joker a third into the movie he fell back to being Jack Nicholson acting crazy. I actually thought his work as pre-Joker Napier was very good.

But then again I have many issues with Burton's Batman that went beyond just Nicholson's portrayal. The realistic portrayal of the Batman character and stories as done by Nolan fits better with the early stories of Batman and how Miller re-envisioned this particular section of the DC world instead of the neo-gothic revival look Burton decided on.

I actually liked the Batmobile in its tank-like form. Again, it was a nice acknowledgement of the Batmobile Frank Miller designed for The Dark Knight Returns when Batman and his new Robin sidekick went to go toe-to-toe with the Mutant Gang ans its leader. I also like the fact that the Nolan Batmobile looks like something that might just be in development in some advance weapons research lab somewhere. Again, Batman Begins goes away from prettying up the surroundings and the things inhabiting it and went for the utilitarian look. If I was a criminal and saw that Batmobile barrelling down on me I think I'd be having deer caught in the headlights look more than the winged-versions of the Burton and Schumacher films.
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[Ezekiel]

Batman Begins was my favorite of the Batman series by far. I was a little hesitant with the whole Heath Ledger as Joker thing, but I have faith, and I'm sure he will be great. I really can't wait for this movie to come out.
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[Tullaryx]

Here's the first teaser trailer for The Dark Knight. Unfortunately, it's in Quicktime HD. So for some they may need to download the latest QT. There's not much to see other than a quick flash of who might be The Joker right at the end as the Batman symbol begins to shatter and fall apart.

The Dark Knight teaser trailer
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[Ezekiel]

Isn't the Joker supposed to be very lean and tall, and freakishly strong? That's what i was told by like....a 40 year old super dork, so I believe it. That just makes Nicholson's attempt even worse. I think they choose him just because of the way he smiles, honestly. And I hope Cillian Murphy returns, I actually liked Scarecrow.
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[Tony Stark]

[Yohn]

I just recently got around to seeing Batman Begins, and I was really, really, impressed. I'm so looking forward to this movie and wish it was coming out sooner!
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"And as the lion slaughters man, I am the wolf and you're the lamb." ~Blind Guardian

[Ezekiel]

Well, I'm not angry about his performance. Even before I knew anything about the Batman "facts", I just never liked his performance. Not much else to say about it.
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[Tullaryx]

Here's some new images from the set of The Dark Knight. It looks like Nolan's still able to keep the balance between realis, and the comic book on a fine razor's edge. This movie should show whether he can keep the Batman villains from becoming too ridiculous in look and style but without losing the familiarity of the characters.

We have shots of Heath Ledger as the Joker, Bale back as Batman/Bruce Wayne and what looks like the command center for Batman's lair. I'm going to assume it's either inside Wayne Manor or the Batcave sure has seen some major repairs and upgrades.


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[Ezekiel]

Oooh, thanks for the screens! I really do like Ledger as the Joker. He looks pretty cool.
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[Nimble Jack]

It is very much a possibility that the Bat Cave saw some renovations. They did rebuild Wayne Manor so it could be that they decided to upgrade it a tad. I think it would be odd that they would do that, but it does make sense from a utilitarian standpoint. All the work would have had to be done by Bruce or Alfred though, which somewhat narrows my ability to believe the room being built. Not that I don't have complete faith in Alfred's ability to make/rig/construct/invent anything, it's just that it would be difficult to do with only two people.

And I may only be being stupid, but Tul your link for the movie trailer sends me to a 'Rent-A-Clown' page.
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"Not everything is possible, but there are an infinite number of possibilities."