I'm Just Jok(er)ing:

I’m Just Jok(er)ing

It’s no surprise that I’m a Batman nut. I just love everything about The Dark Knight and the grim world he occupies. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important is not the good ol’ Bat himself, but his pale faced, green haired, ever so smiley nemesis. Yes, I’m of course talking about that sinister stand up, the clown prince of crime, The Joker. 

Over the years, several men have all stepped in to the purple suit and became The Joker. In this article, I’m going to explore the main four actor’s portrayal of the mad man himself. I’ll take a look at their performances and in the end conclude on who my favourite Joker is. The performances I will be looking at will be Cesar Romero from the original 60s series and the 1966 film. Jack Nicholson’s from Tim Burton’s Batman, Heath Ledger for his performance in Nolan’s reboot and Mark Hammil, who leant his voice to the Batman cartoon and the Arkham Asylum game. So let’s not fool around, we’re not Joking around here, OK that was the last bad joke. I promise. 

What a better place to start than the beginning? And the first clown prince of crime on our list a Mr Cesar Romero. Cesar played the Joker opposite Adam West’s Batman in the TV show and the 1966 movie. Batman then was a completely different beast than what it is today. Today Batman is a dark portrayal of vengeance and retribution. Quite different to the 1966 camp crime fighting spree. Different doesn’t always mean worse though and despite it being seriously OTT and ridiculously farcical the original Batman is exactly what it’s mean to be: fun. 

Cesar Romero plays The Joker as a camp mastermind with an even camper laugh. He would often spout English catchphrases (pip pip to you sir?) and let out a high pitch giggle afterwards. Cesar’s Joker doesn’t strike fear in to the hearts of many or chill the bones of the masses, but just like the TV show it works and its fun. 

Next we have Jack Nicholson, Jack donned the famous smile in Tim Burton’s 1989 revisioning of Batman. Tim Burton’s Batman was the start of how the mainstream audience will perceive Batman in the future, it was dark, it was bleak and it was great. On top of this great world that Burton created, he populated it with a menace. A menace with a wicked smile. The Joker. Who better to play this new twisted Joker than Hollywood big hitter and local crazy man Jack Nicholson? 

Jack’s Joker was as twisted and sinister as you could get. He stole every scene he was in and The Joker oozed evil. However, he also kept a little bit of camp in there. Maybe a homage to Cesar or maybe Jack realised that even though The Joker is evil, he still has a sense of humour. From his callus killing to his hilarious hi-jinks (you wouldn’t hit a man with glasses wudya?) Jack’s Joker was a perfect fit for Burton’s revisioned and revolutionary Batman. 

Talking about the perfect fit for a revisioned Batman, we move to Heath Ledger. Everybody on the planet knows the controversy of Heath Ledger and the joker so I’m not going to dwell on the events surrounding the performance, but the performance itself. And what a performance it was. An Oscar winning one I may add. Whereas Jack was the perfect balance of camp and evil Heath took it to the edge. 

Heath immersed himself in the role so much that it’s hard to think of it being Heath on screen and not The Joker himself. The best thing about Heath’s performance was there was method in its madness. Everything Heath’s Joker did made sense in that world, every horrifying smile to every blood curling lick of the lips. Did it deserve the Oscar? Probably? Do I think he would have got the Oscar if he was still alive? Probably not. But that’s a different article for a different day. 

Lastly we move on to Mark Hamill. Mark Hamill has never played a live action version of The Joker, but too many he is the true voice of the clown prince of crime. Mark has voiced the animated version of The Joker for years and couldn’t do a better job. Maybe a shock choice at first, Mark took reign of one of the most sought after characters in history and made it his own. Mark’s Joker is simply sinister. For a TV show aimed at kids, Marks Joker is voiced beautifully. 

That brings us to the end, my friends. I could go into much more detail on every performance as The Joker is only behind Buzz Lightyear as my favourite on screen character. The great thing about a great character like the Joker is how vast of a character he is. Because he is such a vast character, an actor’s performance of him can be completely different, but still great. That’s what I believe all these four performances are. Great. Each performance is totally different from the other but captures the Clown Prince at his wickedly best. 

That said, I do have a favourite. And the winner is? Jack Nicholson. Jack’s Joker is not only my favourite Joker performance, but one of my all time favourite performances by an actor. Jack juggles Joker’s many attributes perfectly. Whereas Cesar embellishes The Joker’s camper side, and Heath captures The Joker at his most manic, Jack balances both with utter ease. He is truly the best of both worlds, and the ultimate Gotham Madman. 

Enjoy this article? Think I’m pulling your leg? Feel free to comment below. All feedback is good feedback. Until next time my friends, keep smiling.

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Daniel Morris