TDK: 1st Trailer Review Author: Jett Saturday, December 15, 2007 So I get up really early Friday morning like I always do. Walk the dog, go to the gym, and then do a little BOF‘n. As I settled down in my office to work on the website, I find my inbox full of email alerting me that someone had filmed the new THE DARK KNIGHT trailer in a theater and had leaked it online. Now you know BOF‘s policy when it comes to this sort of stuff, right? While I certainly wouldn’t post a bootleg version of the trailer on the site, that doesn’t mean that I won’t watch the damn thing! So I did. And… UN-F'n-BELIEVABLE. I even woke my wife up and said, "You have GOT to see this!" First up, anyone still complaining that Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker and/or whining about the “look” of TDK Joker needs to stifle it right now. You are starting to look silly. You know, they say crow doesn’t taste that bad with a lot of salsa on top. ;) Anybody who has seen the new trailer can not tell me that Ledger hasn’t just disappeared into “The Joker.” This was something that I longed campaigned for and why I was against the casting of a “name” for The Joker. While Heath certainly isn’t an unknown, he’s not one of those actors who is “himself” in every single movie he makes -- you know those guys I'm talking about. Hey, I'll admit it. I myself have had to taste a small bit of the crow for having said "Heath Ledger? WTF?!" when I first heard of his casting back in July of '06. Brilliant casting Nolan! Heath is non-existent in this film. Another thing that I “suggested” when it came to The Joker was that he needs to be despised, not beloved. Hell, I know we Bat-Fans love The Joker, but he's the damn villain, not the hero! After watching the trailer, I’m certainly not worried about that any longer either! Methinks that we’ll be cheering for The Batman (Christian Bale) to stomp his purple-suited, green-haired ass into the ground! Speaking of Batman, love the shot of Batman overlooking Gotham high atop a Gotham building and the Batpod looks to be one sweet ride. Then there’s that one shot of Bale screaming “WHERE IS HE” which was very reminiscent of the “SWEAR TO ME!” scene in BEGINS. Don’t worry about the trailer being very Joker heavy, OK? It’s The Joker for cripe’s sakes and they're selling him to the mainstream audience. Batman’s the star of THE DARK KNIGHT, I promise. Anyway, here’s a few things that I REALLY loved about The Joker in the trailer: * The voice-over at the beginning. “See, to them, you’re just a freak…like ME!” Obviously a nod to Gordon's "Escalation" speech to Batman in BEGINS. * The first full shot of him sitting in the jail cell (“Evening…COMMISSIONER!”), looking up scary as hell, and smacking his lips. * Grabbing Loeb (I think) and asking “Why so SERIOUS?!” * “Let’s put a SMILE on that FACE!” * Ledger’s “Joker” -- the voice, laugh, everything -- is, well, disturbing. I subsequently saw the trailer on the big screen and that the bootleg doesn’t hold a candle to seeing it up on the big screen. And the bootleg blew me away -- what does that tell you?! Do yourself a favor and see it at a theater -- you will not regret it. From the looks of things, Chris Nolan and Ledger have created a truly monstrous and terrifying version of this classic character that is still very loyal to the Batman mythos. All of the concerns about The Joker’s appearance, make-up or perma-white, cut smile, etc. are simply non-issues now. Nolan has given us, without a doubt, “The Joker.” "Jett" is the founder and Editor in Chief of BATMAN ON FILM."