MovieChat Forums > Batman (1989) Discussion > I thought Jack Nicholson's portrayal of ...

I thought Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker was a disappointment. Anyone else agree?


It came off as "cartoonish" and lacked the psychotic, macabre of Heath Ledger's version.

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I always thought it was cartoonish especially when he pulled out that three foot long novelty gun out of his pants.

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I think this was peak Nicholson(and this is saying A LOT) it seems like he went all out and boy did he deliver. This was the end of the 80's folks.

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She was really incredibly beautiful.

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I liked Nicholson's Joker a bit more but then I am biased as I grew up in the 90s watching Tim Burton's Batman and The Dark Knight didn't come out til I was 22 years old.

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Jack Nicholson >>>> Heath Ledger

With Ledger's performance I just saw a mixture of Brandon Lee in The Crow, and Scorpio in Dirty Harry. And that constant licking of his lips was annoying.

Nicholson brought the right balance of psychotic and camp, and I liked the different ways he killed people. For me, Nicholson remains the best Joker.

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Copy and paste from your question on Jack's page:

Nicholson's was too cartoonish and comical.

It was cartoonish and comical because that's what they were going for as it was a movie made from a comic book and done in the true sense of the form. I.E. cartoonish and comical. So he was perfect for what they were making at the time.

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No way on earth. Just no. I mean he burned a guy into a skeleton. He mutilated his girlfriend. He was going to kill everyone in the city. He killed everyone in the museum. He killed Bruce Wayne's parents. And a cartoony villain is worse than a scary villain because the scary villain you see him. The cartoony villain will get you from the back. I would rather run away from a scary villain than be attacked from the back by a funny villain. Think about it.

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No.

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