Rorschach or The Joker

This is a video inspired by a comment by Massawyrm of AICN
Check out my blog http://www.daftbot.com

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Watchmen
• The Joker
• The Dark Knight
• Heath Ledger
• Jackie Earle Haley
• Rorschach
• Movies
• Movie Reviews
• Questions
• Zach Snyder

[rhysmyth]

RORSCHACH! he's one of the most AMAZINGLY deep characters in any graphic novel I have ever read.

[daftbottv]

that's not what i'm asking at all. Did you listen to the question? It's who gave the better performance.

[JasonVoorhees6661]

its late commenting since most of these PPLare not answering your question, it has to be heath ledgers joker, what I loved about heaths joker is he brings a precence to the movie. Because he was only in it under 50 minutes, but you know he could pop out at any time his ability to completly control the crime wave of gotham city that no one would grass joker to batman, when he captured a fake batman and he went so angry when he wanted the fake batman to look at him you felt for the fake batman

[daftbottv]

@JasonVoorhees6661 yeah it's a little late...

I would say Rorschach isn't in Watchmen as much as everyone else, and it's an ensamble cast and he's still the most powerful character in the entire film.

Having to play off all those people and he's the one people remember is a big deal as well.

[xinsanity10000]

sorry, had to add:

it's also sort of unfair to compare the two performances. The Joker has a very outspoken insanity, while Rorschach is a bit less...flamboyant. This gave Ledger a lot more to work with as far as performance. Haley (although staying true to the character) was given less opportunity to really perform.

[Ryunosuke18]

I think Rorscharch owns but the Joker is way better ( in my opinion )

[JasonVoorhees6661]

yea HAHA they have about the same amount of air time, I think they are both are oscor winner performences because the way they present their characters makes you love them even more, Rorschach in 2 scenes summs up how great he was when he could not say anything to the child killer because he was so upset and he just killed him which shows his emotional side to the character, and when he says I am not stuck in here with you, you are not stuck in here with me.

[Regenmacher175]

I don't think the joker is 2-dimensional. look at the Killing Joke for example.

[stephantom]

One final thought:

For acting, you can compare anybody, but if you're interested in comparing characters and portrayals of certain types, Rorschach has more in common with Batman than the Joker (even moreso when he was younger and in his words "soft on criminals"). As far as comparing The Joker with a Watchmen character... what about the Comedian? Basically the same worldview, just manifested differently. Blake would love the Joker's rant about "schemers."

[stephantom]

Sorry to keep commenting, but I find this discussion, and the distinctions that should be made in it, very interesting.

As far as the "innovation" and "straight off the page" argument goes, it's a bad comparison because, traditionally, the character of the Joker is a 2-dimensional villain. Ledger and the director gave him psychological depth and realism. Rorschach on the other hand... has always been a fully realized, three-dimensional character, even in the graphic novel.

[stephantom]

Watchmen may have followed the comic book slides too closely in places and failed to get the pacing right or to create the right tone or impact, but I don't think that it needed the kind of innovation you seem to be implying. I would not have been pleased with an "innovative interpretation of Rorschach" and I doubt many others would have either.

[Regenmacher175]

I'd have to go with Heath ledger. it's easy to play a character exactly as he is on the page. the problem with Watchmen was that the director was sticking too closely to the comic book. We all needed innovation for batman. in that sense, Heath ledger was innovative.

[stephantom]

On the other hand, Rorschach has the advantage of getting the audience on his side with his heroic last stand. It's moving.

People here seem to be commenting on which character moved them more, but that's more to do with the script/story than the acting performances.

Bottom line, both actors gave excellent performances.

[stephantom]

As many have said, it's not a fair comparison. They're extremely different characters. I don't think Ledger completely came up with the "new spin" on the Joker either, so it's not even a "play it straight" vs "innovation" thing either. Ledger was fantastic, definitely, but he had more freedom as an actor. Rorschach is very contained, but Haley made him compelling. Ledger was working with a character who embraces chaos, while Haley was working with a character who embraces a strict, absolutism.