It appears as thought final negotiations are underway for Aaron Eckhart (“Paycheck”, “Erin Brockovich”, “Thank you for Smoking”) to take on the role of Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face in the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s brilliant “Batman Begins”, currently entitled “The Dark Knight”.
This is not a bad choice at all. Eckhart is known as a versatile actor, playing both protagonists and villians with equal skill. Exactly what is needed for the character of Harvey Dent and then into Two-Face.
Dent is one of Bruce Wayne’s best friends, and the District Attorney for Gotham City. In the comics, half of his face is horribly scarred by acid at a court case in which Batman is called as a witness. He sinks into depression and deep seated anger followed by insanity, directed at The Dark Knight himself, whom he believes is responsible for his accident. This leads him to take up a crininal life as the conflicted Two-Face, who makes his decisions by flipping a coin.
The way the current film is laid out, “The Dark Knight” will center on the Joker (played by Heath Ledger). One can then assume that part of the plot will include Dent’s accident and assuming the role of Two-Face in a second sequel.
I personally would’ve chosen Liev Schreiber for the role, but I think Eckhart will do a fine job as well.
February 16, 2007 at 9:50 am
uhh hey I seem to remmember a live action hollywood production of Batman that already included the enimies The Joker and Two Face among others.
What gives? Is Hollywood so uncreative that they have to re write rewrites? Are we supposed to forget that Jack Nickelson was the greatest Joker ever?
Stuff like this makes me sick. I’m ok with stuff like this being redone every generation or so, but every 10 years? give me a break.
February 16, 2007 at 10:44 am
I personally would like to forget the last 2 1/2 movies of the Burton/Shumacher ever existed.
The Tommy Lee Jones Two-Face travesty…gone. Danny Devito’s disgusting Penguin…adios. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Jim Carrey…au revoir.
Even the great, vaunted original Batman was not a masterpiece by any means. Sure, Nicholson gave an over-the-top, fantastic performance as the Joker, a part that was MADE for him (maybe a Nicholson about 10-15 years younger though), but the plot of the story was moronic, the addition of an out-of-place Kim Basinger STUPID.
Christopher Nolan’s re-imagining of the world of Batman was near GENIUS. I say ‘near’ only because the use of Katie Holmes was horrendous. Why MUST we have a female love interest in EVERY SINGLE BATMAN MOVIE!!!??? I know, I know…we’ve gotta get the female butts into the movie seats too, and they need some kind of romance to get into the blah blah blah blah blah. I get it. I hate it, but I get it. They’ve gotta put romance in the action movies to get women to go. Funny though, you don’t see too many action scenes in romantic comedies, and yet guys seem to get dragged to those in droves…
Anyway…
The Bruce Wayne of the comic books used women like…well, let’s just say he used them. All in an effort to portray his image as millionaire playboy idiot/snob. This allowed for great moments of self-loathing and depression. Bruce Wayne should be a man who hates himself. A man who becomes Batman to escape the offensive charade he has to play to keep his alter ego a secret. Bruce as Batman wants to avenge the deaths of his parents, but in order to do so, he has to defile his image.
I said all that to say that Nolan went a long way toward restoring the “sanctity” of the comics. “Batman Begins” is in the upper echelon of films from the recent comic book movie craze (right there with the brilliant Spider-man franchise).
I don’t consider the new Batman franchise a “rewrite”. I consider it GETTING IT RIGHT.
February 16, 2007 at 4:24 pm
there are so many great villians in Batman – why the need to keep rehashing joker and two face. This feels like a remake (of a remake) already.
And how can Heath Ledger (as Joker) compete against Jack Nicholson?
February 21, 2007 at 11:20 am
I really can’t agree with showmescifi more. Geeksinger is a superhero movie slut. He’ll like anything as long as it was once in a comic. And back when the first Batmovies were comming out he wasn’t so down on Divito and Jones. In fact I can remmemebr him telling me I must see them.
Geeksinger your just a Superwhore
February 21, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Actually, geeksinger just grew up a tad. Those movies were 13 years ago, when I was a 20-something and didn’t know how comic-book movies were SUPPOSED to be done.
Hey, I liked the “A-Team”, “Riptide” and “V: the series” when I was a kid. I’ve since come around a little bit through the years. I think it’s ok to update your tastes as you mature over the years, don’t you think?
As for being a comic-book superwhore….guilty.
However, recent superhero movies I DIDN’T like:
The Hulk, Elektra, err…I guess that’s about it.
By the way, Transformers looks GREAT. And next year’s Iron Man (with Robert Downey, Jr.) should be fantastic.
Here’s my top 10 list of best “comic book”/graphic novel films:
10. X-Men
9. Sin City
8. Superman II (1981)
7. Superman Returns
6. X-Men 2/X-Men 3 (tie)
5. Spiderman
4. Road to Perdition/EDIT: Insert tie with Unbreakable (thanks for the reminder Keith)
3. Spiderman 2
2. Batman Begins (2005)
1. Superman: The Movie (1978)
February 21, 2007 at 1:01 pm
“Jones as two face will be awesome!”
February 21, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Actually you missed the greatest superhero movie ever made…
Unbreakable
Its the greatest because you didn’t know it was a superhero movie going in. Way better actions, Drama and realism than any Batman Movie including Batman Begins.
February 21, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Good one. I had forgotten M. Night’s masterpiece about comics.
“Jones as two-face will be awesome”. Again, that was more than 10 years ago. Again, I’ve matured just a tad. Again, I’ve come to realize how comic book films should be made. I now consider those films a “travesty” because I know a bit more about the comics and graphic novels than I did then and how far they strayed into the realm of camp. If you’d like to criticize anyone, criticize the naive me of 15 years ago, not the naive me of today.
Have you EVER said something was great at the time, only to come back YEARS later and say “What was I thinking?”
Apparently not. Apparently, the things you loved and enjoyed as a child, teen, and young adult are the exact same things you love and enjoy today. How fortunate for you.
Did I like the original Batman and its sequels at the time? Sure, I had nothing to compare it to. Kinda like when you got your first 128k modem. You might have thought that was REALLY REALLY cool at the time. Why? Because it was new and that was what was availble, and at the time…it was sooooooo fast. Now, would you take that little beauty over your 2.4 ghz modem of ye olde 2007? What’s wrong, fickle one? If you liked it then, you should like it now?
Sad.
February 21, 2007 at 3:44 pm
oh my… someone has taken my comments a bit too seriously. The real point I am attemting to make is that I like the orginal Batman movies. I think their fine for what they are and we really don’t need all these new ones. Especially when they are going to go down the exact same roads. The first batman with Jack as the joker is still one of my favorite movies and no one else will replace him in my heart as the Joker. I do not want to see a new one made.