DISCUSSION - Tom Hardy's "Bane" vs Heath Ledger's "The Joker"

[Heyman]

DISCUSSION - Tom Hardy's "Bane" vs Heath Ledger's "The Joker"

Just wondering as to which villain you guys enjoyed more? Or which actor you think did a better job of portraying the character?

You know honestly? As much praise as Heath Ledger got for playing The Joker, I actually think Tom Hardy's Bane character was right up there.

Hardy did an awesome job with Bane in my opinion......and while I don't think his performance was as good as Ledger's (I.e. one of the greatest acting performances of all-time), I don't think it was too far off.

For me personally, I enjoyed Hardy's "Bane" character more than Ledger's "Joker.". Given the mask her had to wear, combined with Bane's character being far more ambiguous and less known than The Joker's (atleast to main stream), I think Hardy did a superb job of rising up to the challenge.

[CSL]

Hardy did an awesome job with Bane in my opinion......and while I don't think his performance was as good as Ledger's (I.e. one of the greatest acting performances of all-time), I don't think it was too far off.

basically this except the "too far off" part. I enjoyed Hardy, thought he was great etc and I've been a Tom Hardy mark for some time so it was good to see him get this kind of "worldwide recognition" and maybe even would make me want to lean towards him but everytime I see TDK with Joker, I still kind of shake my head in a "just wow" kind of way. And I couldn't care less about comic books, Ledger as Joker is just spectacular.

[JimmyMess]

Yeah as epic as Bane was, when you saw Ledger as the Joker you really got the "that's what he'd be like if he was real" feeling.

[Kalyx triaD]

I will give an essay later.

[Krimzon7]

Heyman this is an amazing question. So amazing that I have to puss right out with my answer: I don't know! Jesus, Heath Ledger was so awesome as the Joker, he literally retired the character in his death for me. There would need to be a lengthy break before I could even tolerate another person stepping into that purple suit.

Bane was so menacing though! Jesus, every scene he was in, somebody got fucked up. He paralyzed a man in fear by placing his pinky on his neck. He fucked Bruce Wayne up while talking shit to him! Tom Hardy stepped into the camera frame and said to the world 'Heath's Joker was amazing, but you're about to every iota out of me and throughout the whole movie...YOU CAN ONLY SEE MY EYES!'.

[Krimzon7]

In summation, I went into TDKR with a mindset that I would not even mention the 'J' word just to be fair to this movie.

I think that it is best to keep that train of thought.

[Corporate CockSnogger]

Joker for me. I much preferred The Dark Knight to The Dark Knight Rises in general.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ledger's Joker.

A bit biased since I like the Joker character a lot more than the Bane character but Ledger really captured the crazy element of the Joker when usually the cartoons or Nicholson focused on the more comedic aspect of the character.

Both films were great and Hardy did a great job showing off the menacing style of the Bane character and as a legit threat to Batman's well being more than the Joker.

[XCaliber]

Heath Ledger's potrayal of The Joker creeped me out a little which is why in part I prefer his performance he wasn't as over the top like most incarnations of him as for Tom Hardy as Bane he was very good but not great.

[dronepool]

Bane was awesome but Heath Ledger's "The Joker" was flawless.

[Skippord]

Bane

I prefer The Dark Knight Rises to the Dark Knight and a lot of it is because I think Bane is my favorite portrayal of a comic book character I've seen.

[Nowhere Man]

Mark Hamill's Joker.

But, given the two, I'm probably gonna have to go with Ledger's Joker. It's a really tough call, since Bane is such an imposing villain, and honestly does way more damage to Gotham City than the Joker could ever hope to do. That whole line about how "when the chips are down, these 'civilized' people will eat each other" comes to life in Bane's Gotham, as he's able to turn half the city into a lynch mob against the other half of the city. And Bane absolutely destroyed Batman in virtually every way during their first encounter.

Buuuuuuut in terms of being an engaging and entertaining character, the Joker was just so much more interesting. He was sleazy and frightening, genuinely hilarious at points, but also really kind of pathetic. He's kind of like Tyler Durden meets the main guy from Falling Down taken to a supervillain extreme; just a bitter, spiteful man who can only derive joy from making everyone else as miserable as he is. And the fact that he's able to push Batman to such extremes, do that much damage to him on a mental and philosophical level, without the massive ninja cult and whatnot that Ra's al Ghul and Bane had, is pretty impressive.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I didn't like Bane's artificial voice. It was very hard to understand at times. Made him sound like an old timey prospector. They could have done a better job with it.

[Kalyx triaD]

Before I get into this I just need to drop a disclaimer:

Heath Ledger's Joker is one of the greatest performances of anything I ever seen. If I were to compare characters using that metric than Hardy, with his minimal screen time and face covered up, just doesn't stand a chance. So I won't even say what's already been said. What I will do is compare their ability to breathe life into these characters in the way we nerdies appreciate and how they affected their movie.
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Both characters were absolutely terrifying, but it different ways. Heath's Joker, despite the valid criticism of being nearly omniscient (he was never bested mentally and for all accounts 'won') was an unpredictable mad man. You never knew if his point would be made with your death or a bad joke. But there was always a point, and I couldn't help but feel that his ultimate thesis was how One Bad Day could make the greatest of us fall. Heath played a deranged individual who was probably a smart guy once upon a time. He dressed sharp and knew what to say to unnerve whoever he needed to bring down to his level.

Any attempt at figuring him out was met with mystery and possible lies about his origin - ah, but he was telling us his origin the whole time. The specifics of the story was not important, but his point: He had one bad day and became the Joker. Heath had in his face a man who was fed up with order and being part of the plan. His very mannerisms a subversion of people. At once a strung out heroine addict and a crippled, ex-athlete made cynical by the end of his run. And Heath nailed the Joker's philosophy of One Bad Day in that sense. We all knew the Joker was crazy in his methods, but always had that point.

What he brings to the movie was this counter-point to Batman, who also had one bad day. Bruce was at the top of his game, just defeating a mad doctor and his eco-terrorist boss. Gordon tells him about a criminal clown and what's the worst that can happen? Heath made us believe that One Bad Day could make us at least a little like him. And with his end to his life and the methods he used to become the Joker, maybe he himself believed too much...
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Then there's Bane. Bane had One Bad Life. He isn't defined by any one event, but was conditioned to be what he is. Tom Hardy had a challenge here, acting behind a mask, using his eyes and physicality to sell a role. What we got is a super-terrorist who doesn't go down with a few punches. We all remember Bane as the guy who broke the Bat. We especially knew he did more than that famous panel in Knightfall. He broke him down slowly, making it that much easier to overpower him. Alfred's commentary on Bane in the cave said it all, he was conviction incarnate. His beliefs matched by strength in a way Batman could almost appreciate.

And then when he talks... This guy sounds like a social studies professor. I don't know whether to run or have a chat with him. I would love for him to talk about the real world's political issues. He was on point, and much harder to disagree with than Joker. His methods weren't as unpredictable as Joker, just terrifyingly efficient. Joker did a lot with "barrels of gasoline" but Bane had capital. An army. The backing of another eco-terrorist and the loyalty of zealots with guns. Hardy's presence only helped matters. Every time he was on screen somebody got the business. And with the brass of a seasoned pro-wrestler he doesn't shy away from the spotlight, he appears front and center to tell us why.

What he brings to the movie was that Jaws feeling of shit going down when he's on the screen. He had less screen time than Joker, but none of that was wasted. Somebody died, or was humbled - and none more than the first bout with Batman. He came in confident that in a few moments he was going to casually let Bruce know he knew his secret, has his weapons, and will break him. And that ninja garbage will not do a thing for him. He didn't just have counter-attacks for Batman, but lectures. Hardy always seemed like he was teaching the Batman about pain and despair.
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I love these actors and what they did. They pretty much made the movie as villains can do. Heath showed us a killer clown who's not so far off the deep end as we wanna believe, and will invite us in with One Bad Day. Hardy's Bane showed how belief in anything can mold a man into a nigh-unstoppable monster who will turn your world upside down for reasons almost agreeable. And so I judge:

Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow. Who is the only villain to survive the trilogy in tact. That is all.

[The Condor]

Prefer the Joker. Bane was discarded by Catwomen on the Bat-Bike which may have been worse than Scarecrow being overwhelmed by Katie Holmes and a taser. The character was boring, and you always knew what was coming with him. The Joker character with Ledger was more unpredictable when you first watched the film (case in point, the scene with the magic pencil). Bane had the same philosophy as the villain in the first movie but just used his brawn. Joker all the way.

[Kalyx triaD]

I think it says a lot that Bane had to be taken out by a canon at close range.

[The Condor]

Not when you're looking forward to an epic fight scene between him and Batman. It was a let down.

[Kalyx triaD]

They had a fight. Two. Bane took one Batman took the other. You just wanted the movie to swerve into this UFC thing. Story first.

[The Condor]

No everyone wants a climactic fight. it seemed to be ended the wrong way. All for story but not the execution to finish it.

[Kalyx triaD]

I can see how it seemed like rushed end to somebody Bane. At least let fall off a building or something.

[Rammsteinmad]

Can't believe people seriously need to debate this! Ledger's Joker is in a league all of it's own. I was one of the people who shamefully doubted Ledger was the right guy for this role when it was first announced, but the guy completely owned that role, and more.

I'm probably one of the only people on the planet who didn't think too much of The Dark Knight Rises. It was a good movie, but nowhere near lived up to the impossible amount of hype it had to live up to. And with that said, whilst Hardy did a great job as Bane, there really wasn't anything there that stood out above generic-movie-bad-guy levels.

[YOUR Hero]

one day I'll watch the Dark Knight Rises

[Blitz]

I don't think I can choose. Such different characters, such different performances. Bane is possibly my favourite comic character ever, definitely my favourite villain ever. And Hardy just killed it. I'm in the minority who think the voice was dead on perfect. His physicality was perfect. That's a tough character to translate to screen well, and this was as good as it gets.

But that Heath performance is just redefining, on so many levels. While watching DKR, I thought to myself "Tom Hardy is nailing this". I never thought that in DK, because I didn't even think of him as Heath Ledger.

I will say this though. Aaron Eckhart as Two Face deserves just as much praise as both these other guys. I feel bad that Harvey had to share the same movie as Joker, because he was straight overshadowed, unjustly.

[Rammsteinmad]

Liam Neeson was good as everything.

Should have probably just done a thread to rank all the Batman movie villains or something.

[Corporate CockSnogger]

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