Heath Ledger boring and gloomy in The Dark Knight

July 22, 2008 By 17 Comments


It seems that no matter where you turn all you hear about is the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, many of us have been hailing the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker a success.

Heath Ledger boring and gloomy in The Dark Knight

However; there is one movie critic who says that Ledger’s performance in the blockbuster movie is boring and gloomy. Jonathan Ross had told his BBC Radio 2 listeners that “It has some good bits, but long periods are boring – it’s all a bit gloomy and self-serious.”

Ross says that Christopher Nolan’s movie fails to live up to all the hype. Ross also said that it is Heath Ledger’s untimely death and not the quality of his performance, which is behind calls for the late actor to get a posthumous Oscar.

He reckons that if Ledger did not die so tragically then people would not be making as much of a fuss. Ross believes that Ledgers performance in Brokeback Mountain was much better.

In other news, it looks as though a Batman 3 villain has already been decided. Also see all other The Dark Knight news here

Related Stories

  1. Review of The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger worthy of best supporting Oscar Review of The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger worthy of best supporting Oscar
  2. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight is helping Box Office sales Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight is helping Box Office sales
  3. Heath Ledger’s Dark Knight Joker better than Jack Nicholson’s Heath Ledger’s Dark Knight Joker better than Jack Nicholson’s
  4. Is Heath Ledger worthy of an Oscar? Is Heath Ledger worthy of an Oscar?
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,
  • ralph

    worst critic ever! Just trying to go against the grain.

  • mary

    Didnt know he was a movie critic…should stick with what he does
    best…irrating the hell out of people..!! This film had rave reviews last year welll before Heath Ledger died. My advice is, GO SEE IT, ITS AWESOME!!!

  • Grant

    Awww… sounds like someone is desperately looking for attention and the best way he could think to get it was to insult what even the brain-dead could likely perceive was an exceptional performance.

  • Brianna

    OMG. Heath Ledgers last performance was brillant. Can we see the critic doing that? nope. Yeah so what if he is getting commended for his last performance “apparently because of his death”. He deserves it!!. He was a legend in the movie and without him that movie wouldn’t be so good.
    People aren’t saying “go see it cos its heath ledgers last performance”
    People are saying “go see it heath ledger is brillant in it”.
    Maybe a few people entered the movie for it was his last performance, but they would’ve come out screaming about how great his last performance was.
    Seriously, some critics are looking for attention and the media are looking for a story. Heath Ledger should be remembered for being a great actor, not for his death and that is what the critic is doing.
    Maybe people are hyped too see it because of his death, but why are people going back for more, why are they raving about his performance, because he was amazing and AUSTRALIAN you bastard.

    He is an inspirtation too me and he went to far that he may have loss himself on the way, but his last performance is something the critic could never do and nobody else could do.

    So stuff you, critics whom think it’s ideal too insult my idol, an australian icon, a man who was so brillantly good at acting.

    Australia rocks and you suck man for being such a ****** D*******.
    so many words can discribe how i feel about that loser. Every curse under the sun.

    Love you heath ledger.

    Brianna.

  • Brianna

    So help me, if you please.If you insult the brillantcy of a mans last performance. I will hunt you down and shove a pole up your ass.

    His family does not need critics saying its because of his death that he is getting rave reviews because his performance was genuis. And the reason the dark knight is getting alot of attention is because the first was good and people want too see it agian and then people confirm how great the “JOKER” is “not heath” in the movie.

  • Babu Sriram V

    Though I may agree that Heath Ledger’s acting in the Batman movie was not as great as his is in Brokeback Mountain. But Heath Ledger alone lifts up the movie to such a standard that itself is very commendable. His antics and screen presence is mind blowing and is definitely worth an OSCAR or even a BAFTA nomination. Its time someone took notice of these kinda movies for awards and who better to start it than Heath Ledger. This is a role to be remembered.

  • Chris mankey

    I agree that this movie is boring and Heath ledger wasn’t anything special!

  • i hate chris mankey

    What? wait What? you thought that movie was boring? One of the most action packed movies of the decade was boring? do you have a pulse?

    So while everyone else, that was sitting in the sold out theater, was sitting at the edge of thier seats, applauding whenever they got the oppurtunity, and then paying to go see it again and again and again, you were bored? I know your kidding and it seems to be a pretty good joke.

    I dont even want to debate what you said about Heath Ledger because that does not even deserve a response. However, I figure as someone trained in cinematography, I might be able to talk some sense into you. If you can name one scene that Heath Ledger could be recognized as Heath Ledger and not as the Joker? you cant f****** name one. He delved so deep into character, a method acting performance that has never, and i mean never been matched.

    you are truly an ass and unlike the critic you are not getting paid for what you said

  • flappo

    i agree with wossy

    boring , pretentious load of twaddle

    i preferred iron man , that didn’t take itself too seriously plus downey is a REAL actor of note

    comparing ledger to brando ?? hahah , now that IS funny

  • ARTHUR

    I LOVED THIS MOVIE HEATH LEDGER DID A GREAT JOB ON PLAYING THE JOKER IN THIS MOVIE PLENTY OF ACTION AND BATMAN WAS GREAT IN PLAYING HIS ROLE I HOPE THIS MOVIE MAKES 500 MILLION DOLLARS AROUND THE WORLD.

  • CW

    The reason I know that Ledger’s performance was amazing (and not just causing a fuss because he passed away) is because when I watched The Dark Knight, I forgot for most of the movie that it was Heath Ledger. He wasn’t Heath in this movie, he WAS The Joker. This holds true for every single one of the actors in this movie, just Heath’s performance was most notable. I forgot Bale was Bale, because he is such a good Batman AND Bruce Wayne, which isn’t easy to pull off. Also, Gary Oldman WAS Gordon. That’s why it’s such a good movie, because the writing (and performances) of the characters are so superb that you forget you are watching a movie…unless you are a critic who can’t just sit down and enjoy an amazing movie.

  • laura

    the dark knight was such a stupid film i went with 8 other ppl and we all got confused with the story line heath ledger is a brilliant actor and his bits were the only gd bits in the film he deserves to be remembered 4 dat but the film should be forgotton it was a rubbish film that was too long and i nearly fell asleep i was sooooo bored.

  • kady

    omg! that movie was fucking STUPID!!!!!! heath ledger was okay…its not very hard to be a freak with the right hair and makeup. I dont mean that disrespectfully either, i like heath as much as the next person but seriously that movie just pissed me off because who wants to sit there for almost 3 hours and listen to the most boring, useless plot. Oh the joker is killing someone! Oh here comes batman to do some of his sweet kung fu…someone died? again? here comes batman and his kung fu! IT WAS SO FUCKING LAME!! AND I LOST MY FUCKING CELL PHONE BECAUSE I TRIED TO FALL ASLEEP AND IT FELL OUT OF MY POCKET. THE DARK KNIGHT SUCKS MAJOR COCK

  • W. coli

    Ledger sure plays his role with dedication, but it just isn’t The Joker!
    The Joker is almost continuously and openly a very happy guy! Laughing at everything, and not being a gloomy menace all the time. The Joker is a happy menace, with snakes up his sleeves and acid-spouting flowers on his coat.
    Nolan probably caused this boring Joker, with his tendency to explain as much as possible and to make everything, even insane lunatics, realistic. C’mon, the Joker having to paint himself white…? Now that’s ridiculous!

  • Moosey

    This critic (If he dares call himself that)
    Is an attention seeking moron.

    That performance was one of the best I have seen in a long time.
    Is he dark and gloomy? Sure maybe but isn’t that NOLAN’s whole goal? His Batman is no where near the Brightly coloured painful batmans that plauged our screens through the 80′s and 90′s.. Ok so the first one might of been ok but come one.

    I never fouond myself looking at Heath as Heath and enoyed everything about the movie.
    The only think that I could complain about was Batmans lisp. I mean I know Bale has a slight one but Batman should not have a lisp.. right? Unless they want to humanise him a little more.

    Come on Kady. I think you are a little hurt cuz of the lost phone thing.

  • Klown

    I agree with Kady, Chris Mankey, and W. coli. The movie is so boring, almost as boring as Batman Begins. I had to keep reminding myself that I was actually watching a Batman movie. I fell asleep during it. All it was was a bunch of gunfire and explosions. After I left the theater my mind went to other things, which is a sign that the movie doesn’t stick with you. And Heath Ledger? His performance was way overrated, and above all, he just isn’t the Joker. The Joker is supposed to be a happy guy who uses devices and toys, but at the same time is evil, kind of all blended together. And he is supposed to be all white from a dip in a vat of chemicals. Ledger’s Joker applied white makeup to his face, which is just the opposite, and looks like total shit. Now that is ridiculous! He seldom laughed, and was way too serious all the time. The Joker in this movie asks the question, “Why so serious?” He should ask himself his own question! Why so serious? It’s so easy to portray Heath’s Joker compared to other Jokers. For one thing, you don’t need to work on your laugh, because you’ll seldom use it anyway. ANYBODY can imitate Ledger. That’s why you see so many videos on YouTube of people doing Ledger imitations. Let’s see people try Cesar Romero. Nobody out there has the fucking BALLS to do it. NOBODY!!! It’s too hard. People take the fucking easy way out. Heath’s Joker smile is ridiculous as well. The smile is the Joker’s trademark (besides the laugh). Ledger has a fuckload of red makeup smeared in a straight line across his mouth, and what’s with the scars? Don’t let anybody cram that stupid comic book shit down your throat either, saying that Ledger is closest to the comics. He simply isn’t the Joker!!!!! He’s boring!!!!!!!

  • furQ

    Ross was spot on.

    The only things more pretentious than the movie are the esoteric fanboy justifications for liking it. Seriously, just admit that you have an opinion, and that the reviewer doesn’t agree with it.

    @Moosey: “That performance was one of the best I have seen in a long time.”

    You need to watch better movies.