Who gave the better performance?

[Monty_Cristo]

in your opinion, Heath Ledger as Joker? or Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent? feel free to give your reasons why. and, yeah, it's all subjective but i'm curious.

[ThreeDays]

I thought they were equally good. Ledger might tend to stand out more (deservedly so) because of the nature of his role, but I thought both performances were excellent.

I was especially impressed with Eckhart once Harvey was scarred. His anguish and despair were convincing. I really believed I'd watched a good-hearted, optimistic man transition into a grief-stricken, broken one raging at the world over his unfair loss.

[$5 Milkshake]

They were both amazing, I cant say who I liked more. They were pretty equal in their awesomeness.

[Grenouille]

I voted for Heath as the Joker.

Eckhart was tremendous in his role. However, Ledger’s role is one that people will remember the most from the film and will most likely be the legacy of the film.

[joe27]

Ledger was better in my opinion.

I'm a fan of Aaron Eckhart, and knew he would probably be pretty good. And I have no complaints about his performance, but the script did most of the work for him. Starts off good, tragedy occurs, becomes a monster. Any decent actor could make that work, assuming the script it good. So there was nothing really surprising about his performance.

Whereas the actor had to bring so much more to the Joker role. Ledger had to make that character interesting without the luxury of an arc or without coming across like a second rate Jack Nicholson.

[Karl O'Neill]

Both were amazing. heck I though the whole cast knocked it out of the park.

[Cornelius Stirk]

Heath as Joker, though Eckhart may have had the tougher role to pull off.

[JohnRD]

Eckhart did an awesome job, completely restored credibility as far as the movies go after that abortion of a "performance" by Tommy Lee Jones. He was an excellent choice, and I find myself hoping he isn't dead and makes a return. That being said, as good as the cast was, Heath really capped the whole thing off in my opinion. I think Heath really transcended the genre, and hopefully, this will be remembered as one of the finest performances in cinema history.

[Augusto]

Heath Ledger as Joker. Undoubtedly.

http://myholes.co.uk/images/uploads/thumbs/thumb_batmanbegins.jpg

[fred10]

Heath as Joker, though Eckhart may have had the tougher role to pull off.

Agreed. Joker's character is not very conflicted. It's relatively easy to pull that off. However, Heath did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of Joker's madness, and why Joker loves Batman.

Harvey Dent is a more complicated character. However, his role was exceptionally well-written IMO. It had to be. His character was the basis for the theme of the movie (i.e. The Dark Knight / White Knight comparisons made throughout). You could have handed that script to any no-talent actor, and if they had never moved and spoken the words in a monotone, it still would have been passable (I exaggerate, but you get my meaning.. the script was great.). I'm not saying that Eckart is a bad actor at all. He's a decent actor. That script in the hands of a decent actor, makes the decent actor look brilliant.

[Xybernauts]

I agree, Eckart was good, but Heath was way better. I wonder if my opinion would be differant if Eckart got more screen time as Two-Face.

[Jim Thompson]

I'm going to go with they were both equally good. Don't get me wrong, I think Heath's performance is deserving of all the Oscar talk and kudos he's receiving, but Eckhart's performance was wonderful, too. His slow fall into becoming Two-Face started well before his face was disfigured, and he played that well. Truly, this was the first time I think Two-Face was portrayed as the magnificent Batman villain he truly is, and I think a lot of that credit has to go to Eckhart.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Portia DeRossi.

[Nefarius]

Well both have a good script to help them.While Ledger had a more colorfull performance(his eyes and the play with the tongue were the little details that makes his Joker have a personality.)i love Eckhart's role more.It was the first time after B:TAS that i felt sorry for Two-Face.Eckart's Dent is even slightly better than Richard Moll's Two-face from TAS.

[InfiniteCombo]

I'm going with Heath. I didn't like Harvey/Two-Face's rationalizing of his situation. Gordon screams he was trying to fight the mob, and Harvey says "you wouldn't try to justify it if you knew what I had to go through." Its like look asshole we all had to make sacrifices because of the Joker and how horrible this city is. One girlfriend dying doesn't make you a martyr you ass. Harvey was just too weak willed for me. He was already going overboard before his scabs and g/f dying, with Schiff in the warehouse.

I didn't feel bad for Harvey, and he wanted us to. I did enjoy the Joker's madness, which he wanted us to.

[Vidocq]

They were Both equally good. You really felt Dent's transformation through the Film, his conviction, his desperation, his transformation Everything about his performance was awesome..
And Heath was Clock Work Orange Awesome (And thats real Awesome)

I got to say, the only reason why the Joker overshadowed Dent and Batman is because of his demise and this being his last role (Oh you know is true).

[AlistairCrane]

I got to say, the only reason why the Joker overshadowed Dent and Batman is because of his demise and this being his last role (Oh you know is true).

No, it's because the Joker is a much more visceral character than Harvey. Even as Two-Face, Harvey is a "quieter" character, so it's that simple distinction that's given Heath the advantage.

[Ult. Fireboy]

I thought that Heath Ledger acted the best. Two Face was great too, though.

[Augusto]

Portia DeRossi.

What? I guess I miss her in the movie... where? when?

[Damiean Dark]

Ledger created a completely new take on a classic character and eckhart just rehashed a mix of his black dahlia and thank you for smoking personas to create harvey. i really dont understand the praise he gets in TDK he looks the part and thats about it he has no bite to him as an actor imo he is a journeyman who wouldnt look out of place in a Hallmark channel romantic movie but no way as harvey dent who becomes twoface he just doesnt have the acting chops.

[gorthon616]

eckhart just rehashed a mix of his black dahlia and thank you for smoking personas to create harvey

i haven't seen either.....

Both were great. Joker is just more memorable by his nature and bigger importance in the film.

[brundlefly]

I'm going to go with they were both equally good. Don't get me wrong, I think Heath's performance is deserving of all the Oscar talk and kudos he's receiving, but Eckhart's performance was wonderful, too. His slow fall into becoming Two-Face started well before his face was disfigured, and he played that well. Truly, this was the first time I think Two-Face was portrayed as the magnificent Batman villain he truly is, and I think a lot of that credit has to go to Eckhart.

Agreed with Jim's take. Eckhart gave a three-dimensional portrayal of Harvey Dent to get the viewer invested in the character before his descent & transformation into Two-Face. I loved Ledger's Joker, too, but Eckhart's Dent arguably had more layers to his performance and more of a character arc. Of course, as Dent/Two-Face is my favorite Bat-rogue, I'm probably a little biased here. But it was awesome to see Two-Face's origin play out onscreen in such a tremendous and nuanced fashion, particularly when compared to the butchery done to the character by Schumacher and Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever. I can certainly see how Eckhart's Dent is getting overshadowed by Ledger's Joker (who would have been worthy of all the attention even without his tragic death afterwards), though, since his Joker is such a bigger-than-life character that he grabs the audience by the throat every time he's onscreen.

[joku2]

i loved them both Equally they were both beautiful Performances

[Monty_Cristo]

Agreed with Jim's take. Eckhart gave a three-dimensional portrayal of Harvey Dent to get the viewer invested in the character before his descent & transformation into Two-Face. I loved Ledger's Joker, too, but Eckhart's Dent arguably had more layers to his performance and more of a character arc. Of course, as Dent/Two-Face is my favorite Bat-rogue, I'm probably a little biased here. But it was awesome to see Two-Face's origin play out onscreen in such a tremendous and nuanced fashion, particularly when compared to the butchery done to the character by Schumacher and Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever. I can certainly see how Eckhart's Dent is getting overshadowed by Ledger's Joker (who would have been worthy of all the attention even without his tragic death afterwards), though, since his Joker is such a bigger-than-life character that he grabs the audience by the throat every time he's onscreen.

i can't be mad at Tommy Lee Jones. i could sort of tell that he wasn't a big comic book reader. he probably didn't know squat about Two-Face and was just playing him like one of those Adam West-era batman villains (and they were all campy). plus, if he had downplayed Two-Face, he would have been eclipsed by Jim Carrey's Riddler. that said, i like Eckhart's performance more too.

No, it's because the Joker is a much more visceral character than Harvey. Even as Two-Face, Harvey is a "quieter" character, so it's that simple distinction that's given Heath the advantage.

i don't know about that. Two-Face was suprisingly brutal in the movie. Joker never put a gun to a little kid's head. i think they were equally visceral; Harvey more so because he wasn't Two-Face throughout.

[Damiean Dark]

i haven't seen either.....

Both were great. Joker is just more memorable by his nature and bigger importance in the film.

Watch them and see. Eckhart really int that great an actor at all imo harvey should have extra bite like someone like russell crowe would have owned the anger and despair.

[Libaax]

I will say Heath was amazing. But he didnt get his character as well as Eckhart.

Im not saying Nolan giving almost only the sick side of Joker to Heath his fualt.


But Eckhart did great with what he had and nailed his character perfectly.

No matter how fun it was to watch Heaths Joker i cant say that for him.

I would give Eckhart 10/10 and Heath 9/10.

Eckhart acted like the perfect image i have of Two-Face, Dent.

Hopefully he will be in the next movies so he can shine fully without Heath and his hype and tragic demise being in the way.