A note from The Jester:
Ok, first and foremost, I am a comic book freak. I
know a lot of random comic book knowledge (the
majority coming from Batman). From Batman to Superman
to X Men to Spider Man, I can cover a majority. So
while I was thinking of a new top ten list, I came up
with this one: top ten performances in a comic book
movie. Not just a good or great performance, but you
can't imagine anyone else playing this character that
you have read for years and actually bringing drawings
to life. And here they are:
Honorable mentions:
The reason I didn't put these past couple of the top
ten is b/c they brought a new feel to the character.
Danny Devito as the Penguin for example: the Penguin
in the comics was just an odd shaped man who became a
criminal, not a revenge filled hateful man.
Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin got a lot of
shit b/c he is black. Big freakin' deal! Yeah he's
black but perfect. It was the attitude that he brought
to the performance that was Kingpin and he was the
perfect choice for that role. Had this list been a top 11, Kingpin would have made the list.
Ian Mekellen as Magneto was not THAT cool. Magneto was
always cool but as cool as Sir Ian Mekellen made him
out to be. Magneto was just screwed up and evil, but
not THAT cool. Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor was a great
performance but Lex Luthor was suave and cool and
never buckled under pressure, he wasn't a funny
villian like Hackman played him out to be. And same
goes for the rest, they added a little something extra
to the character instead of playing them to a tee like
my top 10 did. The last few on honorable mentions were
great as their roles (Spider Man and the rest of the X
Men) but not as great and perfect as the top ten did
and so now, The Jester explains:
10. Colin Farrell as Bullseye....this was the only
kinda exception to my rule. Bullseye wasn't that cool
but he got the major points down: he never missed a
bullseye and when he ever did, he got pissed; always
touched his head (with a bullseye on it) when he
nailed a target. The reason this made the list is b/c
he stole the movie from everyone else who was in it
and that is hard to do considering who was in it.
9. Jim Carrey as The Riddler was a great choice.
Yes, I admit that Robin Williams (who was originally
up for the role) would have been better but they
decided to go for the younger hotter actor at the
time. He got down the crazy, nerdy Riddler that we all
know but also had the dark side of him that does exist
in the comics.
8. Al Pacino as Big Boy Caprice. This was the
original comic, dating back to the early 1930's in
newspapers before Superman and Batman. And Pacino
nailed it perfectly. Showing the wild, hot headed but
funny side of him then, in a split second, showed just
how evil he is. Pretty much all scenes are like that
and he gets them all to a tee.
7. Michael Keaton as Batman in both Batman and Batman
Returns. When I first heard of Keaton playing Batman,
I really didn't see it. Now, I can't see anyone else
play him. He got the darkness of the bat down but
while as Bruce Wayne, he was clumsy but suave. He
needs to be Batman just one more time, just so I can
see it again.
6. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in X Men. I am glad
that Dougray Scott backed out to do M:I 2 b/c we got
to see one of the best type casting jobs ever done in
film. Who would ever thought that an unknown would
have blown us away like this. This opens up the door
for companies to cast more unknowns for comic
characters instead of going for the "big name". This
was Logan.
5. J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jamason in Spider Man.
WHo would have ever thought that the sick SOB from Oz
would be JJJ. I had to do a double take to see if it
was really him. He had the fast talking, the
cheapness, he had it all and did the role just the way
it should be: love to hate him and he's not even a
villian.
4. Christopher Reeve as Superman in Superman. This
will always be the comparsion to all other Supermen
for the rest of time. He had the nerd and clumsy and
lameness of Clark Kent but the not-that-badass
Superman. Supes is not a badass, he's a boy scout.
Doing everything by the book but he showed the side of
Supes that many haven't seen: get him pissed off
enough and he will snap, just like everyone else.
Christopher Reeve will always be Superman.
3. Brandon Lee as the Crow. This was going to be the
breakout performance for Lee. This was going to make
him a star. But sadly, he was killed on the set of
the Crow. But it does make me feel good that his last
performance ever on earth was the Crow. I remember
reading the Crow books and while they fudged up the
story a tad bit, Brandon Lee was a lock on the
Crow/Eric Draven. Was Lee a good actor? Not really.
Was he good in this? Hell yeah. All it takes is one
and this was it. RIP Brandon.
2. Patrick Stewart as Professor X in X men. Stewart
was put on this earth to play this role. Everything
he did was excellent up until this role but once he
did it, it was confirmed: he IS Prof X! Not only does
he look like him, but he acts like him: calm, cool,
collected even in a crisis....it just doesn't get
better than this.....except.....
1. Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman. The
PERFECT type casted comic book character of all time.
When I first heard he was gonna be him, I was 8 and
even then I knew I had no worries. The thing about this
role is he could just be Jack but only in wild
costumes and face paint. He brought all of the
mannerisms of the Joker to life: lame jokes,
craziness, wild costumes, sickness, pure pure evil,
disregard to all threats to him but still a big wuss
who cannot fight at all. And no one can beat that
ever....he took one of the best, maybe even the best,
comic book villian and nailed it right on the bullseye
(he he). If the Joker is ever casted again, some
people would do a good, if not great, job and me and
Garth have casted him in our Dream Movie section on
the site a few times (Geofery Rush and Jason
Lee)....but it will never EVER beat Jack as the Joker.
Never. End of story. Jack = The Joker!!!
Feedback? Give me some.....come on, I dare ya!!! I can
agrue this list until I'm out of cigarettes....then
I'll go buy more and agrue some more. I double dog
dare ya. No? I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA!!!!!! (yeah "A
Christmas Story").
Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin - Daredevil
Ian Mekellen as Magneto - X men
Danny Devito as the Penguin - Batman Returns
Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor - Superman
The entire cast of X Men - X Men
Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst and Willem Defoe -
Spider Man
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Gardner - Daredevil
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