The way Nicholson phoned in his Joker role is now the stuff of Hollywood legend. No disagreement from me on that point, though I didn't think it was near as bad as people have subsequently claimed.

I watched the film a couple weeks ago for the first time since I saw it in theatres way back when.

I think he and Burton made a decision to make the role far more cartoonish, when the right note for Nicholson as an actor probably would have been to play up the debauched angle. Nobody does debauched better than Jack. So I'm not convinced their vision of the role meshed well. But I'll say this, Jack phoning it in is still a million percent better than anything most the whippersnappers now involved in the franchise can do!

There are other reasons, in my opinion, why Nicholson's Joker can't be dismssed out of hand.

One, Mr. Nicholson the actor still holds a tremendous amount of street cred in the Hollywood crime genre, due to his characterization of Jake Gittes. I cannot think of any other character who has risen above that role in the genre.

Second, the main problem for the Batman worshipping public, as far as I can tell, is most of them weren't comfortable with Burton's vision for the film, and their reaction to that most often gets couched in terms of Nicholson. I loved that film, but I'm a huge Burton fan. I likely never would have seen the original Batman had he not been the director, because I'm not drawn to the comic crime genre at all.

But I'll tell you what--I recently saw Sweeney Todd. You want to see something seriously interesting about Burton the director, rent that & the Batman with Nicholson, and compare the cartoonish nature of both characters in those two films. I think Johnny Depp was possibly channeling Nicholson's Joker without realizing it when he did Sweeney Todd.

One other thing--Nicholson was interviewed by MTV about this film, and had some very interesting things to say about it--including he was furious because no one consulted him about the role of Joker. That's bad form in Old Hollywood etiquette, to be sure, and something I didn't know until I read the interview.

For those interested, here is an excerpt of what Nicholson had to say about this film from the interview:

MTV: What do you think of another actor, Heath Ledger, playing the Joker in next summer's "The Dark Knight"?

Nicholson: Let me be the way I'm not in interviews. I'm furious. I'm furious. [He laughs.] They never asked me about a sequel with the Joker. I know how to do that! Nobody ever asked me.

MTV: It was never brought up?

Nicholson: No. It's like, in any area, you can't believe the reasons things do or don't happen. Not asking me how to do the sequel is that kind of thing. Maybe it's not a mistake. Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I'm furious.

MTV: I'm surprised to hear you sounding competitive about a role like that.

Nicholson: Well, the Joker comes from my childhood. That's how I got involved with it in the first place. It's a part I always thought I should play.

MTV: Will you see the new film?

Nicholson: I'm not inclined to watch it because of what I said. But if it's a good movie, I'll catch up with it somewhere. I don't think they ever really captured Tim Burton's spirit [since he stopped being involved]. They kind of drove the franchise into the ground. Tim Burton's a genius. He had the right take on it. That's why I did the movie. I did the movie based on a single conversation with him. We both come from the cartoon world originally. We had similar ideas. Tim said [the Joker] should have a humorous dark side to him. [Burton is] one of the great moviemakers. I think the world of him. He's the most unassuming man. And he doesn't feel pressure. That's what I love about him. Once he's in there, he's smiling making the movie. That's it!