MonkeyandApple’s “Joker Interrogation Scene Spoof”

The Dark Knight was a solid movie, I’ll admit. I’ll always be more of a fan of the Jack Nicholson Joker, but I have to admit Heath Ledger put on quite a show. The expert camerawork and well-written dialogue didn’t hurt the movie, either. Probably one of the best scenes in the movie is the confrontation between the Joker and Batman in the interrogation room, with both characters and at ends with one another and their respective actors putting on great performances. Great scene from a great movie. Now, with all that out of the way, here’s a shitty fan tribute which relies on one joke being told a hundred times with almost no variation and almost no comedic effect.

The thing to know about the movie is, Bruce Wayne disguises his voice when he is acting as the Batman, and many would argue that the extent to which he alters his voice borders on ridiculous. Apparently, MonkeyandApple feels it crosses this line, and thought to himself that he could make an entire 3 minute video about it. While the costume work in this fan video is fine, with some close-enough replica costumes on our actor (Yes, it’s the same guy playing both roles), and the acting could probably be worse, it is still a very flawed piece of work. The worst offense, as I mentioned before, is that the video consists of the same joke over and over again. Batman says his line, the Joker tells him he doesn’t understand it. Rinse, lather, repeat. They both try each others patience, and eventually, we are introduced to a new physical gag nearly halfway through the video, when the Batman punches the Joker in the face. Then, the video continues with these two repeating gags, with Batman saying something, the Joker not understanding it, and Batman punching the Joker in the face. It gets old quick.

Another thing: Couldn’t he have done a bit more with his little green screen? The entire video consists of two repeating shots, from the same angles, on top of the same two backgrounds. I know there’s not much one can do with limited space and limited effects, but he could have at least had a shot or two with the Joker and Batman in the same shot. It’s not that hard to do with green screen footage, and minimal video editing / chroma key experience. At the very least, insisting that both characters never be in the same shot, he could have at least had the angle shift once or twice, or maybe show us a character from the back for a second. The only place to pin the blame on this is laziness, as he is obviously experienced enough to understand the concept of a “green screen”, and thus should be able to figure out how to move his camera.

All in all, what could have been a decently professional piece, which sadly falls under the categories of “lost potential” and “pure laziness”. Better luck next time, kiddo.