The Joker in Ledger’s hands becomes a true sociopath who gives no clue as to what really drives him. Nolan flirts with explanations throughout the film, however, telling different stories of tragedy and abuse that mean the audience will never truly know or understand where he came from.
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Heath Ledger’s performance is unflinching, unselfconscious and incredible, and his villain is truly terrifying. It makes Nicholson’s Joker look like he’d just been sacked from his role in the local pantomime.
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Of course, the big green man is the worst part of this movie. Once more we’re subjected to a huge, shiny CGI dud, but at least this time he’s a little scarier; a little veinier. They even address the issue of stretchy pants (sort of).
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Of course, Iron Man is one of the few superheroes not to be clad in spandex. This immediately makes the film look less silly. The suit, and in fact the special effects throughout Iron Man are pretty good. Until the climax of course, which is traditionally when special effects gurus’ dreams exceed their reach.
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Its failure to allow Stark to really examine his actions in any context other than that of patriotism, however, means it suffers from being unnecessarily one-dimensional – critics of films like this one often point to the clearly defined good- and bad-guys with no shades of grey, while the best of the genre allow their characters to exist in more than a binary state.
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