"The Joker" is another "Emma episode" (you can tell I like those a lot). It plays out similarly to "The House That Jack Built" except they play the scary card rather than the weird card. But otherwise they are virtually identical. Two evil masterminds who Emma dissed before the episode starts. Two Steeds getting to the deadly place in the nick of time. There are even two weird guys with glasses (Pongo and "The Weird Guy"). The direction is far better and there are much better side characters such as Ola who likes to show off her teeth. Also the main mastermind is more interesting than in "The House That Jack Built" because his personality is semi-taken from the Batman Joker (featured top left). He has a sadistic sense of humor and likes to carry around playing cards.
Like "The House That Jack Built" the bad guy's true intentions are shown at the end. Unlike "The House That Jack Built," the methods to his madness aren't. We know that this guy messed with Emma, but you never know at all how he did it. That is left up to the viewer's imagination which is a better way to handle the mystery. Something that is less known about is more scary than something that is known about (evident in many horror films). The director of this episode is quite good with some excellent cameria shots (focusing on scary people under beds and doors that shouldn't have opened) and the music is superb (much better than the beeps of "The House That Jack Built"). Meine Liebe, Meine Rose will be forever in my memory and nightmares.
The main problem that I had with this episode was that they didn't do enough with the Joker idea. There aren't many places where the Joker shines through. Maybe I'm missing something, but he never seems to joke around. He just acts weird. For example, he trips Steed with a tripwire and kills Steed's friend with a Joker card. Do these incidents strike anyone as Joker activity? Even when he is terrorizing Emma, he uses dummies and other things. Maybe he is just amusing himself. Thats my only real problem, its not the same Joker from the Batman comics (and thats fine, but think of the potential). That and that it is a remake of an older Cathy Gale show (Honor Blackman episodes).
I'm totally excited about the new Batman movie. If you have any interesting insight on either Joker, let me know. Otherwise, watch this episode!
4 comments:
What are the excellent camera shots? Can you mention some examples?
Do you ever get to see the joker figure in this episode, or does he just show off his card?
So The Joker's got a sadistic sense of humor, but you never see him "joke" around? I'm guessing this humor you're finding shows through his actions; otherwise he just may not be the explicitly funny type of character. (I wouldn't know.) Examples in this domain would be much appreciated.
Nice review, though :)
Thanks for the opinion neighborly, I will provide examples of how much he is not like the real Joker. Fdr, you will have camera shot examples. Keep them coming, I could always use advice.
I have always wondered if The Joker put up the large playing cards that serve as the doors to the upstairs part of the house or if the bridge-playing actual owner of the house actually had those there.
I love Ola's teeth. She's so wonderfully crazy!
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