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T WO-FACE |
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Harvey Dent returned from the first Batman film with the face of Tommy lee Jones this time, replacing Billy Dee Williams. With much focus on the Riddler's origin as well as the introduction of Robin and some ''obligatory'' scenes with Batman's new love interest, there was unfortunately little room for the transformation of District Attorney Harvey Dent into the criminal Two-Face, now seen only briefly as a television news clip recounting events that took place before the film's beginning. It's a pity, since Two-Face could make the best (worst), most terrifying as well as tragic batman-movie villain if he was ''exploited'' properly by the screenwriters. ''We're doing the origin of Batman; we're doing the origin of Dick Grayson/ Robin; we're doing the origin of the Riddler. It's enough!'' said Schumacher. ''We explain the origin of Harvey Dent/ Two-Face, but one of the interesting things about Batman comics is that the villains get sent to Arkham Asylum, then break out and make trouble again. So the movie starts with Two-Face escaping after being put in Arkham Asylum for two years by Batman, who was one of his best friends.'' |
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Of course, one of the criticisms of Batman Returns was that having two villains left scant screen time for the Dak Knight. ''It had become a tradition in Batman films to service a wide variety of characters,'' Goldsman observes. ''In order to service a bunch of characters you have to make decisions about what you see versus what you hear. It seemed more interesting to see the Riddler's story, which drives the actual plot, because he is an unknown identity. There is no secret to Two-Face's identity; everyone knows he was a prosecuting attorney who holds Batman culpable for the incident that scarred him. In order to perpetuate the mystery we had to do the Riddler, so the audience would know who he was but Batman wouldn't.'' The irony of not dramatizing Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face is that the last time we saw the character, he was black! Schumacher opted not to use Billy Dee Williams, who had played the character in Batman 1. ''I always wanted Tommy Lee Jones,'' explains the director. ''I didn't consider Billy Dee Williams for the role, because I think that he is a hero. I always see him like Clark Gable. I had just finished working with Tommy Lee Jones on The Client, and I thought he would be a great Harvey Dent/ Two-Face.'' |
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About Two-Face in the comics: Two-Face's first appearance was in Detective Comics#66 in August 1942. Harvey Dent was the District Attorney of Gotham City. After Boss Maroni threw acid in his face during a trial, the alternate ego of Harvey came to the surface. Two-face relies on a coin with a scarred head to make all decisions. Every victim, every decision is based on the flip of that coin. Two-Face recently escaped from Arkham but became Janus (Batman: Shadow of the Bat #62 & #63). Janus prevented Two-Face's crimes, and eventually caused his re-capture. Before this, his last escape (Batman #532) allowed him to follow up on some of his "ghost cases". This was all a build-up to his attempt to try Batman for being two-faced: Batman once refused to help Harvey Dent with his ghost cases. |
