Batman vs Joker

This summer we have the ultimate rivalry in the movie that is being touted as the biggest and most amazing superhero movie ever. In the Dark Knight, we have Christian Bale, the best Batman ever, in the best version of Batman ever, with Heath Ledger, who I’m thinking is the best Joker ever (sorry Jack). That’s a whole lot of BESTS, so who could miss out on this movie? Not me. I was firmly planted in my seat today for all 2 plus hours of superheroic action.

I’m not an official movie reviewer. I don’t have a degree in movie-osity or anything lofty and impressive like that, but in my humble, movie-goer opinion, this movie was pretty great. I’ll leave all the observations of acting, script, and such to the professionals and wannabe professionals --- mostly. I have to say two things though. They kept the dialogue pretty realistic – she said with a sigh of relief. And Heath Ledger was amazing as Joker.

Now for the real stuff. The costumes were just plain fabuloso! Of course, I’m thinking that this may be the summer movie that inspires the most costumes come Halloween. And why not?

Batman’s costume is dark, and invincible-looking. It’s got all the right looks in all the right places. No nipples, thank god. When Bruce asks for improvements, they all make sense and make the costume look even better. And we get a Batman who can actually turn his head to look over his shoulder.

Being as cool as it is in the movie, making your own version of this bullet-proof-yet-flexible, functional-yet-sexy costume could be near impossible. Unless you are a millionaire, that is, with a whole division of your corporation devoted to making ultra-expensive gizmos. There are other options of course. You could order a bunch of pizza from Dominoes and assemble your own Dark Knight costume that way. Two draw backs come to mind for this alternative. After eating that much pizza, you won’t really have the superhero physique to go with the superhero costume. A big old gut hanging out the bottom of your torso unit may fail to inspire the necessary fear and awe that the Dark Knight should. Secondly, when you show up to your hip, cool, Halloween party stinking of pepperoni that’s been fermenting for months, it may hinder your plans to hook up with anyone (except someone with a serious case of the munchies after way too much partying).

Other alternative - you could buy a costume Batman Mask and then wear black tights, black shirt, black chest protector, black cape, Batman gloves, and the utility belt. You'll want to spend some time searching out the perfect black superhero boots, because black motorcycle boots just ain't gonna cut it. There are a few Dark Knight costumes out there for sale, but the only ones that look even slightly close, cost about $400. And I don’t know about you, but that is a pretty steep price for a Halloween costume. Or you could go for the retro Batman look and hope everyone appreciates your sense of nostalgia.

On the other hand, we have Joker. What a simple, yet perfect costume. And, even better, it’s one you could actually make for yourself. Just head on down to your local thrift store and to get all the clothing. Now, you may not find a long purple jacket, but if you happen to get that lucky, you should definitely make a scene and jump up and down. Otherwise, pick up any long jacket you can find and die the sucker purple. Can't find a long coat at the thrift store? You could buy a purple costume coat and make some small alterations.

Buy a green vest (or die one) and you are done with the two hardest parts. Now you just need a blue dress shirt with some sort of design or print – the one in the movie looks like it’s got a reptile or spider web sort of pattern on it. Joker’s tie looks pretty unremarkable – dark colored with some sort of gold designs. I think the regular length jacket is optional, since he's not wearing it all the time. So make your choice based on where you live and how cold it is in late October. Of course, you’d want to throw in these accessories: gloves, hanging keychain, and several joker cards.

You could then either go with a wig (It's hard to find a stringy hair wig, but you could give a long hippie wig a cut to get the same look) or do your own hair. If you do your own, use a bit of green hair spray (this isn't available in our online store, but we've got plenty in our retail store). Heath’s hair looks nice and grungy so don’t wash yours for few days before you costume up. But don’t overdo that aspect or the green coloring, or the outcome could be tragic. Then best thing about Joker’s look is the nasty makeup job. I love the way it’s all imperfect, with sweat lines and smudges. That is something I you don’t have to be a makeup artist to pull off. Three simple colors of make up; white, black and red, and you'll be looking like Batman's arch-enemy.

Now I’m betting we’re all going to see a lot of Jokers out there this Halloween. If you are having an ache to be the insane madman too, but don’t want to look like one of the many that are out there, I’ve got an idea for you. I love the scene in the movie, where Joker appears in Harvey Dent’s hospital room in a nurse’s outfit. Now that would be the way I would dress as the Joker for Halloween. Clown makeup done Joker-style, a white nurse's uniform, a red wig, all topped off with a monster handgun.

In the Halloween costume battle, I’d have to give this one to the Joker. Seems only fair, since the movie ended with that first battle going to the Bat.