Gary Oldman: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
5 Awesome Performances...
5. James Gordon The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012)
For many, Christopher Nolan's down-to-earth (well, relatively) Batman films were their first exposure to Gary Oldman. The actor was part of a stunning ensemble of primarily British throughout the trilogy of Dark Knight movies, alongside the likes of Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Tom Wilkinson, and Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader himself. In his role of Detective (and later Commissioner) Gordon, Oldman worked much like the hero on the right side of the law did in the classic Year One graphic novel that Batman Begins took some inspiration from. Whilst the Dark Knight has his own methods and operates outside the law, Gordon struggles to make a difference within the mostly corrupt Gotham City Police Department. Oldman does well to highlight the dichotomy between the sexy, angsty Batman and the more prosaic, grounded and pragmatic Gordon. He too makes sacrifices such as faking his death, at the upset to his family, to catch The Joker but at the end of the day, he's just a man doing his job. A job that Oldman's performance evokes with weary perfection.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
