Directed by: Todd Phillips
Release date: October 4th, 2019
Rating: 9/10
Joker is the first stand-alone film in the DC film slate; and by stand-alone I mean the first film unconnected from the other films released by Warner Brothers/DC. When it was announced that DC was planing to release a solo Joker film that was not part of the DC Universe, I thought it was such a bad idea. Especially since the announcement came shortly after the release of Suicide Squad (2016). Jared Leto’s Joker, while not awful, was not given enough time to flesh out the character. So the idea of a whole film dedicated to a character we barely saw baffled me. Then it was announced that it would be a different actor than Jared Leto and I thought, “Well that’s a little better. At least the fact that it’s unconnected will be clearer.” Then Joaquin Phoenix signed on. That changed my mind completely. Phoenix is such an amazing actor and I know he’s picky with the scripts he chooses so something had to be going for this film for him to sign on. And after seeing it, it definitely does.
Joker tells the story of Arthur Fleck, a clown-for-hire with a mental illness that causes pathological laughter who is constantly beaten down by both the system and the people he works with, as well as random citizens. Throughout the film we see this man get closer and closer to his breaking point and that’s when he inevitably becomes the Joker.
Joaquin Phoenix really stands out in this film. The entire movie is shot from his point of view. I don’t think there’s a single scene without him in it and I’m glad that’s the case. He carries this film with his intense performance and he should be nominated for an Oscar for his work in this role.
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the release of this movie and the main reason is because people (the media) accused this film of inciting violence and copycats. They think that the film sympathizes with the main character and that its release calls for all troubled men to solve their problems with violence. That is absolutely not the case. While yes, the beginning of this film showcases Fleck as a poor man, down on his luck; it never asks us to sympathize with his violent actions. It does however, ask us to understand them; which is different. All good villains can be understood, that’s exactly what you look for in writing a good antagonist, Joker is exactly that. My general advice would be, see the movie and then determine if you think the Joker is a good guy whose actions are justified.
While Joker does contain violence it does not condone it. Violence, while one of the film’s themes, isn’t the only one. The film also address mental illnesses and why they should be taken seriously. It also brings up the conversation of what we, as a society, do to create people like the Joker. While his actions aren’t justified, the society that mistreated and beat him had a direct affect on forming the murderer he becomes.
Towards the end of the film I actually felt terrified of the Joker, probably more than any other on screen incarnation has made me. Partly because of Phoenix’s performance and partly due to the fact that we have 2 hours of backstory as to why the character is doing what he’s doing that makes he violence more impactful than Heath Ledger’s Joker. That’s not to say that Ledger’s Joker isn’t great, he is. I do legitimately believe that Phoenix’s Joker is at least on par with Ledger’s. The combinations of Phoenix’s performance and the fact that this entire movie is dedicated to him (as opposed to the Dark Knight, which is a Batman film) make this version of the Joker truly terrifying and understandable. The fact that he is understandable makes him even more terrifying.
Joker is a fantastic piece of cinema with outstanding cinematography, an amazing score, and a phenomenal performance by Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker. Director Todd Phillips, clearly taking inspiration from Scorsese classics such as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, gives us a hard-hitting, realistic origin story to a classic comic book villain. Joker is definitely one of my favorite comic book movies and possibly one of my favorite movies in general.