(CCR Original Content) Joker Review [Spoiler Free with Spoiler Section Below Picture]
(8/10)
Joker is a 2019 psychological/thriller movie directed by Todd Phillips, co-written by Phillips and Scott Silver with working producers on the film including Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tilinger Koskoff. The movie was produced by DC Films, Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative and Joint Effort and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert DeNiro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy.
Living with and taking care of his mother, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) works as a clown and aspiring stand-up comic while living with her in 1981 Gotham City. A big portion of the population has become impoverished and disenfranchised due to the city being in financial ruin causing high rates of unemployment and crime. Arthur suffers from a mental condition that causes him to laugh uncontrollably at inappropriate times causing him much duress by others. One day at his job advertising a store, a group of teen thugs attack him after stealing the sign he holds and smashing it on his face and kicking him mercilessly while he's on the ground. This sets in motion a series of events that wind up placing him on a downward spiral to become the iconic arch nemesis known as the Joker.
It was hard to not have high expectations for this film especially since a month before it even came out in theaters it was already being seen and reviewed. Also there was plenty of buzz about Joaquin Phoenix's performance and concerns about possible acts of violence garnering media attention nearing its official release in theaters. I think everyone had their own opinions more so than usual about this movie before even seeing it. Even with that I have to say that this film was really great. I mean dark and bleak but really good. Joaquin Phoenix put on a magnificent performance and managed to show a different side to the joker which most people have never seen as well as still make him recognizable in his infancy making this origin story believable. The soundtrack was excellent with classic songs fitting the mood and setting the tone for the background. People have been making a big deal about one of the songs but it has nothing to do with the movie. The action was shockingly brutal at times and very graphic to the point where some scenes were disturbing. This film had great storytelling and plot structure in how the story keeps moving along with inner conflict and outer conflict and the character development of Arthur that it really didn't even feel like a two hour movie. It kind of flew by. This was a great movie and I almost gave it a 9 which I really wanted to but there was just a couple of things that bothered me. The story was very contained and small in scale compared to any other time we've seen the Joker on the big screen. There really wasn't anything grandiose or epic except maybe towards the end. Nothing like how the Joker is portrayed in the comics or even in The Dark Knight or 1989's Batman. There also wasn't a lot of screen time of him actually being the Joker and not Arthur Fleck but I guess that should be understandable since this is pretty much an origin film but I guess I wanted more. I wound up giving this movie a 8/10.
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Spoilers Section Review:
This film did a great job in making the Joker or rather Arthur a sympathetic character. Joaquin Phoenix did a phenomenal job in this movie. His laugh made me really feel for this character, it sounded sad but also painful, like it physically hurt him. I really felt for Arthur and it actually made me feel bad for him equally when he was getting beat up and assaulted but also just berated and treated bad by others. People were talking about the violence in the movie and how it was graphic and disturbing but what bothered me more were the parts where Arthur was having violence done on him, it made me sad for him. I thought a lot of the movie was well done. The double twist in him finding his mother's letter to Thomas Wayne saying he (Arthur) is his son only to find out that he was adopted was a great reveal. Still makes me wonder what the truth really is, because later he does find a photograph with Thomas Wayne's initials on the back. Either he really is his son and Wayne had it covered up, which he totally has the means to do, or maybe she was delusional about it. I also thought it was cool how they showed Arthur also had delusions of grandeur in the begging when he is watching the Murray show and he imagines himself as a guest there. Like I said this movie was really well done in a lot of ways but there were somethings that bothered me. One right off the back is that Bruce Wayne is just a kid in this movie and if Arthur is supposed to be the Joker he would be way older than he should be when Wayne becomes Batman. To mere there wasn't a lot that Arthur really did as Joker. Nothing grandiose or epic like what I've become accustomed to with the Joker in other incarnations. There was no plans or power moves like in The Dark Knight or parade and taking over the city like in 1989's Batman. They really could have called the movie something else since he really only becomes the Joker at the end of the movie for not really that long even. I know it's supposed to be an origin story of how he becomes the Joker but it wasn't even going off of any of the comics and just loosely based on the version of Joker from The Killing Joke and then given the "Hollywood" treatment. I think I just expected more Joker from a movie called Joker. I thought the ending was perfect if it would have ended with him on top of the car when they helped him escape. I honestly don't know why they should that little part with him in Arkham, I don't think it added anything and kind of took away from it. The only thing I can think of is they didn't want to end it that dark. I have to say that if your judging this film from not being a big fan of Joker, the comics or the films and only on as a stand alone film it's probably like a 9/10. But for me since at it's core it is a comic book movie I give it an 8/10.