Joker is a powerful narrative which provides an abundance of commentary in addition to seeing the creation of a super villain. The movie is masterfully done and to me doesn’t deserve all the criticism and controversy.
I have to say I’ve really been looking forward to this movie because it brings us back to the dark and gritty times of Batman. That being said, this movie stands on its own beautifully. You don’t feel as though you need Batman at all in this film, and it doesn’t even fully feel like a comic book movie.
That’s something I love about this movie, they take the material so seriously and that makes it hyper realistic. There is so much being said in this film about society, mental illness, and so much more that I won’t get into because I don’t want to spoil the movie.
It’s an in depth look at how we as a society create the worst monsters sometimes. All of this being said the movie is a slow burn, so don’t go into it expecting to see a bunch of crazy joker stuff going on. I cannot emphasize enough that Joker is an in depth character study.
There are so many scenes that build on top of each other until we finally realize where we are towards the end. Joaquin Phoenix does a great job in his portrayal of Arthur.
The ability for Phoenix to show us how Arthur got to the point of being the joker was magical, but disturbing at the same time. He shows us how Arthur was really a “normal” guy who had some issues and wanted to get help at first, but after not being heard and many other instances resulted in the creation of the Joker. Joaquin delivers the best performance of the year so far. A lot of people are saying that the movie glorifies violence and makes you feel bad for the Joker.
I would say the opposite about the film. You do feel bad for Arthur because he’s had such a troubled life and had his mental illness ignored for such a long time, and yes you can see where he’s coming from, but it’s the mass murdering where you draw the line and the movie in no way glorifies that.
The excessive amount of criticism saying this movie is dangerous is only proving the movies main point. The film is dark and disturbing but never glorifies or makes these horrendous acts seem okay.
Joker is a masterful film that provides incredibly important commentary on society. With all the controversy surrounding the film I think it’s a massively relevant film that everyone should see and form their own opinion on.
It won’t be for everyone, but as someone who has always loved the Joker as a villain this movie perfectly portrayed the gritty, unpredictable and evil nature of his ways, and in my opinion is a near perfect character origin story.
I give Joker an A-
