Everything is funny! Today I saw Joker, the psychological thriller film released on October 4, 2019. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, and Frances Conroy, it is based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is rated R and takes place in Gotham City, 1981.
Arthur Fleck is a struggling clown/comedian who lives with his mother, Penny. All he wants to do is make people laugh, but he gets mistreated by everyone. Tensions start rising within him slowly and making him more psychotic with every incident. How much longer can this go on before he strikes back? What will this new Joker have in store for Gotham?
The Joker is known as Batman’s most famous and greatest enemy. He has a long list of supervillains to fight, but none are like the Joker. He’s been portrayed several times before in the past, such as in the 60s Batman show played by Cesar Romero, the 1989 Batman movie played by Jack Nicholson, The Dark Knight played by Heath Ledger, and Suicide Squad played by Jared Leto. Each of those actors has brought a unique version of the character. When it was Joaquin Phoenix’s time to portray the iconic role, I wondered whether he could give an impressive performance. Fortunately, he manages to portray a character that at first, one feels sympathy for and then deeply fears. His character as the Joker presents like a very Heath Ledger-like-vibe, which is good since he’s my favorite Joker. Ledger’s Joker was very scary and evil, with a sense of mystery surrounding him as we never learn his true origin story. I would say Phoenix is a close second, portrayed more sympathetically and out for vengeance against all those who wronged him.
The story is one of the better stories DC has done. We start out with a good, innocent man turned into a monster by the way society treats him. This evolves over the film, from small degrees to large, until he finally becomes the Joker. This is less like a superhero or supervillain movie and more of a psychological film about the declining state of someone’s mental health. This shows that mistreating people their whole lives can result in serious repercussions for society.
The most interesting thing about this film is that the filmmakers decided to go for an R rating instead of a PG-13 rating. This allows them to showcase more violence, adding to how rough and uncomfortable the movie can get. There is graphic bloody violence, as well as no limit to how far they can show the Joker’s disturbing behavior.
The main problem with this movie is that there are certain things that have to happen because it’s an origin story, so they come across as predictable or forced. Despite that, this is one interesting look at one of the greatest fictional villains of all time. See it and hope you’ll still be the same person afterwards.
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