JOKER By Urizen

   I don’t know what is getting worse at this point, the amount of Batman actors we have had or the amount of Jokers. It is getting insane. Yet here we are again, three years after our last live action take of the character back in Suicide Squad, with a new live action Joker. This time with his own movie.

   From the very beginning, I was unsure how to feel about this movie. On one hand, you have a great cast, the trailer looked excellent  and it deals with such a beloved DC character. On the other hand, I think you take away a lot of what makes the Joker great by giving him an origin and removing Batman from the equation. Making it an Elseworld story and not something that takes place in the main continuity helped, but still didn’t fully ease my mind. No matter what, I thought the trailers looked good and I couldn’t wait to see it, so here we are.

   Directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Joker takes slight inspiration from Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. The movie follows Arthur Fleck, a clown and failed standup comedian. Throughout the film, we get to see his descent into madness and eventual turn into the Joker. In spirit of The Killing Joke, it shows what points circumstances can do to a person.  While more “a bad life" as opposed to “one bad day”, it is easy to see the inspiration from Moore's story. Given the hype and controversy surrounding this movie though, is it actually any good?

   While not without faults, I think Joker was pretty amazing. With the ending and certain moments in the movie, it is certainly a movie that people will be talking and theorizing about for a long time. I spent a good amount of the night thinking about it after seeing it, and now am wanting to go back to watch it again for anything I may have missed as I feel as if there is probably a lot. It is a movie that is almost hard to talk about as you really need time to process everything.

   As there is less that I dislike than what I like, I am just going to get that out of the way now. On the very occasion moment, the soundtrack didn’t quite fit the movie. It was very rare though. Then, and this is being extremely picky, this isn’t a Joker I could see fighting Batman. Now I know that this shouldn’t be an issue due to it being it’s own stand alone story, but my issue is them introducing the Wayne family  and setting up that connection. It makes it where if Batman ever did come to be in this universe, again I can’t see this Joker going toe to toe with him. He seems more like a symbol than the clown prince of crime. Of course this is just the origin to him, so maybe that could develop over time a bit more. Though this all just deals with a lot of hypotheticals to come up with some minor criticism.

   Minus the times where I didn’t think things fit perfectly for the music, the soundtrack was top notch and fit the scenes well. Given the nature of the movie, you could probably argue that the songs I thought didn’t work actually were perfect. As I said, it is a movie that will have a lot of people thinking and talking for a while.

   On the technical side of things, the cinematography and direction were excellent. A lot of shots are done so well with some meaning behind very simple things. You can tell a lot of care and love went into this project.  It certainly pays off. It may be the least comic book feeling comic book movie,  which works. It is a thriller first and comic book movie second.  The whole team for this movie deserves so much credit.

   Finally let's talk about the cast. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, all excellent actors that do amazing jobs. They really nail their rolls. That’s not what’s important here though. No one is rushing to find out how good De Niro did as a talk show host, everyone wants to know how Joaquin Phoenix is as the Joker. How does he rank among all of the others we have had. While I won't rank since I feel all of the Jokers have been great in their own way, I will say that Phoenix killed it for this version of the character. I said this movie is a thriller first and a comic book movie second which is true, but at times it almost borders on horror with how chilling and terrifying Phoenix is as Joker. Minor things from the way he walks, to the change in the look in his eyes through out the film, his voice, and small mannerism, all sell the character excellently, bringing us a new, fresh, terrifying take of the character we haven’t had before.

   Where Nolan's movies brought us a more grounded take on the characters, Phillips’ was almost like a psychoanalysis of the character that was brought to the real worlds in terrifying fashion. This is a Joker that you could actually see happening in similar circumstances. The portrayal of someone suffering from those mental health issues in addition to the way the system treats them,  especially back then, is pretty spot on. A lot is what Phoenix brings to the table as this character. One thing I enjoyed was as the film got on, Arthur laughed less. Seems strange, but the condition he had made him laugh uncontrollably when he was uncomfortable. As he descends more into that madness, becomes more of the Joker, he becomes comfortable, feels more free. His words,  his laughs, his smiles become more genuine which honestly makes it even scarier.

   There is so much I could say about this movie, but then that would dive into some major spoiler territory that I don’t want to get into. I have seen a lot of articles saying how shocking the ending is and dealing with what it means. While I don’t necessarily think the ending is mind blowing  by any means,  it is certainly one people will be talking and theorizing about for a while.

   I’ve said before, I am not a fan of Joker having an origin story. I think it takes away from the character. I know I’m not the only one who has this opinion. It was one of the things making me most hesitant about this movie. To this day, the identity of the Joker is a big deal in the comics, even leading to the three Joker reveal that we are still waiting for answers on. If you are like me and are hesitant for those reasons, trust me and give it a shot. It is brutal, it is intense, it is chilling, and really everything a movie about the Joker should be. Really whether you are a fan of the character or not, it is just a good movie. It is worth it to go dive into the madness and put a smile on that face for Joker.