Joker Movie Review

The following is a movie review “Joker” by Marc Primo.

Release date: 04 October 2019 (USA)

Director: Todd Phillips

Language: English

Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, Joint Effort, Bron Creative, Village Roadshow Pictures

Producers: Todd Phillips. Bradley Cooper, Emma Tillinger Koskoff

Having saturated the industry with the major comic book sagas available, film companies are now resorting to more origin stories of not only our favorite superheroes but the most menacing villains as well. In Todd Phillips’ Joker, lead star Joaquin Phoenix brings the crazed madman onscreen with a disturbing yet compelling aura that reminds audiences of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, yet only more relatable and sinister than ever.

Phoenix’s physical transformation for the film combined with his convincing crazy eyes and bloodthirsty grin and laugh are enough to draw the attention of serious filmgoers, but witnessing the villain’s heartbreaking origin and watching his tears roll down his cheeks amid painful awakenings will give you more chills than any other previous incarnation of the Joker character ever did.

It’s no surprise how the steps from where Phoenix’s Joker danced in trance-like madness is now considered a tourist spot as the scene where he pranced while descending into the abyss of psychopathic rage effectively puts viewers in his shoes and perspective.

Joker gives us a more intimate look at how a lonesome Arthur Fleck lives with his social anger as an ever-present shadow that grows bigger with every injustice and cruel joke he experiences in life. Phillips veers away from the laugh-out-loud nature of his previous successes like the Hangover series or Old School, and crashes Joker right into the darker and more disturbing type of comedy that captures the title characters’ angst and mental deterioration more than it glorifies violence. With every maniacal laughter in Joker, Phillips was able to redefine himself as one of the more serious filmmakers to reckon with.

As a fearless forecast, Phoenix’s performance is definitely a shoo-in for at least a Best Actor nomination at the upcoming Oscars. From playing the running joke that is Arthur Fleck who can’t seem to elude misfortune in his job, his dream as a stand-up comic, or as a potential love interest to his co-tenant single mother (Zazie Beetz), to personifying Joker with all his horror, you can’t help but feel sorry for him. The way Fleck cannot do much in taking care of his ill mother (played magnificently by Frances Conroy), effectively establishes him as the film’s butt of all jokes.

Robert De Niro (who has also played similar characters in his career particularly Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy) gets to sit at the other side of crazy as talk-show host Murray Franklin who interviews Fleck after a video clip of his failed comedy club gig emerged publicly. Now it’s important to note here how Phoenix played a prank on David Letterman in real-life by coming on the Late Show years ago as the worst talk-show guest ever. How Fleck guested on the show with Franklin overshadows that by a wide and brutal margin. For many viewers, this was the part of the film where they are introduced to the Joker, all ready to throw any form of sanity to the wind for more serious bloodbath.

Overall, Joker is one of those origin stories that will truly stir your interest in the character and let him lead you to a downward spiral that’s beyond what normal minds can muster. As for a sequel or otherwise, audiences can get more than enough cray cray from this certified blockbuster hit, but it’s always a welcome possibility to see even more of Phoenix’ clowning around antics.

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