Movie Review: 'Joker'
Originally published October 2019
“Joker” wasn’t the movie I expected.
Going into one of the year’s most anticipated films, I questioned if director Todd Phillips, known for quirky comedies like “Old School” and “The Hangover,” could helm a film of this magnitude. And he did.
Phillips, paired with strong performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro, seamlessly captured what’s made DC's most popular villain so appealing. Compared to other comic book films, the Phoenix-led “Joker” is almost unrecognizable -- in the best ways possible.
Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, the film's main character, endures experiences that would drive anybody into a frenzy of craze-induced emotion. His Oscar-worthy performance -- yes, I said it -- drags you inside the mind of “The Clown Prince of Crime,” provoking feelings of sympathy and unease throughout the movie's 121-minute run time.
As I’m sure many have heard through the many reviews that have surfaced ahead of the film’s Oct. 4 release, “Joker” is a character study of a man boggled by the hardships of humanity. It’s a theme reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver,” which are clear inspirations for the movie’s darkly introspective tone.
Between the project’s brusque moments of violence, “Joker” tackles issues surrounding society’s view on the socioeconomic divide and the misconceptions surrounding mental illness. Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver placed Arthur at the center of these issues, making his unraveled path of destruction that much more believable.
”Joker” is a far cry from other comic book films, including ones that feature the famed DC villain. While Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger’s depictions defined and reimagined the character on the big screen, Phoenix’s performance is in a league all its own.
The actor used the character’s near 80 years' worth of material to craft his own characterizations of the Joker. In the end, there’s no comparison; it’s a completely different version in separate cinematic universes. And Phoenix’s performance should be considered shoulder-to-shoulder with Ledger’s posthumous Academy Award-winning rendition.
Disregard your expectations going into this film. When it’s all said and done, “Joker” may be among the best comic book movies in cinema history. That’s right – along the same vein as “The Dark Knight.”
In light of the troupes of comic book films released in the last decade, “Joker” is the furthest from them. The movie encompasses all the qualities of a great movie, it just happens to revolve around pop culture’s greatest fictional enigma.