Joker was dope! I would say it was killer, but that might be insensitive. Ah fuck it, Joker was killer.
Seriously. I had no expectations coming into the movie. I really had no idea what the story was about. Was it the Joker we all know from Batman?
I was a huge Batman fan growing up from the cartoon to all the movies. I loved the cartoon. I loved all the Batman movies too.
From the Michael Keaton Batman all the way to the Val Kilmer and George Clooney Batman’s...I saw them all.
Even the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, I loved them all. And Joker had some spectacular performances with the likes of Jack Nicholson to Heath Ledger to Jared Leto.
All three crushed the role, but the story behind the Joker's existence was all the same. He was a gangster, a thug, who fell into a tub of chemicals and it gave him the face and look he has now.
But with this film, the trailers and the articles leading up to it didn’t really give you much detail of what to expect.
I’ve heard rumblings of it being a really good film, but beyond that...the storyline was still mysterious.
There were people talking about the movie being wrong for the current climate the U.S. is in with mass shootings.
Even comments about the movie’s director and writer, Todd Phillips, quotes in the Vanity Fair article about Joaquin Phoenix. He said some things that stirred up the woke people.
Phillips is quoted saying, “Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture,” he says. “There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore—I’ll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, ‘Fuck this shit, because I don’t want to offend you.’ It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.’ I’m out, and you know what? With all my comedies—I think that what comedies in general all have in common—is they’re irreverent. So I go, ‘How do I do something irreverent, but fuck comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’ And so that’s really where that came from.”
I totally get what he is saying. I don’t, a hundred percent, agree with it because you can still make a comedy, but from what I hear from inside the industry...it’s not as easy as it used to be. That’s what he is saying.
His statement of, “It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter.” Could not be more true.
You see all the people complaining about stand up specials by Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle for being controversy and insensitive.
It’s a little ridiculous. Comedy is about laughing. It’s about having a sense of humor about EVERYTHING in life. But our level of sensitivity has been woken.
And as much as I would love to share my opinion on the PC discussion, that is not what this post is about. I will share my opinion in another post in the near future.
Back to the point, very little was said about the story of Joker.
And let me tell you, it was a terrific story. One of the best of the year. This Joker movie was different than any other Batman or DC Comic movie that has ever been made.
Phillips said it himself. He said, “So I go, ‘How do I do something irreverent, but fuck comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’ And so that’s really where that came from.”
And flip the comic book movie universe on its head he did.
This movie was more of an award winning movie than it was a comic book movie. I would say almost Taxi Driver esq. Which is one of the inspirations and comparisons people have made.
I’m glad Todd decided to stop making comedies because this one was that good.
Joaquin Phoenix kills it in this role. All the pun intended.
He was different because this Joker was different. Not the same we know from the normal storyline in Batman comics, shows and movies. No chemicals, no gangster background.
Nope. Just pure mental disorder born from the unusual upbringing. I don’t want to spoil it. It was very realistic.
Everything about the movie was incredible. The acting, the directing, the story, the cinematography and the music. Even the dance sequences were perfect.
Robert De Niro was the perfect supporting actor.
The story really shines light on the mental illness discussion. Which is the backbone of this movie. Not killings or mass shootings.
It’s all about what is going in between the ears of the Joker.
You need to see this movie. If you love really well done movies, you are going to LOVE Joker. And it helps if you are a fan of superhero movies.
Don’t be surprised if it is up for best director, best actor, best supporting actor, and best film.
It’s a must see.
I give it 5/5 stars.
Have you seen it? What did you think?
