To be perfectly frank, Joker was not a movie that I was terribly interested in seeing. I thought the films marketing campaign was poor, with a series of heavy handed and awkward trailers that made the movie look more goofy than artistic. I also didn't really love the idea of applying a backstory to one of coming books most fascinatingly mysterious characters. Preconceived notions aside though, I think what I ended up getting is a film that while not perfect, was persistently entertaining and gave both a chilling and surprisingly plausible backstory to one of DC’s most storied characters.
One of the most immediately striking things about Joker is the way it’s shot. Falling far more in line with the artsy indie films of Oscar season than a big budget comic book affair. It’s packed with muted color that gives the film a wonderfully consistent tone. The shot placement is impeccable and really helps the movie tightrope walk between its many moments of steady paced drama and frantic violence. I also love how the movie is lit, with its heavy shadows and carefully placed spotlights really pulling you into this gritty and often unnerving universe. Another thing to compliment is the films fantastic score. The music here shines the most in scenes of high tension where the sinister pangs of drums and strings really do pull you towards the edge of your seat.
I don’t really have many negative things to say about this film on a technical level, where I think the Joker hits most of its bumps is in its script. There are a lot of great ideas here, but the problem is there’s almost too many and it doesn’t give the filmmakers enough time to focus on and fully flesh out any particular theme or storyline. The movie follows several themes of mental illness, class systems, civil unrest, villainy, abuse, trauma, and martyrdom. Heavy subjects to tackle and when it work I think it works to great effect, but a good chunk of these themes or subplots are introduced early on only to be dropped as the film progresses. On a similar note, some of the observations the film makes are very subtle, and profound. While others are never explored to their full potential or are simply dribbled out through clunky character exposition. One more thing that I think really holds this film back from being as great as it could be is how one sided it’s overall story is. I think it’s lacking the complex and layered approach to story and character development that we had scene in similar films such as Logan or the dark knight. The film picks it’s side early on, which is fine sometimes and uncharacteristically haphazard in others.
The story, while messy, isn’t a completely lost cause and some of those aforementioned great ideas really do fully manifest themselves over the length of the film. I thought the Joker’s steady descent into madness was handled with care and believability. This is Brought to life by Joaquin Phoenix, Who does a fantastic job providing the character with enough sympathy and heartache to push us through the early moments, and enough viciously unkempt energy to fully drive home the transformation this character takes on. The rest of the ensemble does their job but it was Phoenix's show to steal and his patient and engrossing performance never ceases to entertain.
On a more complicated note, Joker has gotten a lot of flack early on for its approach to violence. This is a violent movie, that’s for sure. But personally I found the film to have an approach to violence that I found both riveting and thoroughly unsettling. The violence in Joker is gritty, uncomfortable, and tangible. When the movie does get violent (and it only happens in a handful of scenes) its shocking and visceral and really pulls you into the morally corrupt city of Gotham. Personally I can understand people falling on completely opposite sides of this issue. But I found Joker used it’s real world inspired violence to profound effect.
Joker isn't a masterpiece, its messy and it doesn’t always works. But it’s a gripping character portrait about mental illness as well as given circumstances. I think it’s a movie that I would urge everyone to see and try to form their own opinions. It’s a divisive film but also one that’s evocative and more than worth discussing for years down the line.