Random Movie Review - Joker

Well it finally happened. Batman has had the spotlight for too long so now the clown prince of crime gets a shot at it and was such a good shot that the film got a few awards. For as long as I can remember, there have been tons of Jokers. Not just on screen, but on paper too. His origins have always been a mystery. No one knows his true name and apart from actually becoming him, no one knew who he was before he became what he is. Tim Burton thought he was a gangster called Jack Naiper who was responsible for killing Bruce Wayne's parents. Alan Moore (and later on Bruce Timm) thought he was a failed stand up comedian who somehow got himself thrown into a crime for money and got thrown into a pool of acid accidentally by Batman. And the people behind Gotham thought he had a brother who inherited his insanity and became what he wanted him to be. It has always been a mystery and there are more than just those three takes on his origins and now we get another take. Stand alone from any particular DC universe, this film is what is apparently the start of a range of films known as DC Black and to be honest, I actually think this is good. Being allowed to do a take on the character's origins without being restricted to any in-universe elements which can be a major struggle when creating media that's part of a cinematic universe. But anyway, let's watch this film and see what this origin story has in store for the clown prince of crime:

The year is 1981 and we meet Arthur Fleck (played by now Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix), an aspiring stand up comedian who is a party clown and lives with his mum Penny (played by Frances Conroy who despite having the same surnam is not related to that other Conroy Batman fans know of) in Gotham city. As expected by all Batman fans including myself, this Gotham is a crime ridden city with lots of people unemployed and this of course becomes a dangerous place for a guy like Arthur who has a mental illness that makes him laugh uncontrollably at the most innapropiate of times. After getting beat up by thugs, Arthur's co-worker Randall (played by Glenn Fleshler) gives him a gun and Arthur then starts slowly turning into the insane man we know and love. This leads into a series of events where he has harsh encounters with the Wayne family, kills a trio of men on a train station all before going on to a television show to do something so bad, it inspires people and turns Gotham into ashes.

That may have given you some spoilers, but for a film about Joker, its not that surprising. Now lots of people compare those who have played Joker differently. Some base it on the performances, others base it on how the transformation if any plays out and some see how they tackle the traditional way of him becoming Joker. For me, I tend to consider all of those things and I actually think this take is ok. Its no easy task to act as someone with mental health and the film makers have got balls to be able to allude to that time where a movie theatre showing The Dark Knight Rises just so happened to be during a mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado in 2012. So yeah its a pretty good film. Very deserving of its awards and to the critics who were divided on opinions, this is what Joker is ment be. Guess you were expecting something a bit more safe. 9/10