Joker
Directed By: Todd Phillips
A lot has already been written dissected and yelled about this deep dive into the psyche of the Joker. Some interesting topics like art, censorship, the cultural responsibility of artists, violence in films, etc are involved. Not to mention why the yelling over this particular film and not countless other super violent movies that come out?
And is Joker even worth it?
I mean that’s something everyone has to answer for themselves. I thought the movie was… okay. It wasn’t as great as some people are making it out to be and it wasn’t as awful. Quite frankly I’ve seen worse on the violence scale.
Joaquin Phoenix is really good here but I think he’s best where you can see the edge. A couple of meetings with the shrink for instance when you can see the anger and then at the very end when he embraces the madness. There are more times than not when Arthur was obviously the act which is an interesting decision considering they get a line in there about how the problem with being mentally ill is people want you to act like you aren’t.
Whether the film makes you feel sympathy for him or asks you to is something else I think will be personal. Having suffered from mental health issues and severe bullying I wondered if I would and due to the yelling about the movie I wondered what that would say about me. Early on I couldn’t help watch scenes and overall feel like we really shouldn’t treat people like shit (a lesson so many people never seem to take in) but I think the interesting thing about doing this with a character like the Joker is that I couldn’t ever block out where it was going so I couldn’t ever actually feel sympathy for him.
I thought Gotham City looked appropriately awful (why would anyone live there?) and I liked the music.
I wish they had done more with Zazie Beetz character but considering the movie I don’t think that would have come to any good. At first leaving certain elements of that story unanswered really annoyed me and took me out of the film. It made more sense at the end why they did that but I also think certain integral story decisions at the end stopped me from really liking Joker more.
Recommend: Yes.
But while I do feel like this is an interesting film with a lot to think over and discuss including why and how we tell stories like this- I also think it’s a perfectly fine rental. If you weren’t interested in seeing it in theaters its not a must run out and watch.
It was hard to watch a few scenes. I was uncomfortable and yet recognize it was a truth of the inequality and injustice in this word. The two scenes that sum up the movie are when he tells the social worker she never listens. People can be so cruel.
Oh yeah that scene was excellent and when he tells her you keep asking if I have negative thoughts all I have are negative thoughts and she was just like yeah whatever. The problems with his therapy even before they cut it is a very important point.
I can’t help but think that the hype and controversy is going to end up being more interesting than the actual movie, but I’m seeing it on Thursday so I’ll find out then!
You’re so right about how Gotham looks by the way, I always think in anything Batman related, why would anyone choose to live here?! The rent much be cheap!
I think the hype and controversy definitely helped the movie but I’m still thinking about it a couple of days later so look forward to hearing your thoughts!
I’d live in Metropolis not much better but at least it has a good natured hot alien hero 🙂
Great review! I wasn’t impressed by it, either. And I agree that people who deal with mental illness, even it’s just anxiety or bullying, can be triggered by it, I was, during the movie, in some points.
I definitely think the controversy is essentially helping this movie.
GREAT REVIEW SU, CHINA
I haven’t watched The Joker (yet, definitely will), but from what I’m hearing, there’s a huge disconnect from the Joker we saw in the Dark Knight and the Joker we see in this film. Great point that people with mental illnesses are implicitly required to act like we don’t have any issues… it’s rebelling against capitalism, I guess, the whole having to get on with things instead of dealing with institutional acts of violence against the disadvantaged. I can’t wait to watch it, I’m saving it for a day I’m ready to watch, but I have a feeling that I’ll love it (I hope, anyway).
Very true many times even people who love you and live with you well you can sense their frustration which often for me only tended to exasperate my mental health. Still does. I do hope you enjoy the film when you see it.