Throughout the history of comic books, one of the most enduring and iconic villains has been Batman’s arch-nemesis, The Joker. Dubbed the “clown prince of crime”, The Joker first appeared in Batman #1 in April 1940 as his ultimate foil. Since his initial appearance, The Joker has remained one of the most popular and iconic villains in comic book history. The character was first brought to life by Cesar Romero in the 60’s Batman television series and Batman: The Movie. More than 20 years later, Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson would dawn the makeup in Tim Burton’s 1989 film, Batman. In 2008, the late Heath Ledger won an Oscar for his career-defining portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight. While Jared Leto did the character wrong in 2016’s Suicide Squad, filmmaker Todd Philips pitched a dark Joker character study. Three years later, we have the 2019 dramatic thriller, Joker.
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In the crime-ridden city of Gotham, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) has been having a tough time getting by in life. He works as a sign twirling clown, where he gets regularly assaulted and mocked for his uncontrollable spouts of laughter. While caring for his mother Penny (Frances Conroy), he idolizes late-night talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). Arthur dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian, but he struggles with his mental illnesses and his poor living situation. Unfortunately, he loses his job after a number of complaints made, which leads to him going over the edge. Before too long, others start rallying behind him, seeing him as a vigilante standing up for the less fortunate. Eventually, Arthur embraces the attention he’s gotten and manages to get a spot on Murray Franklin’s late-night show. Said show is where Arthur will reveal his new persona to the world, Joker.
When it was announced that Todd Phillips, who previously directed the Hangover trilogy, was directing this, I had my doubts. However, Joker is not only a fantastic film deserving of its praise, but one of the best films of 2019. Even though there’s not much else that can be said about his performance, Joaquin Phoenix is the sole driving force. As controversial as it sounds, I personally feel that his performance might give Heath Ledger’s a run for its money. While both performances are radically different, Phoenix makes the Joker into an almost sympathetic and tragic figure, though not entirely. Even though you understand his situation, the movie never portrays any of Arthur/Joker’s violent actions in a positive light. The film is more a warning of what may happen if we don’t take mental health seriously and ignore it. It’s a powerful message that’s especially relevant today.
Surprisingly, Phillips’ direction is very top-notch, having a style similar to a Martin Scorsese film from the 70s/80s. Story-wise, the movie does have references to the Batman universe, but it’s never distracting or detracts from the overall story. Aside from Phoenix, the rest of the cast is also excellent, particularly De Niro as the sleazy talk show host. Frances Conroy is certainly better here than in Catwoman, though Zazie Beetz, while good, doesn’t have much to do. Talking about the controversy, while I understand some people’s concerns, a Joker movie was probably going to be dark. Tim Burton’s Batman and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight both featured the Joker and were dark, but no one complained. Still, if you’re put off by more realistic violence and/or fairly dark material, clearly you’re not the right audience. For everyone else, Joker is everything a movie about this character should be.
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Looking forward to seeing this, even more so now after reading this. Thanks!