Joker: another comic book origin Story but not really?
As you guys probably know I’ve been suffering from comic book movie burnout for a long time. I still go see them because I can but I really don’t care because they’re formulaic and boring. I wasn’t excited for “Joker” when I first heard about it a while back especially when they announced Joaquin Phoenix would be playing the lead. I was never a fan of his; I remember when he was doing that weird rapping thing but then it turned out to be for a film. He’s an okay actor but always forgettable. I never could picture him as a believable Joker. Then the trailers started rolling out and they were so well put together and weird for a comic book movie. There were no real action sequences, it almost felt like a trailer for a thriller or a horror movie. With each trailer my excitement grew and then it won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and that cemented my expectations. I have always tried to go into movies without a lot of expectation so its harder to be let down if the movie was bad. But this time I couldn’t help it. As soon as the tickets went on sale I grabbed one for an Imax showing. A part of me was expecting to be utterly disappointed.
But for once, the movie was everything I was hoping it would be. The 2 hour run time flew by. The movie tells the story of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a depressed man with some mental hiccups, and the events that would lead him to become the Joker, Batman’s archenemy. The concept itself is interesting because in the comics there is never a real origin story for the Joker. The one that people generally go by was from 1988 Alan Moore comic “The Killing Joke.” In this story the Joker was a failed comedian and committed crimes in order to support his family and fell into some chemicals while being pursued by Batman, which changed his appearance and caused him to go crazy. It’s some very comic booky stuff. This isn’t what you get with this movie. In the beginning of the film, Arthur just a depressed everyman trying to get by while working as a clown during a depression in Gotham City. He lives with his mother and suffers from a condition that causes him to break into uncontrollable fits of laughter. The events of the film slowly take a mental toll on Arthur until it pushes him to a breaking point leading to the birth of the character known as Joker.
The movie is mainly carried by Phoenix’s performance. He underwent a physical transformation like Christian Bale did for “The Machinist” and there are a lot of scenes when we see him in his underwear and his body shape and posture are unnerving because they look completely alien. Throughout the film his mannerisms all feel just a little bit off like some otherworldly creature trying its hardest to fit in as a human being. It’s refreshing since all the other on screen portrays of the character have been just a genius sociopath, embodiment of evil. The acting and script for this movie build an actual personality and character for the Joker and at points you can almost feel empathy for the guy. I think that’s what made the movie work so well; it told the story of a person and felt like a natural progression.
I loved how a lot of the music worked for the movie. The songs were kind of tired and lazy choices but they worked for the scenes that they were used for. When they came I was at a point where I wanted to roll my eyes but then the scene played out and I thought to myself “I’ll allow it.” Aside from that cinematography was well done. The city of Gotham felt dingy and broken; it had a feeling of being based on New York but feeling very unlike New York.
But there are some weirdly written parts that don’t seem to make sense. Without any huge spoilers, one of these incidents involves Arthur sneaking into a theater. He is acting oddly but no one seems to acknowledge this. There are a few other cases like that and I think it kind of works because the movie acknowledges that Arthur is an unreliable narrator. This idea plays into the fact that almost every other character in the movie is mean spirited with no redeeming qualities. I have some other thoughts that involve quite a bit of spoilers so I’m going to throw that at the end so you can just avoid reading it if you don’t want to.
Overall I loved the movie. It was what I was expecting and kept me interested all the way through. It never gave in and turned itself into a comic book movie. It stayed mostly a character driven story. Definitely give it a watch if you have the time!
TL;DR Joaquin Phoenix is my favorite Joker now. 9 smiles out of 10
SPOILERS:
I have a theory that I think explains the the apparent plot holes in the film. At the end we see Arthur talking to a woman in a mental institution. I think that he is already the Joker at this point and the entire film that we just watched is a story that he has just told the woman. Initially this scene seems like the logical progression of the movie but thinking about it doesn’t really fit. He even appears to kill the woman and make an escape from the mental institution at the very end.
I think that he’s already been the Joker for some time and has already confronted Batman on several occasions. This would explain why Thomas Wayne is an asshole in the movie when in every other portrayal he is a good guy. It also explains the tie in of the Joker’s actions leading directly to the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents; the catalyst for Batman. He wants to build himself up and say that he created his archenemy.
If the story is being told by him it would explain why people don’t really seem to acknowledge his odd behavior and he always seems to win. With this theory it also allows the movie to stay true to the comics. In the comics Joker is constantly lying about his backstory and this entire movie is just another big lie. The movie is just one of the origin stories that Joker may tell someone. I’m making a lot of assumptions and it may be me trying to defend the movie. Maybe I’m giving it too much credit but that being said I really enjoyed it and am planning to see it again to see if I can catch some things that could support my theories.
But for once, the movie was everything I was hoping it would be. The 2 hour run time flew by. The movie tells the story of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a depressed man with some mental hiccups, and the events that would lead him to become the Joker, Batman’s archenemy. The concept itself is interesting because in the comics there is never a real origin story for the Joker. The one that people generally go by was from 1988 Alan Moore comic “The Killing Joke.” In this story the Joker was a failed comedian and committed crimes in order to support his family and fell into some chemicals while being pursued by Batman, which changed his appearance and caused him to go crazy. It’s some very comic booky stuff. This isn’t what you get with this movie. In the beginning of the film, Arthur just a depressed everyman trying to get by while working as a clown during a depression in Gotham City. He lives with his mother and suffers from a condition that causes him to break into uncontrollable fits of laughter. The events of the film slowly take a mental toll on Arthur until it pushes him to a breaking point leading to the birth of the character known as Joker.
The movie is mainly carried by Phoenix’s performance. He underwent a physical transformation like Christian Bale did for “The Machinist” and there are a lot of scenes when we see him in his underwear and his body shape and posture are unnerving because they look completely alien. Throughout the film his mannerisms all feel just a little bit off like some otherworldly creature trying its hardest to fit in as a human being. It’s refreshing since all the other on screen portrays of the character have been just a genius sociopath, embodiment of evil. The acting and script for this movie build an actual personality and character for the Joker and at points you can almost feel empathy for the guy. I think that’s what made the movie work so well; it told the story of a person and felt like a natural progression.
I loved how a lot of the music worked for the movie. The songs were kind of tired and lazy choices but they worked for the scenes that they were used for. When they came I was at a point where I wanted to roll my eyes but then the scene played out and I thought to myself “I’ll allow it.” Aside from that cinematography was well done. The city of Gotham felt dingy and broken; it had a feeling of being based on New York but feeling very unlike New York.
But there are some weirdly written parts that don’t seem to make sense. Without any huge spoilers, one of these incidents involves Arthur sneaking into a theater. He is acting oddly but no one seems to acknowledge this. There are a few other cases like that and I think it kind of works because the movie acknowledges that Arthur is an unreliable narrator. This idea plays into the fact that almost every other character in the movie is mean spirited with no redeeming qualities. I have some other thoughts that involve quite a bit of spoilers so I’m going to throw that at the end so you can just avoid reading it if you don’t want to.
Overall I loved the movie. It was what I was expecting and kept me interested all the way through. It never gave in and turned itself into a comic book movie. It stayed mostly a character driven story. Definitely give it a watch if you have the time!
TL;DR Joaquin Phoenix is my favorite Joker now. 9 smiles out of 10
SPOILERS:
I have a theory that I think explains the the apparent plot holes in the film. At the end we see Arthur talking to a woman in a mental institution. I think that he is already the Joker at this point and the entire film that we just watched is a story that he has just told the woman. Initially this scene seems like the logical progression of the movie but thinking about it doesn’t really fit. He even appears to kill the woman and make an escape from the mental institution at the very end.
I think that he’s already been the Joker for some time and has already confronted Batman on several occasions. This would explain why Thomas Wayne is an asshole in the movie when in every other portrayal he is a good guy. It also explains the tie in of the Joker’s actions leading directly to the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents; the catalyst for Batman. He wants to build himself up and say that he created his archenemy.
If the story is being told by him it would explain why people don’t really seem to acknowledge his odd behavior and he always seems to win. With this theory it also allows the movie to stay true to the comics. In the comics Joker is constantly lying about his backstory and this entire movie is just another big lie. The movie is just one of the origin stories that Joker may tell someone. I’m making a lot of assumptions and it may be me trying to defend the movie. Maybe I’m giving it too much credit but that being said I really enjoyed it and am planning to see it again to see if I can catch some things that could support my theories.
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