Joker (2019) Movie Review
When a film pledges to remain a stand-alone piece, it is usually a sign that it wants to be taken seriously as an art form from start to finish. The first thing noticeable about the movie is it allowed a sizable portion of running time for character development, almost as if the allotted time was Joaquin Phoenix’s actual preparation into the large shoes of ‘the Joker’. In reality, we were given glimpses of a truly disturbing man from the word “action”.
Any and all reviews you will see give deserved praise to a superb performance from Phoenix, who pulled of the monumental task of making the average audience have a degree of sympathy for a deranged murderer. This was a success that some accounts took seriously, such as the following article https://www.cbr.com/joker-movie-backlash-explained/, where there is a worry that the narrative could even incite violence from those among us who feel oppressed (in this case: incels).
The unsung heroes were Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, who kept the pace of the film patient, and didn’t skip the appropriate tempo of development. This is something we’ve seen done wrong, most recently in HBO’s Game of Thrones series, and these archives help appreciate when it is done more thoroughly.
The score of the film was excellent, and usually equated with whatever emotions Arthur Fleck (the protagonist) was feeling, which sounds simple yet often artistically went against how the audience may feel. For instance, eerily triumphant music in the face of the fire and violence.
The finale of the film was when I realised the movie fell short to a degree. Near the end you got strong glimpses of Heath Ledger’s portrayal of “The Joker” which has become somewhat a benchmark for the role. My only regret as a viewer is that the movie stopped at development and made no time nor promise for the fully developed Joker character, which is what many sorely missed.
For what it was, as a stand-alone origin story, you probably couldn’t hope for a better film, the only possible shortcoming could be the lack of continuance.
Rating 9/10
