Joker (2019)'s comments - page 3

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

ZEDG

A powerful, absorbing and emotional movie, that brought me to tears at the end.

4 years 6 months ago

As it's own story I think this film succeeds on its grimy aesthetics, deft cinematic callbacks, and of course Phoenix's magnetic performance. It's interesting. However as a BATMAN movie, I would call it a failure, the crucial problem being that it has no relationship to the character it exists to portray. Whoever this "Arthur Fleck" fella is, he is obviously not arch-nemesis material. The Joker has actual defining character traits/abilities and isn't just any fictional murderer dressed like a clown (Pennywise isn't the Joker, etc).

Let's leave aside the fact Fleck is an anorexic grandpa that, we can only assume, the much younger Batman will one day accidentally kill with one punch. The Joker character, in all his adaptations, is a criminal genius because Batman is a crime-fighting genius. It takes a Moriarty to challenge Batman's Holmes. But Fleck is a fuckup; a clumsy simpleton with no discernible skills or gifts. In fact almost every defining trait of the character is reversed: The Joker is a sadistic psychopath who you are supposed to hate (Fleck is a sympathetic "anti-hero" who only harms those that harm him), the Joker is extroverted and domineering (Fleck is withdrawn and socially inept), the Joker is disturbingly mirthful (Fleck is deeply depressive). These are not expendable traits, they purposely define the Joker in yin-yang counterbalance to the virtuous, cloistered, sullen Batman. This contrast is what makes these characters and their dynamic appealing, yet Arthur Fleck (mediocrity aside) is basically the same emo avenger as Bruce Wayne.

I mean this almost seems intentional. With the Joker depicted as the REAL sympathetic vigilante hero (and official spokesclown of the new BLM/Antifa/Pepsi Resistance™) and the Wayne family as callous robber barons, it kind of seems like we're supposed to think the Joker is giving you his own fair and unbalanced version of events here. They should've added a Duck Amuck style pull back after the end credits with the Joker decked out as Cecil B. DeMille: "Ain't I a stinka?"

Not only does Mark Hamill remain the best movie Joker, but Paul Dini's no-frills Joker backstory in Mask of the Phantasm -- a cunning mafia thug -- is still the least gimmicky and most rewarding one available (See also). Dini keeps Joker's origins mysterious, but not overtly shrouded a la Nolan. I know that 'vicious gangster used to be a vicious gangster' is kind of an anti-backstory, but that’s kind of the point. Writers are so eager to make a character “interesting” that they tack on any dramatic absurdity at the expense of authenticity. It’s the writing equivalent of bad CGI: unless it looks real, less is more. (And to be fair, I do appreciate how Todd Philips has moved beyond the corny traditional "chemical vat" storyline, like Nolan who also implied Joker simply wears makeup.)

Indeed if you want to see the best non-animated prequel version of the Joker just watch Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death (1947). Same character! In the unreleased sequel the Batman freak shows up, energizing the chaos, and Widmark (and other savvy criminals) successfully co-opt his crazy formula. As Joker he is more terrifying and this gives him an additional edge over the more ordinary, less adaptable crime bosses. Batman didn't fix crime in Gotham, he injected it with steroids.

4 years 6 months ago

SemirGenetics

A masterpiece

4 years 6 months ago

karuss

Quite surprised that this film won big at Venice, but its take on anti-capitalism, 70's New Hollywood reverence and a supreme performance by Joaquin wrapped around an atmosphere that you can cut with a knife make it understandable, especially during the times we are living in. The Dark Knight dealt with far more complex issues all around, but this one is more of a psychological representation than a study, which means that its all gloss without the meat and potatoes. Apart from that, I think it's a film well worth revisiting, but it ain't no masterpiece for me.

4 years 6 months ago

Dekisha

Well this was ... To put it mildly ... utter crap.

Awful story line, full of inaccuracies starting with Jokers real name ( i guess Phillips never read any comic's ).

If you want to make a movie about person with mental illness falling down, dont mix it with DC and call it something else. Remove the suit and the mask and this film can be called "Decent into madness" without literary changing anything else.

On the other hand, Phoenix's acting was brilliant, hands down.

How is this (the movie, not the acting) called masterpiece, is beyond me.

2/10 Movie
9/10 Acting

4 years 5 months ago

SpacedJ

Incel Passion of the Christ.

4 years 6 months ago

Cynicus Rex

Avoid the trailer; buy a ticket; let Phoenix take care of the rest.
I think I can add this movie to my favorites, but I'm unsure because there was a talking, sighing, cellphone buzzing, soda slurping cunt in the cinema who threw me off. As the movie progressed my imagination on how to rough him up was in sync with Joker's evolution. If it wasn't for the lady next to him who sternly told him to shut up multiple times I'd have dragged him to the front, kicking him in the gut, yelling: "Is this the entertainment you want?"

spoiler

4 years 6 months ago