Joker (2019) - Review

While this is a spoiler-free review, I’ll discuss aspects of the plot and characters in this review. So, I recommend that you watch the movie before reading my review.

We live in a society.

5/5

In an era of CGI-fest PG-13 comic book movies trying to set up cinematic universes and sequels, Joker is a heavy breath of fresh air. With Joker, Warner Bros has produced an R-rated comic book movie that’s an intense psychological character study. It is also a cinematic achievement on a high level.

Joker is the most realistic rendition of the metamorphosis of a mentally ill loner to an iconic comic book villain. The character’s slow descent into chaos feels unsettlingly authentic. The story takes place entirely from Arthur’s perspective who is established as an unreliable narrator later in the movie. A few days after watching, the movie got me thinking about whether certain events really happened or not. This is the kind of ambiguity I appreciate in a movie. Not a shot of a spinning totem at the end of the movie just to tell the audience, “Hey, this movie is way more complex than you think it is”

Joaquin Phoenix bleeds, sweats, and cries his soul for this movie. Heath Ledger would be proud and that’s not an exaggeration. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s hauntingly beautiful score gives life to many scenes and evokes so many emotions. She deserves to take home all the awards for the best original score this year. Being a period film, the movie doesn’t simply emulate the look of 70’s and 80’s movies. The movie has a beautiful color palette and the cinematography is original. There is a scene in the movie with Arthur sitting in the back seat of a moving bus while the camera dollies in on him to a close up. You could practically feel Arthur’s confusion and despondency in that scene. Arthur’s obscurity in society is captured brilliantly. Later, when Arthur becomes Joker, the cinematography changes in very subtle ways to show him with more power and belonging. Lawrence Sher has done a truly masterful job with Joker.

Todd Phillips has made a movie that, while heavily inspired by Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, is truly unique and exceptional. There was a lot of drama surrounding this movie’s release. People were worried about another mass shooting. Joker doesn’t glorify incel violence. If anything, it is a cautionary tale of what childhood trauma, isolation and abandonment can do to a person. The ability to make movies like Joker is Warner Bros’ biggest strength and they should absolutely leverage it. Joker also stands as a lesson to film studios to trust their directors and not meddle with their work cough Justice Le… cough.