Something I have discovered about myself is that I am intrigued by the character of the Joker. I am captivated by a man who is so crazy and violent that he could easily be described as an animal. I love seeing how different actors portray the clown prince of crime. Heath Ledger's performance of the character has to be one of my favourite movie performances of all time. Seeing this villain on screen with his many insane characteristics makes you think that this character must have an intriguing backstory. In 2019, we got that backstory. And me being me, I was way behind the trend and only recently saw the movie, just in time for the sequel to come out in about a year's time.

Joker gives us Joaquin Phoenix's interpretation of the character. This performance (which inevitably won Phoenix an Oscar) emphasizes the man behind the mask. This Joker, whose name for most of the film is Arthur Fleck, suffers from a psychological disorder that causes him to uncontrollably laugh at moments that would ordinarily provoke sadness. Throughout the film, we see a man who is placed at the bottom of society turn into a killing machine who is idolized by the criminals of Gotham City.

I was slightly nervous going into this film. I had heard that Joker was very violent and dark. Being a lover of mostly happy and uplifting films, I thought that this film likely wouldn't be my cup of tea. And Joker is definitely dark… very dark. The film revolves around someone who hates himself more than the world hates him and someone who only has "negative thoughts" (as the character himself states). The film is also very tense and makes you fully aware that Phoenix's character could snap at any moment and someone would die. Interestingly, the movie becomes less tense when the character embraces his dark side and starts up his killing streak; another notable way in which the creators presented the backward mind of the Joker.

Whilst watching Joker, I was expecting the movie to be much more gruesome and violent than it was. For a large majority of the film, I was thinking that the movie could have almost had an M classification (since movie ratings are usually based on the violent graphics and not the darkness of the film). However, there was a point when I immediately understood the film's rating. Towards the last quarter of Joker, the film becomes very violent, very quickly. This violence is extremely graphic and gruesome and I personally think that these parts could have been slightly less graphic and the scene still would have been as impactful. So the MA15+ classification was definitely understandable and should be heavily taken into consideration when deciding on who to watch this movie with.

Some movies are much more realistic than others. There are many films I have described as being realistic including Rogue One, In the Heights and Whiplash. Joker is certainly joining that list. It is almost scary how realistic this film is. Joaquin Phoenix turns a character that can easily be two-dimensional and cliche into a character that feels like someone we all know. This film sent a frightening and clear message that could be considered harsh but there is no other way of putting it: we all know a Joker.

The music that accompanied the Joker's performance was entirely appropriate to this movie. Hildur Guonadóttir's score perfectly created the tense and dark underscoring that was needed. The score also reminded me of the score from The Dark Knight Trilogy of films which I suppose was very appropriate. But not only was Guonadóttir's score appropriate to this film; the use of classic 'happy' songs such as Frank Sinatra's 'Send In The Clowns' and Jimmy Durante's 'Smile' were perfect additions to the movie. These aren't the kind of songs you'd expect to be underscoring mass murder but Joker is a very strange movie that encapsulates the backward nature of the Joker's mind.

My biggest criticism coming away from this movie was that it felt like not a lot happened over the two hours of the film. Joker was quite slow and felt like the first episode of a tv show; the episode where not a lot happens and is just introducing the audience to the characters and setting up future episodes. Joker is really just an origin story. The movie finishes with Arthur Fleck finally embracing his alter-ego meaning that we didn't get to see a lot of the Joker actually being the Joker. However, we will hopefully be seeing a lot more of 'the Joker being the Joker' in future and I think that the slow pacing was quite important. Similarly, it was hard to figure out what the Joker was imagining and what was actually happening, but once again I think this was an important element of the film.

Joker is a very hard movie to love. It is an incredible movie with outstanding elements but like many other great films, such as Whiplash, I'm not sure how inclined I'd be to watch it again. I am so glad I did watch it but due to the slow nature and how un-uplifting it is (I'm making that a word), I don't think I'd rush out to see it again. I am, however, looking forward to the sequel and any other follow-ups that may be made. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the character or of the Batman universe. If what I've talked about makes you interested in the film, then I would also certainly recommend it. However, I feel it is my duty to warn viewers of the very dark and gruesome moments.

Director: Todd Phillips

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz

Year released: 2019

My rating: 8/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 18/06/2023