Joker - Falcon's Blog

Joker

Greetings, Joker is a 2019 film that was directed by Todd Phillips who co-wrote the story with Scott Silver. Philips is perhaps known best for his roles in producing comedy movies, most notably the Hangover trilogy and the 2004 Starsky and Hutch film, before directing this box office smashing hit. The main cast isn’t particularly large in size as is befitting this isolated, claustrophobic story. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, the man destined to become the Joker, Robert De Niro as the popular comedic talk show host Murray Franklin, Zazie Beets as Sophie and Frances Conroy as Penny, Arthur’s ill mother. The music was conducted by Hildar Guðnadóttir who was involved in the Sicario movies as well as the 2019 mini-series named Chernobyl. It also includes many tracks from artists such as Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante during pivotal, emotive scenes. This film is very different from the family friendly affairs of superhero movies that are currently dominating the cinematic world as this is a dark and brooding psychological thriller that serves as the origin story for one of DC’s most infamous villains.

The plot begins in Gotham City in 1981, before the creation of the Dark Knight, at a time in which tensions are running high in the city. Unemployment is high and the streets are rife with violence, causing a general sense of unease among the populace. Basic services are beginning to falter under the strain and garbage men are on strike, allowing litter to fester on the roads. As Gotham falls further into the dark depths, the aspiring comedian and mentally unwell Arthur Fleck is trying to live his life as best he can while caring for his frail mother. Arthur suffers from a neurological condition in which he laughs uncontrollably when nervous or when he is upset. As such, he is very reliant on the social services for his medication to keep him in check. Due to budget cuts, Arthur’s local social services facility closes down and leaves him unable to acquire anymore of his medication. Arthur is attacked while working as a sign spinner by a group of young delinquents and is left badly beaten. The thugs also damage his sign in the process, causing friction between Arthur and his boss who doesn’t believe his claim and is annoyed by the damaged property.

 Joker

Randall, one of Arthur’s co-workers, gives him a gun for protection when he heard the news of the assault. Upon gifting the weapon to Fleck, Randall despairs of what is becoming of Gotham. One highlight in the otherwise bleak nature of Arthur’s life is his newly arrived neighbour, Sophie, whom he is romantically attracted to. Arthur manages to convince Sophie to come see his stand-up routine after stalking her for a while. Sophie is impressed by Fleck on the night and the two begin dating. Disaster falls upon Arthur as his gun falls out of his pocket while he was performing as a clown in a children’s hospital. The serious oversight leads to his dismissal from his job. Later in the day, a down in the dumps Fleck, still in his clown attire, is riding the subway where he unwillingly gets involved in a confrontation with three inebriated employees of Wayne Enterprises. Arthur defends himself from the physically aggressive men by shooting two of them and brutally murders the last one who tried to flee the crime scene. News of the three rich victims is caught by the media and reports of a killer clown captures the imagination of the public who take on the image as a protest symbol against the elite. Gotham, a city on a powder keg, is on course to be set a light by Arthur and the chaotic creation of the Joker is about to unfold.

Despite the overblown warnings from the media on security concerns, this is one of the few modern DC films to have performed well with audiences. DC had been doing poorly previously, especially in comparison with their competitors in Marvel, although they have had some recent successes in Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam. I believe that part of the reason for this is that Joker is designed as standalone movie and is not linked to any of the DC’s shared cinematic universe. Its adult themes also contributed to its popularity as it took inspiration from Scorsese’s filmography with both ‘The King of Comedy’ and ‘Taxi Driver’ being two of the main influences in particular. I thought it was a daring and an interesting choice to have a Batman film without the famous crime fighting hero. The Joker seems to have become a real cultural phenomenon as this particular version of the character has now been used in protests around the world as a symbol of dissatisfaction. Hong Kong protestors are among those who have adopted the clown make up in their struggle against Beijing. There are murmurs of a sequel being made due to its overwhelming success but, as this was such a tour de force, I would be concerned about another installation ruining its legacy. I would be more interested in the rumours of other Batman rogues getting their own dark origin stories and have heard that a film centred on Harvey ‘Two-Face’ Dent is being considered next.

Plot=10/10

Characters=10/10

Special Effects=10/10

Overall=10/10

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Written by Falcon, Monday 9 December 2019

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Falcon  5 year(s) ago (56 months)

Thanks for your comments! Joker will most certainly be considered a classic down the line thanks to its amazing performances, brilliant script and excellent direction. There still has been no solid confirmation on a sequel as of yet but I believe that it will more than likely have at least one follow up due to the box office breaking records of this movie.

 
Brisingr  5 year(s) ago (56 months)

Good review. Thoroughly enjoyed joker and it lived up to the hype as far as I am concerned. A terrific film full of strong characters, a dark setting and some damn good music! A big contender for film of the year.

 
Joh  5 year(s) ago (56 months)

Nice review. I really enjoyed Joker, it was very good. I haven't decided on my favourite movie of the year yet, but this is definitely a very strong contender.

 
Aaron  5 year(s) ago (56 months)

Nicely reviewed!

I agree with your rating, too. I thought Joker was one of the strongest films of the year. I was excited by the trailers, but the film surpassed my expectations.