Joker is a Taxi Driver inspired story of a nobody, Arthur Fleck, getting more deranged until he snaps and becomes the Joker. He struggles with his job, deals with family issues against Thomas Wayne.
The idea that Arthur Fleck and Thomas Wayne may be related is an interesting one but I prefer that they didn't. It would have made Thomas Wayne too much of a boogeyman. For him to hate the poor AND be a bad father to be too OTT.
The film is well-directed by Todd Phillips. The late 70s/early 80s look of the film recalls films of Martin Scorsese. Lots of narrow corridors, cracked paint and seedy, grubby looking locations. There is a moment borrowed from King of Comedy where Arthur Fleck gets beloved. The camera never moves beyond Fleck's viewpoint. The music is excellent, melanchony, sinister.
Joachim Phoenix is excellent as Fleck and the way that he gradually becoming more assertive as the Joker. His final costume is nicely reminiscent of Caesar Romero's suit. Definitely one of the best interpretations of the character.
This is a pretty decent supervillain origin story movie. A film that occasionally thinks it's more intelligent than it actually is. Some might call it violent but the origin of a supervillain is hardly going to be sunshine and roses.
The film borrows from The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns. The Joker's appearance on the talk show mirrors that of his appearance on the David Endochrine show in the Dark KNight Returns.
The film concludes with Joker escaping from Arkham and Bruce Wayne having seen his parents die and be on the way to becoming Batman. Joachim Phoenix is so good that I wish we could see his version of the Joker tackle Robert Pattinson's Batman. It's possible that this film will get a sequel but I'm hoping that it does not. The film deserves to exist as its own little oddity.
7.5/10
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