A spoiler-free review of The Joker
November 22, 2019
The 2019 Joker film is loosely based on Batman comics. It follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) as a struggling comedian living in Gotham trying to take care of his disabled mother while making ends meet as a clown. Throughout the film we see Arthur Fleck being bullied by society because of his mental illness and transition from an innocent person to a murderer (aka the Joker).
For those of you who are still reading this review this will be SPOILER FREE!
So let's begin!
What I loved about the movie
The movie was visually and audibly stunning to watch
The scenes were extremely captivating because of how well the audio matched with the character’s actions and the tone of the scene.
I can actually talk to people about the movie
The film tells the story based on what is actually happening to Arthur and what he is fantasizing. They do not make it completely obvious if what is happening is reality or a fantasy. This made it more interesting to talk about since everyone has their own interpretation of what happened. You will also find yourself on the internet looking for anyone’s opinion and theories, which is what I did the moment I got home from the theatre.
The character development
Character development can be boring to watch, but this movie made it interesting by taking more time to see changes in the character and watching someone good become bad.
Okay… now on to what I didn’t find so great.
What I didn’t like about the movie
The plotline
For some reason, I always think of basic plotlines that could occur in the movie as I watch it and unfortunately this one did have them. Although this doesn’t surprise me, still I felt that it took away some of the mystery in the movie. Other than that, this is the only thing I didn’t like.
Overall thoughts
Joker vs. Joker
I feel compelled to talk about the actor Joaquin Phoenix and Heath Ledger (the Joker from Christoper Nolan’s Batman series) since the Joker is an iconic character, but here’s what I think. The two characters are incomparable, Heath Ledger played the Joker as a full-fledge villain, while Joaquin Phoenix played the Joker as if he has not yet become the villain. They both played the same character but with different personality traits. So it’s like comparing oranges to apples.
For the movie as a whole: I don’t think this movie is for everyone, unlike a lot of other movies there are not a lot of big events since this movie focuses on character development. You also have to pay attention to the subtle details in order to understand what is happening. So, if you like to just lay back and enjoy a movie without giving it too much thought I don’t think you will like the Joker.
Here’s my final verdict…
