Review - Joker (2019)

           Hey guys, Chuck here. In the wake of a couple of DC movie announcements, one good and one not so good, I decided to take a look at possibly one of the most talked about DC Comics films in recent memory, Joker. Directed by Todd Phillips, who is best known for comedic films like Old School and The Hangover trilogy, Joker is a very dark, very dramatic film done very much in the vein of the early works of Martin Scorsese. 

           The movie focuses on Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), who is a mentally ill loner living in Gotham City with his mother Penny (Frances Conroy), and working as a party clown. Unfortunately, after getting fired for carrying a gun, Arthur is attacked by some white collar financial guys on a train, and shoots all three of them dead. 

            We also see Arthur try his hand at being a stand-up comic, but his act bombs hard, and ends up getting mocked by local late-night talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). Throughout the movie, Arthur is led to believe that his mother had an affair with Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), thus making Arthur the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne. It turns out to not be true, as Arthur's mother also had a major mental illness. Arthur ends up smothering his mother in her hospital bed, killing her. 

            Meanwhile, Arthur's actions have led to the disenfranchised masses across Gotham to have taken to protesting and rioting in the streets, even wearing clown masks and clown makeup, having used the visage of a clown as a rallying symbol against oppression from the city's wealthy elite, including Thomas Wayne. Arthur, meanwhile, is invited to be a guest on the Murray Franklin show, and dresses in a colorful suit with clown makeup and green hair, and heads out into the city, where he loses two detectives (Bill Camp & Shea Whigham) on a train filled with others dressed like clowns. 

         On the Murray Franklin show, Arthur is introduced to the audience as Joker, and after a failed joke, confesses to killing the three young men earlier in the movie. When Murray tries to gauge the reason for Arthur doing so, Arthur comes up with a barrage of reasons, including the unfortunate disparity among the upper and lower classes in Gotham. After telling yet another joke, Arthur pulls a gun and shoots Murray in the head, killing him. After being arrested, rioters cause the police car Arthur is in to crash, and pull him onto the hood of the car. Meanwhile, a masked assailant follows Thomas Wayne, his wife Martha, and their son Bruce out of the Monarch Theater, where they just watched a movie. The assailant kills Thomas and Martha, sparing Bruce. 

          Later, at Arkham State Hospital, Arthur laughs at a joke he thought of during a session with a therapist, but declines to tell it to her, stating that she wouldn't get it. The movie ends with Arthur walking down a corridor, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him, and gets chased by an orderly. 

          Okay, so this movie was honestly really good. Director Todd Phillips made a gamble in deciding to make the film a character study and not a comic book adaptation. The idea on focusing not on the Joker as a criminal, but how a man with mental illness could be pushed to a breaking point by the society that surrounds him. It's truly a master class of how to delve into the mind of a character like the Joker. 

         Speaking of which, Joaquin Phoenix was absolutely amazing as Arthur Fleck/Joker. He really sold the pain of being an individual with a mental illness, and while I admit I wasn't a fan of the Joker makeup initially, it definitely grew on me the more I watched the movie and it's definitely my favorite Joker look next to Jack Nicholson. Robert De Niro was also really great in this movie as Murray Franklin. Now, the character was a nod to his Rupert Pupkin character from The King of Comedy, but he still feels like a character that could exist in the overall Batman mythos. As far as other cast members, I did enjoy Frances Conroy, Zazie Beets, and Shea Whigham in this movie in their supporting roles. The only one I wasn't really a fan of was Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne. I dunno, he just felt too angry to me, and I think that Alec Baldwin, who was originally cast in the part, would have been a lot better. But, the fact is that this was Joaquin Phoenix's show, and he definitely earned the Oscar he got for his performance in this movie. 

         The other major Oscar for this movie went to Hildur Guðnadóttir, whose heavy use of the cello in the score for this movie was truly eerie and otherworldly, and I just loved it. I also like the grimy, lived-in feel of  this movie, as it really adds a flair of realism that makes this movie stand out from other DC projects. All in all, I love this movie. Heck, it's the movie that inspired me to start Chuck's Movie Breakdown. So, obviously it did something good. I'm giving Joker a rating of 5/5. 

        Now, earlier in this review, I mentioned two recent announcements regarding upcoming DC movies. The not so good announcement is that a planned Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser, J.K. Simmons, and Michael Keaton had its planned release cancelled after nearly being completed with post-production. Unfortunate, but this does happen. Never this close to completion, but nevertheless. However, the one really good announcement, and the reason for this review, is that on October 4, 2024, we're getting a sequel to Joker titled Joker: Folie à Deux (which translates to "Madness of Two"). Along with the return of actor Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips, this new movie will feature Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. I don't know about you guys, but the idea of having another cinematic version of Harley Quinn, and to have her be portrayed by Lady Gaga, is pretty awesome. Whether this movie turns out to be a musical or not is a story for another day, but either way, I definitely can't wait to see this movie in 2024. 

         Anyways, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.