Generous 3.

Rating: 3/10 (13 October 2019)

"Joker" is nor a "masterpiece" nor is it "flawless" as this board boasts. It's mirely a decent origin, albeit heavy-handed as sin, with choppy flow, poor directing decisions at moments, and part brilliant part wildly overacting on Phoenix's part. The heavy handed nature of mental illness is not written well... It highlghts many different illnesses with none of which feeling whole or handled with much, if any, sense of understanding. Sprinkle in are a few light-hearted moments to remind you that "hey, he's still funny at times"... But with the strained mental illness angle it's difficult to laugh at these moments without a bit on introspection of what it is and who it is you're laughing at. The real "danger" this movie poses is that it's another Hollywood blunder with mental health and its handling... Which does way more harm than good.
There is no great existential pandering, ss some are saying... "it's deep", "my feels", "It's not a superhero movie it's a character study", regardless of what anyone wants to categorize it as.. I'll consider it a generous 3.