The Joker as a pure sympathetic character.

Rating: 7/10 (31 October 2019)

Absolutely unfunny. A mash up of several great films with using that material as a back story for one of the most iconic arch villains in pop literature. Phoenix gives it everything he's got. Unfortunately the material is not up to par.
He's not an anti-hero.
It's a two hours of If you had my life and problems you'd become a deranged killer too.
The Joker in this movie displays non of the wit, genius, imagination, manipulative ability of the character he's derived from. You cannot imagine this person becoming the legendary rival of Batman. He's basically a person driven homicidally insane by his experiences in life. That's it. Period.
He's purely an untalented deranged killer. Which is a slap in the face to all the people who've made The Joker so interesting in the past. Heath Ledgers Joker embodied the skills this one is lacking. Jack Nicholson's embodied his absurdity. This one just kills.
Two hours of making him sympathetic. It scares me that so many people consider this a masterpiece. It's a mash up of Network, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, TAXI DRIVER, and The King of Comedy. Some will say it's paying homage to those. I call it what it really is, unimaginatively stealing most of it's material from them.
So why did I give it as high as a 7? Phoenix is incredible. I think with the right material this truly could have been a masterpiece. Instead they blamed all of society for turning him into what he is.
The Joker in previous incarnations is a homicidal maniac...but he has smarts, style, wit, dare I say charm?