Spellbinding to say the least.

Rating: 8/10 (5 October 2019)

The Joker has always been one of my favourite, if not my favourite, comic book villain of all time. I've was fascinated to find out how the Joker became this crazy, delusional psychopath and I feel Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix gave us the a fantastic origin story that will make fans and audience members ecstatic.
Joker follows the story of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society, and the way he became one of Gotham's most feared criminals.
This film shook me. It REALLY shook me. I'm astounded that Phillips and Warner Bros. were daring enough to go down this route but I thought it was a perfect path to express the origin of the Joker. Everything about this film is disturbing and frankly unnerving. The ugly colour palette, haunting score, Phoenix's insane performance and dark themes all mixed together to create a dish that leaves a bad feeling in your stomach once devoured.
It's extraordinary to see what Todd Phillips did with this idea since it's something completely different from his other projects. The camerawork is excellent and captures a truly vile and distressing atmosphere. The writing is great and the character arc from Arthur Fleck to the Joker is no short of mesmerising.
Aside from Phillips, the only other person who makes this film even more insane is the spellbinding performance of Joaquin Phoenix. He has proven time and time again what an amazing actor he is but this is something really special. The legend definitely deserves an Oscar nomination. His portrayal of Arthur Fleck is gritty, sympathetic and realistic. The way Phoenix laughs stands out immensely. Every time he laughs uncontrollably, he holds onto his neck showing the pain he's feeling. Phoenix makes this depection his own and something with no other actor can replicate. Heath Ledger would most certainly be proud.
I don't think this film deserves all the controversy and flak critics are giving it. I think people forgot that the Joker is a mass murdering psycho, who has no regret whatsoever towards his victims, and so it would make sense for the film to convey violence in the way it's been shown.
Joker is a one of a kind film. There is no comic book film quite like it. The film deals with mature themes relating to mental illness and how society treat people which is sure to get people thinking and talking. This was a great experiment with a beloved villain and I'm satisfied with the direction the makers took. Believe all the hype surrounding Joker as it's something you don't want to miss.