Deep, dark, violent, and intense

Rating: 9/10 (19 October 2019)

The most impressive thing about Warner Bros., and DC is after their blunder between "Man of Steel" and "Justice League" (with the exception of "Wonder Woman") they managed to find a way to get back on track. Joker is the third great film from them in a row (Aquaman, Shazam!, and now Joker). So from that paragraph above you can instantly tell I really liked this film. But there is a whole lot to say about it. First of all, let's just call this movie a The Joaquin Phoenix Show because that's what this is. He carries the entire film, with only a few scenes where he wasn't present. To me this is his most powerful, impactful, and deepest performance of his already monumental career. But in the same thought I'm thinking "I can't believe this is the same guy who voiced a cute, fuzzy bear." (Brother Bear) Anyway, many times I was taken away by the shear cleverness of pretty much everything in the movie. Not just Joaquin Phoenix, but the overall execution was awesome. Todd Phillips, the director (known for "The Hangover Trilogy") turned from an ok director for me, to one to certainly look out for. Every decision was smart, layered, complex, but yet engaging. He wasn't afraid to go to some dark places, and violent moments as well. By far the most violent "comic book movie" I've ever seen. However, I can't say it's a typical "comic book movie," the only element that is comic-bookish is Joker himself...because he is based off one. Phillips cleverly turns away from the typical comic book movie shtick and ended up making what I think is the the most important movie based off a comic since "The Dark Knight". "The Dark Knight" is still slightly better in my opinion, but Joker takes the second spot on my top list of comic book movies. Continuing my review of the film itself. The violence felt genuine any kind of expected when tell the story of Joker. I always thought there had to be a very dark, and depressing story behind what made Joker. He's not just a bad clown who likes to challenge Batman, he's a beaten down man, with a story so deep (as this film depicted) it's very hard to watch. This film was hard to watch at times. Just seeing someone get dumped on so many times by society became disheartening and you really felt for the guy. Then as the film progresses he starts developing into the Joker. It's basically watching someone tumble in life continuously for 2 hours until he becomes the villain we all love. I quickly got to mention Robert De Niro in this as well. He wasn't in the film much but, he really gave a great performance and not phoning it in. The character Thomas Wayne who was meant to be played by Alec Baldwin, who turned the role down due to scheduling conflicts, was I felt a missed opportunity, and would have been the perfect role for Baldwin. But, the guy who replaced him did a good enough job. Not a performance to remember, but good nonetheless. Lastly, the negatives. Honestly, there's not much to say other then I felt very depressed and shocked at how much this affected me emotionally. I guess that's not a negative since it did impact me in that manner. And De Niro while I liked his performance his character's story arc was a little too predictable. Other then that, this film is worth checking out. However, mind that there is a lot of blood, violence, and very dark moments, so please keep the kids away! I know parents like to take there kids to a comic book movie, but just not this one. For adults and teens, enjoy yourselves.