Phoenix gives a performance of a lifetime!!!

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2019)

When this film was announced, my initial thought was "no one can come close to rivaling Heath Ledger's legendary performance as the Joker in 'The Dark Knight'." Let me tell you: Joaquin Phoenix give a phenomenal performance in "Joker" it'll be the biggest snub in Oscar history if he doesn't get nominated; he really dug deep for this one. As far as how it compares to Ledger's performance, it does, and it doesn't. It does because both will be talked about for years and will be considered some of the best performances in cinematic history that transcend any comic book movie portrayal by a long shot. Neither actor dialed in their performance; they each put the time and effort into making a unique interpretation of the character, which leads to the part where I mentioned that they don't compare because each version of the character are polar opposites of one another as far as their motives. Ledger's version was an agent of chaos; there was no reasoning behind his actions, he didn't have a clear backstory (it was multiple choice); he was just a guy that wanted to watch the world burn, and he portrayed that to perfection. Meanwhile, Phoenix's version, suffered from a mental illness all while being treated unfairly in life. We're taken through a series of tragic events through Arthur's perspective, that eventually push him over the edge and lead he to become the "Clown Prince of Crime"; that was portrayed to perfection as well. Side Note: Robert De Niro was great too; even with the limited amount of screen time he had, he nailed the talk show host persona.
The film itself is a SLOW burn. It's more of a character driven film that takes it's time to show you everything that happens in the titular characters life, which leads up to a BRUTAL finale. It's because of amount of breathing room this film has, it won't be for everyone; if you're expecting the usual, run-of-the-mill comic book film with tons of fighting scene, guns and explosions, you'll walk out severely disappointed. This is more of a drama/character study that lets you into Arthur's mind but once the chaos starts...OH BOY!!!!.The movie was shot really well; Todd Phillips made some great choices in this film from a direction standpoint; the lighting, certain scene transitions, zoom in/out shots were all terrific. I wouldn't mind seeing Phillips tackle more films like this one. Overall, Phoenix's performance alone was worth the price of admission; he was THAT good; however, as I stated earlier, the film takes a long time to develop, which I usually don't mind because I'm a very patient movie watcher, but if there comes a time where I'm thinking: "that's been established, we can move on" that's when I know they're taking a little too long and unfortunately, I had that thought a few times throughout. The good thing is the ending is really good and really established how Gotham became the chaotic, crime-ridden city we all are accustomed to and it shows why Batman is needed...