Fantastic performance from Joaquin! 8/10

Rating: 8/10 (24 February 2020)

Review:
This is definitely a character study, more than your average superhero movie, which has superb acting throughout, and an emotional storyline which touched me in many ways. The dark tone is set right from the beginning, were we follow Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. It did take me some time to get into the film because I didn't realise that the analysation of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) would go so deep, and the many knocks that he took throughout the film, along with his twisted family history, made it an extremely emotional ride. With his psychological problems, and society disregarding him, I couldn't help feeling sorry for Arthur, even though he committed several murders. It did make me think, "What would I do in his situation", and with no one to turn to, it's not a surprise that he turned out the way he did. You usually see concepts like this in documentaries, where they analyse the mind behind murderers, so that's why this movie is totally unique, and one of the best films of 2019. Joaquin Phoenix deserved every award that he received because his acting was out of this world. Most of his scenes were improvised, which meant that the director spent ages editing the final cut, so there are many different versions of the film on the cutting room floor. You definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it because it can take you down avenues that you have never been before. When it had finished, it took me some time to get out of the dark mode, which is very rare, so I knew that the director produced something special. Personally, I think that it should have been released before Christopher Nolan's Batman because it would have fit perfectly together. It could have easily had nothing to do with DC, which I would have preferred in some ways because it touches on many elements that have nothing to do with the superhero universe. Anyway, I think it's a great achievement by everyone involved, and even though it wasn't intended on being a DC blockbuster, it's the second highest-grossing DC film to date, with Aquaman just ahead. That just proves that you don't need to have a massive budget, and a CGI extravaganza, to make a successful comic book movie. Brilliant!
Round-Up:
This movie was directed by Todd Phillips, who also brought you Frat House in 1998, Bittersweet Motel, Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, School for Scoundrels, The Hangover franchise, Due Date and War Dogs. He's due to direct a Hulk Hogan biopic, which is in production, with Chris Hemsworth playing Terry Bollea, but the rest of the cast hasn't been named yet. As for this film, they plastered Robert De Niro's name all of the poster alongside Joaquin Phoenix, but I thought he was irrelevant to the plot. He did play a part in Arthur's complete conversion to the dark side, but I was expecting him to play a major roll in Arthur's life. I must admit, halfway through the film I called all of my friends because I thought that the Joker was Bruce Wayne's brother, which would have been a humongous twist in the franchise, but after watching more of the film, I realised that was a bluff. I'm amazed that it is the first R rated movie to make $1billion dollars, and that the director got his influence for the film from Alan Moore's comic "The Killing Joke", which tells the Joker's origin and descent into insanity, and the Martin Scorsese films Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and the King of Comedy. Sadly, Todd Phillips said he wants comic book movie fans to know that there is no chance of Joaquin Phoenix's villain and Robert Pattinson's Batman ever crossing over on the big screen, so this might be the last movie for this version of the Joker. I just hope that the upcoming DC movies take a leaf out of Joker's book!
Budget: $55million
Worldwide Gross: $1.07billion (WOW!)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp, Glenn Fleshler, Leigh Gill and Josh Pais. 8/10