Despite too much hype, Joker is still good cinema

Rating: 7/10 (12 October 2019)

The Good: Generally when watching a movie, I begin drawing conclusions about what score I am going to give it at around the halfway point based off how I am feeling. Joker is unique in that I was so engrossed by this movie that I wasn't even properly reflecting at all on any rating during this film.
While watching this movie, I was blown away by the production design, which gave a very Grimy Gotham that felt realistic, yet still unsettling in an incoming nightmare sort of way.
Following this of course is Joaquin's performance. While having everything being from Arthur's perspective led to some dissappointing moments (see The Bad), I have to commend the filmmakers for sticking so unflinchinglty to one point of view. Like it or not, we are stuck in Arthur's shoes and forced to empathize partly with him, and Joaquin Phoenix brings an amazing performance that ensures we are invested in the ride.
Zazie Beetz's character twist was a genuine rug pull twist that set up Joker's fractured mind well and the concept of him being an unreliable narrator.
The Bad: Overall, while I left the theatre satisfied, this movie still left me feeling a bit empty and like it could have been a bit more.
The biggest flaw for me in this movie was that Arthur didn't really have a journey. While the movie seems to argue that society has caused him to snap from the incidents presented in the movie, I feel that he was already there; that is, he was going to turn into Joker under any circumstances. For me, this ruins any real arc in the movie and lessens the tragedy of a good man going down the wrong path.
Moreover, the ending of this film rubbed me the wrong way the more I reflected on it. While it can be argued that Joker being an unreliable narrator is true to his character, this film was meant to be his origin and should provide a proper story. By saying that parts of his story was fiction (as the ending implied), it negates anything that happened in the movie and completely ruins any stakes that were there. This also just feels like a way to wave away the tons of plot holes that were in the movie, as it can just be blamed on the Joker lying.
If you take this story at face value, there was a lot of lazy storytelling or plot holes. The biggest ommission was explaining how society was collapsing in Gotham, and why people were so drawn to Arthur. Moreover, how did someone record Arthur's performance to show Robert De Niro's character and get him on the show? Did they have camcorders in the 70s? Who let Arthur enter the show with a gun? The list goes on and on.
Finally, while the darkness of this film should be expected given the trailers, this was almost comically grim. Why does everything in Gotham seem intent to beat up Arthur?
Film Highlight: Arthur's interview on TV. What a tense, well-acted moment that also gave a huge light to what the film wanted to say of how society tends to give a blind eye to the downtrodden.
Conclusion: A well-acted, gorgeous film that unfortunately has some faults that keep it from being great.