Brilliant acting in a solid origin-story of an iconic villain

Rating: 8/10 (5 March 2020)

"Joker" has been hyped, anticipated and looked forward too. Director Todd Phillips truly had a lot to live up to when taking on this project. "Joker" focuses on the iconic Batman nemesis in his early days; struggling standup comedian Arthur Fleck suffers several setbacks which - together - will be factors to why he turns into the gritty criminal mastermind we all know he will become. Yes, this is an origin story, and it's not based on any particular comic story arc. Instead, the film draws influences from various stories featuring the Joker, effectively transporting the character to a setting very realistic and (at times scarily) similar to ours. This has also sparked some debate as many fear the film might inspire incels to commit violent attacks, inspires by Joaquin Phoenix's title role. I won't address it further as I'm not here to debate, but Arthur surely makes you think about certain marginalized groups in society. And Phoenix? He plays the role almost flawlessly. Does he reach Heath Ledger's acclaimed performance? I cannot really compare the two as Heath plays the Joker when he IS the Joker, Phoenix plays the Joker when he is still just a failed, young man with crushed dreams. Watching "Joker" we know more or less how it will end, overall the film isn't really a piñata of surprises, but it doesn't matter because of how well directed and acted it is. The cinematography should also get some praise. The main issue with "Joker" is the writing. At times, it tends to enter the (very tiresome) grounds of self-indulging. It tries to hard to be deep, even though I'm sure the film would've been "deep" enough just by scaling down on a few slightly more artistic scenes. After all Joaquin shines as the Joker and carries much of the film on his talented shoulders alone. The "Joker" truly is a good movie, and I hope to see the return of him very soon.