Is this a Joke?

Rating: 5/10 (9 October 2019)

Okay. I have never been more excited for a movie in my entire 24 years of life. I would cry watching the trailer, hyperventilate whenever the date got closer; even almost got a Joker tattoo on opening day. But wow. I'm pretty disappointed, and completely shocked at how everyone's just passing out 10's for this. First off, it's not bad. But it's not a "masterpiece." PROS: The acting. It's good... but not great. And I hate to say that because Phoenix is one of my most favorite actors of all time. It just seemed overacted at times. The cinematography. Wow. The most breathtaking film I have ever seen. I was floored by how gorgeous each and every shot was. Worth seeing it for that aspect alone. CONS: Writing. The story just wasn't there. It was quite boring. Some of it was just silly in my opinion. Like him dancing every second and laughing/choking... it got old fast. Some of the dialogue was quite cringy, trying to be edgy. Seemed pretty aimless overall with no real plot. Wasn't entertaining. I kept looking at the time to see when it was over. Also, when he dances down the steps? Terrible song choice. And the twist with him imagining the girl with him the whole time? Seemed like they wanted some shock value, but it wasn't very impactful. I just didn't care. Also, isn't the Joker supposed to be an incredibly intelligent mastermind? Arthur came off to me as slow, somewhat dumb, and a little annoying at times. Almost like a dumb little child. Overall, this film seemed to take itself more seriously than it ended up being. It was overly pretentious, tried way too hard to live up to the classics. I feel like this project was too heavy for such an inexperienced director like Phillips to carry. I mean, he's used to doing frat boy comedies, what do you expect? Had this been in the hands of Scorsese, Aronofsky, or any of the greats, this would've been amazing. It just kinda bombed for me. Guess the joke's on me.