When people say the DC universe is dark, this is what it should mean.

Rating: 9/10 (7 October 2019)

Now I'm not gonna say that Joker was a psychological masterpiece and that it showcased the true art of cinema or some crap like that. For me Joker was great because it was different, it took its time to make you understand the character of Arthur Fleck and unravel the plot, had interesting things to say about society and wasn't pandering to the audience and it made me smile.
First off to get it out of the way let me address the so called "controversy" of this film in my opinion. To me for the most part I never really saw any controversy, I knew going in that Joker was a villain and I expected the movie to show me the violent acts of the Joker character and yes some of the violence is brutal but was never glorified or overblown like in some R-rated movies(lookin at you Hellboy, no cap)Sure most of the movie was leaning towards making you feel sympathy towards Arthur Fleck even though he did violent and terrible things but the movie made it known that Joker was a villain and had mental health issues that makes him the way he is, along with the tragic events that happen throughout his life but the purpose of the movie was to show you how someone can go from being a normal person and be broken by life and turn into a psychopath, and the volience and themes show that.
Okay now let's move on to the performances, I'm sure you've heard it somewhere and I'm gonna say it again Joaquin Phoenix was dope playing the role of Arthur Fleck/Joker. I usually don't care for the oscars but I would like this man to win one. Joaquin made me feel sympathy for Arthur throughout the movie and potrayed Arthur's mental health issues perfectly and when he turned into the Joker...I enjoyed his performance man. Robert Deniro as Murray Franklin (a talk show host) was good, Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck (Arthur's mother) also gave a convincing performance as well. Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne was also interesting as the movie gave a very different version of Thomas Wayne from other Batman related movies. The character of Thomas Wayne was almost cruel and colder than any other versions from the comic or movies and I appreciated that a lot especially interactions between him and Arthur Fleck.
Zazie Beetz as Sophie was meh I mean she didn't give a bad performance by any means it's just that she was used for a certain plot point and twist that I saw coming from a mile away and I felt that her arc or character even was unneeded and her contribution to Arthur's story would have been fine without her character.
One thing I was worried about was that people in the movie were going to be unrealistically cruel to Arthur, however that wasn't the case the movie handled that part pretty well and again I appreciated that. The story of Arthur becoming Joker took its time and didn't rush his transformation, the movie really made you understand Arthur's life, his dreams, mental state, relationships with certain people and his interactions before everything turns upside down and starts doing Joker ish. Arthur's downfall was heartbreaking to watch and you felt the consequences of being cruel to other people but also some effects of mental health issues.
However although I really liked that the movie took its time with the story and was really patient....I don't really like the slow burn feel to this movie , its just not my cup of tea and it's not that i require an action sequence every 15 minutes it's just that some movies take unnecessary time and energy trying to deepen the story or character motivations and the pace of the movie can become very slow and drag on. Joker was never 100% boring to me but there were times that the movie almost became a drag to watch.
The third act alone is a solid 10/10 you not only get to see the Joker character in full force but the themes that the movie was trying to convey come full circle, it became brutal, almost heartbreaking, tense and wild. Especially with its themes about people being unnecessarily cruel to one another, not considering other people around you (not loving your neighbor so to speak). The key theme about how someone can turn evil after a series of bad things happening to someone, being an outcast in society basically how the world can be a cruel place and how some people will break under that pressure (I could go on all day).
Also what I really really liked that the movie never preaches to you or panders to the audience about these themes but mostly uses the show don't tell method almost the entire movie except very few instances whereby the movie tells you it's themes through characters but not in a bad way. Without saying too much my favorite scene of the movie was the interaction between Joker and De Niro's character Murray whereby the movie really shines.
The movie had a dark tone to it and worked really well, the movie wasn't bleak or dark for the sake of being dark and there were some funny moments, not a lot since it was a very serious but had funny moments mostly dark humor I mean it's a Joker movie so there are gonna be laughs. Speaking of laughs the movie did a really interesting thing with Arthur's/Joker's laugh so well done movie. A few nitpicks are that you don't get to see the Joker character for long until the last act of the movie I get it's an origin story but I wished there could have been a little more Joker scenes but it's not a negative point but a wish really. Not many characters were really as interesting as Arthur Fleck or Murray and maybe Penny Fleck. The movie never really reveals that Joker's violent actions are justified or right but it made you understand why someone would do the things he did even if it's not right.
Joker was great, one of the best movies of 2019, one of the best DC and comic book movies of all time. There was a cool tie-in to Batman, had funny some scenes The Arthur Fleck character was amazing, the story was well written,when Arthur became Joker it was really awesome. The movie had really great themes but the movie is slow at times and had some uninteresting characters but what really matters is Joker put a smile on my face.