Joker didn't need The Joker to be good

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2019)

I'm noticing a trend here, Hollywood doesn't think that people will watch a movie unless a Marvel or DC villain is attached to it. Joker could have stood on its own as a socially awkward and psychologically deranged New Yorker navigates the daily streets and life of a city gone mad. Then have Juaquin Phoenix at the helm. How do you go wrong? It doesn't need to be an origin story. Having said that the movie is an excellent execution and holds an amazingly, and surprisingly, level of restraint and pacing. As an audience member you are embarrassed for the main character throughout and feel his awkward interactions with people as he is. This could have been a re-imagining of Taxi driver and it would have been better than the source material. One thing that shouldn't be overstated is that the makers and participants of this movie weren't going for louder, faster, and explosions to make its point. Nor did it succumb to fanboy nonsense and cheap multiverse references. You will sympathize with the character in a cradle of relativity that no one will want to admit to others. We've all done the things the titular character does, we've made faces in the mirror, we've wanted things and people above our station, and we've all imagined scenarios where we were smooth, confident, well liked, and said all the right things.
I'm envious for people who would go into this movie with no knowledge of who Batman is, what The Joker is, who the Waynes are, and what Gotham is. For them this movie would simply be a great movie about a clown with a lot of personal problems, I'd watch that.