What people actually mean when they say "a comic book movie for people who don't like comic book movies"

Rating: 7/10 (12 October 2019)

For those that are experiencing severe ennui in the age of conveyor-belt blockbuster monstrosities, Joker is a breath of fresh air. Not only does it totally subvert expectations in it's own genre (the film is extremely small scale and barely relies on any superhero/comic book tropes) but it manages to be an excellent film noir/ character study/ hilarious dark comedy in it's own right.
Joker has all the hallmarks of the film's it's emulating, but through the lens of a comic book antihero origin story and with Todd Phillip's direction brilliantly balancing callousness and tenderness, it becomes unlike anything you've seen before. Of course, it harkens back to the films of Martin Scorsese in a way that borders on problematic. Plot wise, Joker feels like an odd fusion of The King of Comedy (pathetic loner aspires to be stand up comedian and ultimately takes on his talk show host hero to achieve fame) and Taxi Driver (sociopathic, mentally ill man lives alone in an atrophied society that ultimately leads him to commit freeing acts of violence), but ultimately it overcomes it's inspirations to become it's own film.
All in all, I think this is definitely worth a watch. I wish Hollywood would make more films like this.