It was okay

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2019)

Joker is a weird one. On one hand it is the most interesting of DC's output for 10 years and is the first film of theirs that I've seen in the theatre since 2012. It's a performance driven character study and stands in a different league of film to the DCEU and MCU. Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic as Arthur Fleck and the supporting cast are great too. It has a distinct and thoughtful visual style, and the score perfectly bolsters every moment.
But that's the thing. All of these amazing elements elevate a thematically muddled film. Its ideas are thought provoking but don't draw any meaningful conclusions. With any other comic book film I would consider this more profound, maybe that's an issue with me, but I feel when you "sit at the big boy table" so to speak, you invite a deeper level of criticism. This film is getting awards buzz, and I think some of that may be warranted, but I think the screenplay maybe could have done with another draft.