You'll never root for Batman again

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2019)

A film about the Joker. What a great idea! Jared Leno must be delighted to be front and centre as arguably one of the most famous and recognisable bad-guys ever in popular culture. Unfortunately, DC's 'shared universe' ran into one or ten problems and has become fractured into... well, no one really knows what. Only that Jared Leno's 'Joker' appears to have been dumped after his woefully small appearance in 'Suicide Squad' and now Joaquin Phoenix puts on the clown make-up for the role.
How 'Joker' fits in with what has been and what is left of DC's original attempt at bringing 'Justice League' together is anyone's guess. If you liked (or hated!) all those previous installments it doesn't really matter. Don't go into this film looking to see how it ties in. There might be a sequel, there might now. It doesn't matter. This film is so good that I almost hope it stays as a 'stand alone' film, just in case the quality deteriorates.
Phoenix plays 'Arthur Fleck' (yup, no more 'Jack Napier' here!), a down-on-his-luck resident of Gotham City who struggles with his mental health issues while just about scraping a living working as a clown and looking after his sickly mother. It's rare that a film - even one that's mainly about a single individual - actually has that character in every scene. With 'Joker' there's rarely a minute where Phoenix isn't on screen... and therefore stealing the scene. Robert DeNiro is also on the cast list and - yes - obviously he's excellent (but he's not in it that much, so don't expect too much screen time for him). It's also interesting that many people also see the similarities of two of DeNiro's other work. If you've seen (and, if not, I recommend you watch) 'Taxi Driver' or 'King of Comedy' then you'll see more than a few nods here and there.
I know that many recent Batman fans will say that there's no other Joker than Heath Ledger and us oldies will always say that Jack Nicholson did it best. I certainly won't argue with anyone who admires either of their performances, but Phoenix shows that, even stepping into their big clown shoes, he can still bring something new to the role.
Yes, it's - technically - a superhero film, but it never really feels like one. There are no lavish computer-generated special effects of heroes/villains with superpowers. There are plenty of points which obviously link in to the whole 'Batman mythos,' but you could almost watch this film as more of a study of mental illness than an 'origin story' for the Joker.
It may not be for everyone. Yes, it is brutal and there are some shockingly-real acts of graphic violence here and there. There's been a lot of speculation in the media about 'Joker's' hidden meaning and the impact creating a film about a villain and promoting them as a 'hero.' Personally, I don't think that anyone (sane) would ever commit any sore of crime because of a movie, even this one. One reviewer said it best when he said that there wasn't a massive spike in violent crime after the cinematic release of 'American Psycho' so why would there be one now with 'Joker?' The character 'Joker' - despite being the focus of the story - is never really shown as some sort of 'role model' for us all to follow. We may understand - some of - his motives, but anyone in their right mind would never truly wish to emulate him.
I don't want to give away anything away about the plot as this is a film you really do need to watch yourself. I'm not one to say who should be in line for an Oscar. I don't know whether Phoenix will win one (probably not), but his performance is definitely worthy of praise.