Good "Fanfiction" : A lot of good to great elements but the final product disappoints

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2019)

Going through the other reviews I was wondering: did I see the same movie? Yes, joker contains a lot of great elements. The cinematography, especially towards the end is great, the late 70s, early 80s atmosphere works well. I actually wished to see more of the city. Phoenix acting was an impressive performance. But the movie left me kind of cold and uninterested. I did not really care for what was going. I never really cared for the character or what was happening to him. Storywise, I found the plot foreseeable, the twists were not very surprising. The movie as a whole was clichéd. I think I have seen and read this kind of story before and many rightfully point out taxi driver and king of comedy almost as blueprints. I normally like movies that take their time to build up the drama. That didn't work here either. The pacing was too slow in some parts (too many dancing scenes), a little bit rushed in others (the protagonist killing other characters). The Bruce Wayne parts were unnecessary. Like fanservice (like the Darth Vader scenes in rogue one maybe).
Overall, the movie is not bad, just disappointingly mediocre. My recommendation: Watch it on Netflix.