A masterclass in acting in a very nice looking movie that partially makes it's case.

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2019)

When i first heard about "Joker", i was excited. I thought using a very popular character to depict descent into madness is a pretty good idea. When i heard Todd Philips was gonna direct it, i was a bit sceptical. He never made this kind of movie. But from the movies i've seen of him, he is a competent director. He didn't disappoint. "Joker" is his finest work. I hope he gets good offers in the future. "Joker" is a competently helmed, beautifully made movie. Which is one of it's strengths. Though it's not flawless.
Before talking about the flaws. I have to give due applause to Joaquin Phoenix. He did one of those transformative works, showing his acting prowess, in such a royal way...this will be something that will be talked about in coming times. He gorgeously put on the screen - his characters vulnerabilities, his anguish and his need to do something to spark life in his life. Joaquin's Joker is a ride to behold.
But...i don't think the script properly holds up his performance. By no means it's a bad script, it's superior than most. But here's the thing, this movie is dealing with some sharp subjects. I felt like it failed to uphold them properly. It did partially though. I saw two things in this movie. Arthur's journey towards chaos and the city he is in, that city's impoverished people's journey with him. When it came to Arthur, the movie did a pretty good job. It made a proper case for him to become someone like Joker. The things he went through, the revelations he found out about him, the conditions he already had ...yeah, i can see that throwing someone over the edge. There are one or two things i felt like could've been emphasised more. But nothing is flawless. So, good job movie, on that front. But as for the city's journey with him...i felt like the movie didn't properly illustrate that. The movie needed to make a strong case for the city's madness, as much as it had to do for Arthur's. The approach they took, it just didn't do it for me. I would say "V for Vendetta" made better case for this type of unrest. There were also a couple of weird, kinda shoehorned in scene that disrupted the flow of the movie for me. I felt like the movie kinda dropped the ball in the last scenes, after Arthur got on television, those scenes were weak and didn't give the movie a strong finish.
So, i would watch this for Joker himself and Joaquin, but as for the larger case the movie alluded to, i thought it was murky. But this movie is still important, it's very different in the comic book adaptation movie crowd. If this encourages producers and directors to take more risks, i am all for it.