DC Comics based film ups their game for 2019 awards season.

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2019)

2005 saw the release of "Batman Begins", which reintroduced Cinema to the caped crusader by going to his genesis. This year in 2019, we have received it's evil twin, "Joker"- an origin story for the clown prince of crime that is incendiary and riveting. It only shows so much but sticks with you in the same way that other controversial films like "Fight Club" and "Natural Born Killers" did for the audiences who beared witness to them.
Joaquin Phoenix, like previous Batman star Christian Bale in many of his roles, dedicated himself to the title role by losing 52 pounds and immersed himself mentally to bring us the best incarnation of the character since Heath Ledger back in 2008.
Much has been discussed about the films' influences ("Taxi Driver", "The King of Comedy"), but Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver manage to carve an entrancing narrative that taps into comics mythology surrounding our title character and his eventual adversary, Batman, without being too chained to it.
The film does struggle in its' second half as it becomes repetitive with some overuse of montages. The story manages to overcome this and brilliantly pays off by the end.
This is definitely a worthwhile and refreshing film that takes a noteworthy spot in a year of comic book escapism.

Grade- A-