Prequel to Ledgers Joker

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2019)

Good movie, it is a dramatic take on the joker and by no means an action flick. It's an almost indie, Sundance-type character study really, so watch it with that expectation and focus. It gives some nods to Batman and that world, but really isn't about Gotham or the dark knight. It really is an immature archcriminal/Joker (IMO) in his earlier days. It shows his sadness and vulnerability more than his anger and badass swagger (though it does that toward the end). It made me want to binge Batman Begins then The Dark Knight immediately!
The first half of this movie is about a really mentally ill and out of touch human (vs super-villain); he is so awkward and sad. I do wish they made him a little more relatable, he was already so emotionally (and neurologically, I think) messed up throughout the movie that it was hard to identify with him for the most part. I did, being someone who has had depression, identify with the intense loneliness, sadness and detachment Pheonix did a spectacular job (as always!) portraying. However, I think found it hard to digest his odd combo of schizoid and autistic traits. Overall I really enjoyed the film and will and must watch it at least once more, now with the mindset of it being a dramatic film. It's a dramatic film about a deranged man who snaps and adopts an alter-ego, in an understandable way.