Trying Too Hard // Cheesy At Times // Still A Superhero Movie

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2019)

Alright, listen. It's a good movie. Some could consider it great, Look! I gave it a 7/10 that's a positive rating! But, it's not "Film of the year", it's not fantastic and it's not going to knock you out of your seat.
Joaquin Phoenix is phenomenal, as usual. His acting is superb, so don't go in thinking he will ruin the film or in some way disgrace Heath Ledger's portrayal; it's a different Joker; get over it. However, because Phoenix is so good, it feels like every other actor wasn't; like they weren't pouring everything they had into their performances. And if Phoenix is going to, you'd better make some attempt to compete with him, even if you know you'll fail.
The Cinematography is incredible, some of the best I've seen in past years. Lots of close-up spins around Phoenix as lights shine all over him - giving the film a kind of 'showbiz' look (which is,presumably what Todd Philips was going for). The editing is great and the song choices are perfect for the film (bar one, later in the film, which feels out of place).
Now onto the negative stuff. The bad parts. The things that bring the film down from masterpiece status. "Trying Too Hard, Cheesy At Times, Still A Superhero Movie" is the title of this review and with good reason. Let's address them.
Trying too hard: Todd Philips & Scott Silver must think themselves great writers and although they are good at writing early scenes in films, they begins to trip over themselves when writing later scenes. They don't know how to appropriately develop a character from a previous scene, and write how they will act in the next. Now it could just be that the Joker is a difficult character to write, and if so, It's a pity that they couldn't make him perfect. There are a lot of moments when you feel as though the Director is whispering into your ear "That was sad, wasn't it?" or "Look how insane the Joker is lol!"
Cheesy At Times, Still A Superhero Movie: This could film could honestly stand on it's own, and by 'on it's own', I mean as not apart of the DC 'movie-verse'. Because it feels like a kind of 'Taxi Driver 2.0', it's not copying Taxi Driver, but the similarities are apparent. It's honestly a pity that the film is a 'Superhero Movie'; there are multiple scenes constructing the Joker's hatred (and justifying it) for Bruce Wayne's family & his father.
The reason I think the Joker is Cheesy (it can't be explained out-right, so I'll list some things) at times is because of the out-of-place flashbacks, edgy dialogue, funny justifications for things and the weird 'lol, that didn't really happen' scenes.
To conclude, I think you should see this film and make your own decision on it; it sure is a puzzler. Is it as fantastical as people are saying, the best film ever? Hell no. It's decent and, I think, well worth your money.