Speakeasy Review: Joker
Right off the bat (no pun intended there), Joker is not the character you think he is. We’ve grown up with Mark Hamill’s animated Joker, Jack Nicholson’s mob boss going up against Michael Keaton, Heath Ledger terrorizing Christian Bale and all of Gotham, and (more recently) Jared Leto for a quick 15 minutes in Suicide Squad. But Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips deliver us a Batman-free Joker story filled with Batman callbacks. Many questioned how you could deliver a great film about the Clown Prince of Crime without Batman. In short, we received a classic villain story without the hero.
Joker is different than what we’ve seen from DC and Marvel. In fact, we received a story that actually connects to society. Take out the Batman references, and you still have a great film that talks about the dark side of the insane and how the higher society looks down on them. While Joaquin Phoenix has always been rumored to be in a DC/Marvel film (he was in final talks to play Doctor Strange before the role went to Benedict Cumberbatch), this was the perfect film to introduce him to the comic movie world. And he nails characteristics that other actors who have portrayed the Joker didn’t get. For one, we truly see the insane side of Joker. Dealing with therapists, his confusing backstory of who his father is (which I felt was an incredible twist and won’t spoil it here), and how he deals with killing and the feelings he gets from it, Joaquin really finds a way for us to connect with the Joker that no one has done before. We also get backstory on how Joker had his trademark characteristics like his iconic laugh and how it’s a condition where he busts out in laughter sporadically.
With a dark and bloody story like this, Todd Phillips really delivers a dark Gotham city that we have only really gotten hints of with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Phillips, whose background was in comedy with hits like The Hangover and Old School, really took a risk with the film. Since there have been so many different Jokers in the past, it has always been tough really delivering a true origin especially since DC has never publish Joker’s origin in the comics or produced on film/TV except once with Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman. What was interesting was that we got a Joker origin story that shows he was already crazy, but not established in Gotham. Another interesting take was that Arthur Fleck/Joker’s actions led directly to the Wayne murders, which is the famous beginnings of Bruce Wayne’s transformation into Batman. While I personally am tired of seeing the Wayne murders during every single Batman story, the idea that it was Joker’s actions that killed Bruce’s parents is interesting in connecting the two so early on before the two become legendary adversaries.
Even before the release, the film was receiving high praise. At the Toronto Film Festival in August, Joaquin Phoenix won the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, which is the festival’s best actor award. But it was at the Venice Film Festival where the film was highly recognized. The film took home three awards including the Golden Lion Award, which is the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. Since these festivals, most of the talk has now shifted to award season. Many people (including myself) see the Best Actor race locked up in this film with Joaquin Phoenix. While the film itself is incredible and will see numerous nominations, it likely won’t take home Best Film awards at the Golden Globes or Academy Awards. But we will see when more award caliber films start coming out in the final months of the year.
Joker is a comic film that everyone will love. You don’t even need to know the depths about the character or Batman in order to enjoy the film. While it is dark and at times uncomfortable, that’s exactly how you’re supposed to feel during the 2-hours you are watching the movie. I saw it on IMAX and it was beautiful seeing a different take on Gotham City on the IMAX ratio. But it isn’t necessary to see it on IMAX to really get the dark and gritty nature of Gotham in the film. In fact, you are there to see Joaquin Phoenix turn from Arthur Fleck into the villain we all love. And that’s exactly what he delivered!
OVERALL RATING: 9/10
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