Joker (2019) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 9) 🃏
Hello everyone,
Today's post is not the kindest I have ever been in a review. It came from a very personal place of frustration with what I saw, which I have to say is very rare. I don't like being a negative Nancy, but honesty is important to me so here we are. I also couldn't filter enough thoughts out, so forgive me for this one also being a touch on the lengthy side....
(**disclaimer: the
following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them -
film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto
some thoughts....**)
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| Source: IMDB |
The next in a
long line of adaptations on the troubled streets of Gotham City, director and
co-writer Todd Phillips has taken on the ginormous task of The Joker’s origin story,
with horrifically muddled results. Much like the characterisation of the protagonist
who eventually becomes one of the most infamous comic-book villains of all time,
this film is incredibly dark and largely confused. Whilst attempting to be a
gritty and edgy hot take, it is abundantly clear that this story doesn’t know which
idea it wanted to focus on and suffers from mass mediocrity.
Within the
many issues Joker presents to its audience, there are two shining lights
that add copious amounts of merit and potential to what this could have been if
tightened up in other areas. Although a predictable choice for the 2019/2020
awards season, all of Joaquin Phoenix’s accolades for his twisted and captivating
performance as troubled protagonist Arthur Fleck are truly well-deserved. In
the few high quality moments littered throughout the film, Phoenix’s finesse and
comprehension of Fleck’s distinctive emotional turmoil’s are responsible for much
of the impact. Stepping into a ‘Joker’ role after the iconic performance of the
late Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) is a tall order,
yet Phoenix doesn’t imitate in favour of a different and surprisingly more broken
perspective of the broken man behind the make-up.
The haunted, bleak
atmosphere of the Joker also hits thanks to the score and the aesthetics of Gotham’s
rough and unforgiving streets. Hildur Gudnadottir is a goddess, crafting an
exceptional and well-deserved Academy Award winning score. There is particular
genius in pulling the sinister undertones out of the classic tune ‘That’s Life’
to quickly illustrate a cracked emotional perspective. Overall, it feels bleak
and hopeless with a grey colour palette full of shadows that eventually contrasts
with the green and burgundy of the Joker persona and make-up.
However, the
praise stops there as much of this film is violently jarring without a lot of
substance. Arthur is alone, and he (and the audience following him) is
just pummelled with darkness after darkness with little rest for the heart. Yet,
the film does feel slow and lacks a lot of momentum for the majority of the narrative.
Even the poster-worthy dancing down the stairs all clowned up is supposed to be
triumphant, yet its position and length are awkward and get lost in amongst the
chaotic movement through Gotham’s streets.
The majority of
the film’s plot and pacing is spiky, uneven and uncomfortable. Dripping in identity
issues, the question of whose side audiences are meant to be on problematically
isn’t resolved by the credits. If Arthur’s, are we excusing heinous violence
and apathetic destruction? Or blaming it on a mental healthcare system and
hierarchical society that failed him? Penny (Frances Conroy) was an awful
parent and the cause of his trauma – do we blame her completely and excuse
Arthur’s actions as the frenzied acts of someone who was cruelly hurt and
hasn’t been able to heal? These complex moral questions are complicated by the
fact that this film is a comic book villain origin story, where moral ambiguity
is a necessity. So what are we supposed to think?! We know where Arthur ends up,
but the journey of getting there is stained with messy depictions of numerous traumas
and injustices.
Within sequences
that reek of old Scorsese classics like Taxi Driver (1976) and The
King of Comedy (1982), too many big ideas were fighting for the dominant
focus of the narrative and consequently all felt like shallow afterthoughts.
The conversation on mental health and therapy was scattered and perilously problematic,
while the comments on trauma stigma and perception was initially very clumsy
but surprisingly solid in the reveal of the link to his mother. In calling this
film Joker, there is also a comic book movie homage that is expected, but
each of these Batman-verse Easter eggs felt hollow and borderline ridiculous; eventually
drowning the ending in anti-climactic obscurity.
Writers
Phillips and Scott Silver have created a clunky character study, meandering along
with enough red flag moments to get the goosebumps going. Randall (Glenn
Fleshler) the Gun Gifter inadvertently enables Arthur’s descent into a reliance
on violence for control, and his first act of murder on the train and the
chilling dance sequence in the bathroom afterwards are proof of how Arthur has
decided to live. Deeply emotionally damaged and dangerously unpredictable, it’s
incredibly difficult to reconcile the sadness of Arthur not being accepted because
of his baggage with the resolutely murderous trajectory his mental state takes.
The culmination
of Arthur’s confronting journey, the talk show scene is one of the best in the
film because there is an ominous tension that finally hits the right level of
shock and dread. By now, the Joker name is a sinister badge of honour and the interview
between him and Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro) is a Mexican standoff of dark
philosophy and foreboding, with everyone realizing too late that Arthur wasn’t
not joking, not even close.
Overall, Todd
Phillips tried to cram too many things inside an inconsistent and mediocre adaptation
of the darkness behind the Joker’s infamy. Not even a captivating performance
from Phoenix or Frances Conroy and a scintillating score could save it from sinking
into pitfalls of clutter and heartbreaking frustration.
6/10, 2.5 STARS
Love and manic laughter, Emily 🃏
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