Joker (Movie Review)

Summary:

Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he wakes the street of Gotham City, Arthur wears two masks -The one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he's part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker. 

This movie has taken me many years to actually see it because when it first came out, the trailer didn't seem all that interesting to me and after watching it in its entirety I still feel the same way. I'll try to focus on what I did like first before I pile on all the things I did not like about this movie. And unfortunately, it's most of the movie. 

I will start off by saying that this cast was phenomenal and they played their part extremely well. They worked well together and not one person was out of place. From De Niro to Cullen they all did a great job, even Phoenix with what a terribly written script he was given gave us a great portrayal of Arthur Fleck but the writing is what really brings down this movie. I'm not a fan of the actual script I'm not opposed to the writers trying to tie in Arthur and the Wayne family together but it's clear that they didn't think through on the age gap between Arthur and Bruce and didn't really deep dive on the character of the Joker at all. In all honesty, it would have been better if they marketed this movie as being 'inspired by' the character of The Joker versus actually trying their hand at writing out this extremely complex character and trying to romanticize and humanize the Joker. At the end of the day, they did an extremely shitty rendition of the Joker when we already had someone who nailed that character and no one will ever come close to his portrayal and without surprise that actor is the late Heath Ledger. 

Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker with such a accurate manner while also leaving an air of mystery to the character. Which is why I'm having such an issue with this movie. Arthur seeks validation. First from the people around him, from who he perceives to be his father; Thomas Wayne and from Murray Franklin. One by one, all those around him either make fun of him, mistreat him or just physically attacks him and it's a build up of negative emotions tied in with being mentally ill where he has such delusions and he down spirals into the chaos until he himself rejoices in it. He then sees the aftermath of his killings and how many people of Gotham supports his actions and once he no longer has those around that he seeks validation from he gets it from these complete strangers. 

The Joker would never seek validation for his actions whether from the public or others. He is chaos without rhyme or reason which is why he is so dangerous. So Arthur 'embracing' the chaos and slipping on the Joker mask makes no sense. This is a really bad bastardization of the Joker story and extremely dangerous for many reasons. Humanizing someone as psychotic as the Joker and trying to create reasons why he is the way he is first off creates this narrative that it's okay to kill because you had good reason to. Killing each other or people in positions of authority isn't the right way to live but this movie idealizes it. Art imitates life or life imitates art? Kinda feels like a politically motivated/influenced movie. Let's try to add some edginess with our current political issues and call it a movie. This movie feels like the character of the Joker was hijacked to either make a statement or demonstrate the state of current affairs while inciting some form of reaction. No one would watch a politically based shitty movie so let's add the Joker label to get some viewers. BTW the Joker would be thoroughly pissed off and embarrassed by this piece of shit. 

I can't even begin to state just how disappointed I am with how mental illness was portrayed and yet again failed to be properly presented. So what's the take? Mentally ill people are one bad reason away from becoming homicidal maniacs? Jeez, how ironic that the movie went out of their way to say that the system fails people time and time again but the movie didn't help whatsoever. Life is a rollercoaster that the only way you get off is through death. Life isn't meant to be easy but it is worth living and fighting for. Every breath is worth taking and along the way you will fumble and struggle in many ways including mentally. No matter how bad things are, staying true to your heart and soul will help you fight along. Movies like this do such a disservice. They paint mentally ill people as savages and as if they are on the fringes of society. We aren't. We all have something wrong with us but our resilience is what shines through the haze despite what this movie would like to say. 

Rating:

It goes without saying this shit gets zero stars. It was disappointing and oh so badly written. The actors were phenomenal but the actual message of the movie completely turns me off to any 'good' that this movie could possibly have. The more I think it over, the worse I feel about it. Needless to say, the second movie will be left unwatched for a while.