Film Review: Joker

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When Joker was first announced, I wasn't sure what to expect from it. I didn't like DC's approach from straying away from its shared DCEU universe. After watching Joker now, I have to say the origin story really works!

Unlike many other comic book villains, Joker's origin isn't set in stone. We first saw an origin of the character in the 1989 Batman film when the character became an evil clown when he was dipped in acid.

Well the 2019 Joker takes a different route since it's grounded more in reality. It's society and how the rich and famous don't care about those beneath them that makes Arthur Fleck slowly turn into the Joker.

What I like most about this film is its realism.

Sure I love watching Marvel movies, but it's hard to relate to them since real life superheroes don't exist in the real world. Here in Joker, you can somewhat understand what he's going through.

I was never a fan of the Batman character because I always thought he was a rich pretty boy that didn't have a hard life.

Sure his parents died, but everything else about his life had been gifted to him on a silver spoon.

I cannot believe I'm saying this, but Joker allows the audience to feel sorry for Arthur Fleck and the rough life he has been going through.

I don't condone the killing part of his behavior, but I do understand what life is like living with your Mom as an adult and not having a job.

Some people might think this movie is slow because it's a series of unfortunate incidents that slowly makes him go crazy. Things start to boil up inside Arthur Fleck until he finally snaps.

He doesn't really turn into the Joker until the latter half of the movie. It's a slow turn, although I did not find myself being bored watching the majority of this movie.

In terms of Joaquin Phoenix's performance, he is brilliant in playing the troubled Arthur Fleck. He lost a lot of pounds to play this role and his maniacal laugh still gives me the chill whenever I hear it.

That being said, I still prefer Heath Ledger's Joker a little bit more, but Phoenix is my second favorite version of the character to date. The only unfortunate thing we don't see is a showdown between Joker and Batman.

For comic book fans, there are various Easter Eggs and surprise characters that appear in this version of Gotham City set in 1981.

It will be interesting to see if a sequel is made because the seeds have been planted for another movie to be potentially made.

Even though I liked the movie, I can understand why some people may not like the message of it.

You do feel uncomfortable sometimes watching the movie, but I think this was done on purpose. It will probably tell us that we should look out for one another and never bully people that are less fortunate than you.

Anyway, I think Joker is one of the best movies of the year and it will easily be an early Oscar contender. Joaquin Phoenix is sure to be nominated for this movie because he's brilliant in the role!

Verdict: 4.5/5 stars

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