Joker (2019)
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz
The Joker. Thanos. Loki. Lex Luthor. Magneto.
These names are not merely silly baddies from children’s comics. They have evolved to being some of the most iconic and layered antagonists popular cinema has ever seen. With all their iterations and exploration, these comic inspired characters are now in the same playing field as villains such as Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, or even Norman Bates. So it is no surprise that in 2019 someone decided to create a film around The Joker. Comic-book films in general are still thriving even though its been 11 years since Iron Man exploded into the scenes and changed blockbuster films as we know it. It seems nowadays if you have a message you want to convey to the largest group of people, your best bet is to create a Comic-book film. Because if you take a film like Joker and stripped every aspect of “DC”, it can still work on its own. The story does not need it to be specifically about The Joker in order to convey whatever story Phillips wanted to get across. But having it be about THE Joker is what will attract audiences, and boy did it attract. The whole internet has been gobbling this film up. It reminded me very much of last year’s Black Panther. A mega success that was called a masterpiece by most of the mainstream audience, also being the first superhero film to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. Yet as the dust settled we seem to have forgotten all about Black Panther. As the shiny exterior was put aside everyone noticed just how shallow its message on racial inequality actually was. There seems to be this misunderstanding with big studios when it comes to incredibly important themes being conveyed in blockbuster films. They feel like if they just mention or show the message, its enough. Unfortunately, that is not nearly enough. A film that is built on passion in which the director yearns to put forth a certain message will bleed that theme in every aspect. Whether it be the acting, scenes, camera angles, script, or whatever. The whole film encompasses the theme, and everything else works around it. Joker joins Black Panther in the unfortunate kid’s pool of depth when it comes to its message/theme.
Before going into the themes and overall message of Joker, I just want to get what I enjoyed about the film out of the way. Because I did enjoy this film to a certain extent. It is definitely not a masterpiece as everyone says it is. However there are still some elements that I greatly appreciated. First and foremost, the most obvious is Joaquin’s acting. There was no doubt in my mind that he would smash this role out of the park. As soon as he was announced, I knew he would be amazing. Why wouldn’t he be? He is notoriously known for perfecting characters that are mentally unstable. It was no surprise to anyone that he did a good job. It is a fact just like any other. 1+1=2, water is wet, and Joaquin Phoenix is an incredible actor. The way he managed to get so much out of what little he had to work with in terms of script was insanely talented. If you put any other actor I am 100% sure they wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much with that messy script. He was able to show us the pain Arthur felt without allowing us to condone his actions. Joaquin was able to make us pity Arthur, maybe sympathize, but never accept the actions he did. That is why Phoenix was the perfect choice for this role. It is a difficult balancing act to pull off, but he managed to do it effortlessly. I also enjoyed the way he was mostly able to “show” us the pain Arthur was going through and his decent into madness. Obviously with a script like that Phoenix had to give something that wasn’t reliant on words. His movements, dances, and increasingly psychotic laughter all encompassed the character of Joker so perfectly. He evoked that feeling I felt when Heath Ledger would show up in a scene. That fear you felt that makes your hair stand up. When he finally put on the full makeup and the suit I have to admit I got some chills. He manifested the nature of the deranged killer we know as The Joker.
Moving a bit away from the acting, because I obviously knew Phoenix would do incredibly, I want to focus on an aspect that I didn’t expect would be one of the highlights of a Comic-Book Film. That is the soundtrack of the movie. I have had so many complaints over the last decade in regards to the watering down of most blockbuster’s scores. This is especially true with Comic-Book films as they seem to have over the years focused less on utilizing music as a means to convey tone and more trying to have the most generic sound to accompany action scenes. It is a sad sentiment, because music can greatly enhance a film’s effect on a viewer if used correctly. With Joker, the score did wonders to establish the tone that Joaquin was trying to convey. The score and his performance went hand in hand, and I commend Hildur Guðnadóttir for her efforts in this film. I saw an interview where she mentioned that she wrote the music before the film was even shot. Which makes so much sense. You could tell Joaquin incorporated the music into his performance and used it as sort of an extra layer to Joker. It was utilized very well and it was one of the greatest contributions to the success of the final quarter of this film. Speaking of the final quarter, it was honestly the point in the film when I started to care. I know it may seem harsh to say, but due to the pacing of the first two acts of the film, I was just longing for something to kick this film into overdrive. The final act managed to do that. It made the film for me. If not for that final act I would probably be tearing this film apart (that is sort of coming but in a lighter sense). The climax was intense, and it felt like I was along this wild ride that I couldn’t leave. Phoenix gently strapped me in and laughed hysterically as I went through a harrowing jungle of fear, anguish, chaos, and craziness. It left an impression, and I’m glad it did.
While my feelings on Joaquin’s acting and Hildur’s score are very profound and strong, my feelings for the rest of the film are also quite intense as well but in a different way. My biggest issue with this film is honestly the script. It is utterly nonsensical and was incoherent from a structural and logical standpoint. I can’t understand how a whole city can rally around a murderous clown for killing a bunch of “Bros” who happen to work for wall street. You really have to stretch your imagination in order to convince yourself this can actually happen. But aside from the structural aspects of the plot, it was just in general very badly written. If you ignore Phoenix’s acting for a while and just listen to what he is actually saying you would know how silly it all feels. Some of the things said feel like stuff you would pull out of a Tumblr blog dedicated to depression. It was a mess, and I’m glad Phoenix was able to salvage some of it with his acting. Another point I want to talk about is the overall message of the film, or lack there of. Phillips seems to present a general and blanket message on societal inequality in the vein of “rich vs poor”, while also evoking some inspiration from the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Although I commend him for trying to incorporate such themes into the story, the execution was very underwhelming. The film constantly feels like it is about to say something but never fully does. It merely presents this message and just lets it sit without anything else to make you work with. If you try to look deeper and analyze you will be greatly disappointed, as the depth of Joker’s themes are as shallow as a kid’s pool. By the end of the film all you get is what was shown. You are slapped with this important message by Phillips and he looks at you as he just lays it down and walks away. It frustrated me because this is not how a film’s theme should be handled. When looking at this year’s Parasite by Bong Joon Ho, you can see my point. The whole film bleeds social inequality. Now obviously I am not going to hold Joker to the same standards as Parasite, but if you try to present a theme in a sloppy way I am going to criticize it.
One aspect about the Joker that has honestly been bugging me for some reason is how it deals with it’s influences. I have seen some people online talk about this and I have a very similar sentiment. As I was watching the film it is obvious Phillips got inspiration from movies like Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and maybe even Network to an extent. Nothing wrong with that honestly, most films are inspired by others, and they use that inspiration to create something unique. Phillips even admits in an interview that the films mentioned heavily inspired the creation of Joker. However, what he does hasn’t been sitting well with me. He takes the ideas presented in the films above and just uses them without adding any amount of originality or creativity. The final act, although my favorite, was basically just taken straight from The King of Comedy, and I felt it as I watching Joker. Some people might say that every film is technically inspired by other films. Which is true, and I already stated that. The difference is that although films like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy use some of its inspirations to enhance their pieces, they still stem from a place of passion and desire to present a worthwhile story. Paul Schrader said that his sleepless nights following his divorce is what made him write Taxi Driver, and you can feel that pain being translated in the film. He wanted to convey his feelings and it was encapsulated in every part of that script. With Joker, the film merely borrows the ideas of those films without that underlying passion behind it. What we see is the skeleton of the inspired film’s themes loosely draped across Joker. The reason it felt like it didn’t go anywhere was because there was no where to take it once Phillips made the conscious decision to refrain from adding any bit of originality into the script. What I am saying may seem overblown, but these criticisms are coming from a place of passion for the art of cinema. I adore these classic films that inspired Joker. I am glad they have this great of an impact even today. But what I won’t stand for is someone who just takes and doesn’t change; it belittles the art and sort of feels like Phillips is pulling the wool over our eyes.
Although I was a bit harsh at the end, I still think Joker is a fine film. I don’t think it deserves the bashing it is getting from some of the critics. As I said, if you strip away every element of “DC”, everyone would think it was a fine film for what it is. But because of the media attention surrounding the movie, it ends up being looked at in a different way. That is also true for everyone who is claiming this film is a masterpiece. I have to honestly disagree, and it is evident from some of the points I made above. But people have still been affirming it’s greatness and I have seen some discuss with full seriousness how Joker is better than Taxi Driver in every aspect. I don’t understand how such an argument can be made. With a script this badly written you hardly have anything to work with in terms of comparison. Regardless, I went on many tangents right now and want to focus back on Joker itself. My overall thoughts on the film are as follows. Joaquin’s acting is phenomenal as expected; and I was thoroughly surprised by Hildur’s harrowing score to accompany Phoenix’s performance. I felt the first two acts of the film dragged on a lot, and it was not until the final act that I was invested in the plot. I found the depiction of mental health to be very shallow. I didn’t talk about it a lot but I don’t like how they just showed Arthur’s mental illness in the way you would expect Hollywood to present it. Lives with his mom, socially awkward, gets bullied, gets beaten for no reason, and the list goes on and on. There is no nuance and absolutely no depth to this type of depiction. To end things off I have heard so many people come to me and claim the film as a masterpiece due to Phoenix’s performance. Many of these people I personally know don’t watch many movies and suddenly they care about performance. I say to anyone who suddenly declares their love for Joaquin’s acting to go back and watch The Master. If you don’t think you can handle a slow-paced art-house film then just watch “The Processing Scene” on YouTube. Because that is a performance that needs to be praised. It was one of the best acting I have seen in modern cinema, and it is a shame that his performance on Joker is overshadowing that masterpiece. All in all, I thought the film was fine, it was a six out of ten. I wanted to write the score in words so that no one just comes and scrolls to the bottom. Hope you enjoyed this review, if you feel like you disagreed with any or all of my points I would be glad to discuss.
