Joker, A Movie Review

Why so serious MHS? Consider taking a break from your busy schedule to catch a showing of this incredible new adaptation of the story of the Joker. Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, was brilliant, violent, and held an unreal amount of dark tragedy.

Joker is the origin story of the infamous supervillain character and main antagonist of the Batman series. Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, is a middle-aged clown entertainer who aspires to be a comedian and “put on a happy face” for those around him. Living with his mother and coping with his severe mental issues, Arthur starts his steep descent into madness after learning some horrifying truths about his past. Being wronged and tormented by society has given Arthur the perfect angle for his psychotic lapse in conscience and smooth shot to becoming the Joker.

This movie was great. Watching Joker in the theaters was shocking and kept me on the edge of my seat. The cinematography in this movie was wonderful with shots and morbid scenes that was making movie-goers shiver in their seats. The story and origin of Arthur Fleck, was grim and told a tragic story that shed some light on what makes the super villain so interesting and disturbing. Joker took a score of 68% from Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

An interesting bit of information regarding this film is that it was not shown in Aurora, Colorado upon its release. On July 20, 2012 during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises a man in the audience opened fire in the theater, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. Some were concerned that another movie about the Joker would spark a similar incident of violence in the country, but that has not been a result of the new movie. 

It is also interesting to note that the role of the Joker is superstitiously “cursed.” Actors who portrayed the Joker in the past have dealt with certain issues and a bizarre fear of the character post-production. Heath Ledger, who played the Joker in The Dark Knight, prepared for his role so obsessively that he only slept two hours a night. Some attribute his death of an overdose of sleeping pills to his role of the Joker.  

Joker is rated R, so for those sensitive movie watchers, this may not be the film for you. I would suggest this movie to individuals interested in the increasingly popular idea of true crime documentaries. Though this movie is completely fictional, it presents the extreme question of “what makes a killer?” I would also recommend this movie to anyone whole loves a good comic book movie and origin story. 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/joker_2019

https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/us/colorado-theater-shooting-fast-facts/index.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7499677/Joaquin-Phoenix-defends-controversial-new-film-Joker-against-claims-incite-violence.html -photo link