Where to start, where to start?
You know the story about the pop culture crowds who have always understood that fictional entertainment such as video games and cartoons does not inspire violence, unlike the crybaby momma's and gun-toting/promoting politicians who try to push responsibility away from their own failures? Well, all it took was a little Joker movie and a couple of buzz words like everybody's new favorite go-to insult 'incel' for the entire pop culture community to become a bunch of scaredy-cats. Add social media and the power of clickbait and voila, a descent into a world gone mad is born. You'd almost believe fiction meets reality if it weren't for the fact our 'world gone mad' is really just whiny people. Lots and lots of whiny people. You'd probably be better off in Joker's 'world gone mad' of Gotham City, littered with garbage because of a public strike and citizens who only look out for themselves, filled with slow-burning anger.
One of the two great performers in this movie is the city, that feels every bit as filthy as it's made out to be and thanks to fantastic production design truly looks like New York from the 70s, another notorious shythole. The city breathes so much bad vibes that it makes the woes of the other great performer, Joaquin Phoenix as our titular villain, so much more believable. And this is definitely the Joaquin Phoenix show. I'll refrain from any comparisons, particularly because each cinematic Joker has its own distinct character and thus requires different performances, but it's needless to say that Phoenix delves so deep into the role it's hard to imagine that he could ever stop, or top, performing this role. The screenplay gives him endless place to go all-out, and perhaps it's the scriptedness of this that ocassionally makes it feel still like a performance. Regardless, it's a commanding powerhouse role by Phoenix.
The story itself also offered plenty surprises for me. Some stuff is kinda expected, and Phillips does have a tendency to be too on-the-nose with some reveals, but for the most part the story's twists and turns are as unpredictable as the character itself. The build-up to Arthur's change into the Joker takes quite some time, but once it happens it does feel truly impactful and each scene afterwards only carries more and more intensity. You sense the hinges coming off and you fear what's behind the door. As mentioned in my earlier post, there are few moments where the movie could've ended to leave a brilliant mark on its exploration of a world gone mad, and I'll give the movie all the credit in the world for not giving in to a whiny PC ending. There is one moment in the end that does feel unnecessary, tying to the inclusion of a scene that I also preferred to see implied rather than shown, but it is what it is. For the movie to go where it goes, and then end like it ends, they certainly made sure that this, even in the rationality of the character's actions, remains a villain's story.
why did I cast "Harley Quinn Movie" into the universe
