Reviews by Zehra Jafree and Amber Iglesias – Review Editors, and Sadia Sheeraz – Contributing Writer
When a film is this highly anticipated and so divisive, one review won’t do.
“Did we want this origin story in the first place?”- Zehra Jafree ★★★★
Superhero universes operate exclusively in the realms of Good vs Evil. Joker clearly breaks this tradition, potentially marking a new phase of heroes and villains.
“What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? You get what you fuckin’ deserve!” sums up Joker. Before anything else, the film is a deep dive into Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) mental health. The tension and turmoil within his head is mirrored by the chaos in the environment of Gotham City. As Arthur gradually takes off his mask and becomes Joker, audiences are not able to wholly accept or reject him.
The film deliberately makes the line between good and evil hazy, something antithetical to classic superhero set-up. The real world is rarely as black and white as traditional hero universes might have us believe, and this is where Joker twists the trend. Joker is evil. He is the epitome of all that is dark and wrong in our world. We don’t sympathise with him, partially because we don’t know how or why he is what he is. Heath Ledger’s Joker leaves the reasons behind his infamous smile ambiguous- which is what gives the character such a cult following.
The goal of this film is to unpack the character from beginning to end. I definitely didn’t ask for that, but I don’t think I’m too upset now that I have it. The superhero movie scene was already taking steps to humanise their characters, and Joker is an artefact of that trend. Even as mental health is beginning to be discussed more openly, large parts of it still go unmentioned, especially personality disorders. As a result, although the film may have been better situated to take on the hard topics in the realm of mental health if it were taken out of the DC universe completely, I don’t think audiences would have been as receptive to such a serious message without the priming of the comic-book universe.
“Eye roll-provoking, white male indulging” – Sadia Sheeraz ★★★★
Despite Joaquin Phoenix’s spectacular acting, the story follows the well-trodden paths of cinema: The storytellers lazily weave a tale of childhood trauma, shepherding the audience into a Stockholm syndrome-like admiration for a murderous villain, then they use fun dancing and music to absolve the man and enough gore to convince you that effort went into makeup and effects. They have to justify those big budgets somehow, I guess.
But besides these eye roll-provoking, entitled-white-male-indulging failings lies a more concerning underlying message.
A crucial part of the plot is the Joker’s shooting (shootings at the hands of a tragic white man?) of three well-educated, well-off men. I might add that an interaction between these men and a helpless woman earlier offers the audience a fig leaf. The audience can’t enjoy the murder if it’s too obviously the case of a weak man who can’t fight back resorting to murder to deal with the situation. I guess it would mirror frequent occurrences in the US too closely.
The resulting uprising is the subject of subtle mockery. The movement is started by a man who had no real justification for such a violent act. A soberly planned out working-class demonstration would be too unrealistic for a movie-verse featuring rich men who spend their time dressing as clowns and bats, killing people, and decorating their secret caves. This sparks a wave of vengeful anger amongst the working class who apparently have the energy and disposable income to raise hell for the duration of the movie. But they are clowns, literally, and all they seem to do is cause mess and inconvenience. Even the audience becomes a little tired of their thoughtless hooliganism. Having watched previous Batman movies, it’s clear that these sorts of actions achieve essentially nothing for the poorest in society anyway (I mean, when does it?).
Here’s hoping this movie doesn’t overtly inspire too many alienated white boys with mental problems. The entire movie industry subconsciously does that enough.
“A poor imitation of Taxi Driver”- Amber Iglesia ★★★
Joker was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated movies of 2019. Indeed, Todd Phillips’ visionary artistic attributes do not go unnoticed. His use of small spaces serve as a direct reflection of Arthur Fleck’s psyche and deteriorating mental state, whether it be his apartment, small alleyways, or even a train carriage. The ingenious soundtrack is as uncomfortable and disturbing as you’d expect, however, this film ultimately belongs to Joaquin Phoenix and Joaquin Phoenix alone.
Replace Phoenix with an actor without his astonishing acting abilities, and only a poorly executed film would remain. The over-dramatisation of the character arc strains credibility, making it intangible for an audience. Had Phillips invested more time in documenting Arthur Fleck’s trajectory to becoming the Joker this would have been more convincing. Instead, the film lends itself to predictability and tries too hard to be the masterpiece we expected.
Besides the cinematography, soundtrack, makeup, and choreography, Joaquin Phoenix carries this film. However, I can’t help but feel that this is a poor imitation of Scorcese’s Taxi Driver with nothing original to offer. This is won’t be film of the year, but Phoenix is certainly actor of the year.
The Beaver’s Verdict – 3.6/5
Irrespective of the film’s success in other areas, there’s one thing that we all agree on – Joaquin Phoenix is unbelievably extraordinary as Arthur Fleck/Joker. This movie would not be worth seeing without him.
