Joker (2019) Review

As he walks the streets of Gotham City Arthur Fleck is isolated, bullied and disregarded by society causing him to descend into madness turning him into the anarchy iconic criminal known as the Joker.

Channeling the likes of Taxi Driver, American Psycho with a dash of The King of Comedy director Todd Phillips offers an outstanding Joker origin film, so much so and Oscar worthy it feels too good to be a mere DC superhero movie.

Joaquin Phoenix is mesmerisingly outstanding, making Fleck both sympathetic and menacing. The Wayne/Batman connections are weighty and dramatic enough not to induce eye-rolling. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher delivers the atmospheric grit of the late 70s into an early 1980s set Joker.

The psychological aspect is reminiscent of American Psycho with a play on what is real and what is not. Its intriguing throughout watching Fleck's metamorphosis into something quite edgy and creepy during the briskly paced running time.

Phillips expertly injects violence that is hard hitting, that emulates the simmering and brutal kills of The Godfather, Goodfellas and the like with a tragic character and dark comedy at its core.

It's a must see, if anything, it's arguably too well made to be a comic book movie.