Joker is your standard villian in the DC universe, often seen battling Batman, and in this movie, it is a reboot of the villian in a different way. We use to see Joker as the man who fell into a vat of acid in the comics, but this movie adds a new twist.
And I like it.
"Joker" is set in Gotham, in an era, kinda like 1980's New York. Arthur Fleck, the main character in the movie is a disturbed man with a series of unfortunate incidents happening to him, transforming him into the Joker.
He starts off as a part-time clown, and gets beaten up to show the grim world where life is hard, unemployment is high and the city has no budgets for services. Yet there are Billionaires like the Wayne family living a a very different world.
The title Joker does not prepare you enough on how dark the movie is going to be. The whole movie has no humor and it is kinda depressing to watch Arthur getting into these situations.
Although this is a different story altogether, you still get to see Bruce Wayne and the death of his parents, which is pretty much expected. The twist of the movie blends in well with the problems we face today -- income inequality, and portrays it in a slightly manner.
It is indeed a bold movie, highlighting the plight of the villian as he becomes the joker, and a justification exercise on why the Joker ended up that way.
The pace of the movie was good. It did not feel preachy and there was not too much gore and violence. I did not feel that there was a high enough body count, but as most of the movie, it was just Arthur and not the Joker, it was ok.
I really enjoyed the movie, but I have to warn you. This movie is really depressing. It just gets worse. This is more like the beginnings of the Heath Ledger, and an interesting take indeed.
If you are a batman fan, this movie is highly recommended.
-- Robin Low
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