For this review, I will have a non-spoiler review that only includes information from the trailer. I'll try my best to not spoil Joker 2019. The spoiler review will include an in-depth analysis of my favorite scenes and my thoughts on Joker 2019. If you have not seen Joker 2019, I highly recommend you watch it before reading this review!
Non-spoiler review:
I was mind-blown by this movie. My expectations were blown away. This movie tackled deep issues like society's hypocrisy, lies about equality, child abuse, mental illness, etc. I was shocked at some scenes which crossed some boundaries. What made this movie great was how it didn't just tell the comic book story of how a crook fell in a vat of chemicals and became the Joker. Joker 2019 gave a new interpretation of the Joker's origins which made me think about a lot. Joker 2019 had loads of emotion and some ambiguity in the right places.
The scenes about mental illness spoke some harsh truths about how mentally ill people are treated today. Hence, why Arthur Fleck wrote in his notebook “the worst part about mental illness is people expecting you to behave as if you don’t have one.” It seemed like no one supported Arthur Fleck's mental illness. They don’t want to acknowledge mental illness exists much less understand it. It’s as if people just want the mentally ill to be locked up in a mental institution and be done with it.
It also had some harsh truths about equality. Society cares more about status than about equality. The poor are expendable.
People criticized it for its violence, but I think they were disturbed. Because there was no Batman, we had no one to look to as a savior. Joker 2019 forced us to look at ourselves and our relationship with people like the Joker. It raises disturbing questions like how much of a role we play in creating someone like the Joker and how accurate are his perceptions? Throughout Joker 2019, it was hard to tell if Arthur Fleck was seeing things correctly or just being delusional.
People criticized the film for this Joker not fully embracing the evil and chaos in him like say Heath Ledger’s Joker. I don’t think this criticism is valid. People forget this is a different Joker before he became THE Joker. That’s why it's an origin story. I was about to criticize this Joker for his lack of clever punchlines and criminal schemes but realized that’s the point. The Joker was a failed comedian trying to get by in the world. He didn’t have any intention to turn to a life of crime. We see a very vulnerable side of the Joker that’s not there in most Batman films.
I loved the original soundtrack. It reminded me a lot of the theme of the Dark Knight live-action franchise. I thought the song “smile” by Jimmy Durante was iconic and perfect for Joker 2019.
Joker 2019 had some flaws. I disliked the excessive laughing and subtle references to Taxi driver along with Heath Ledger's Joker. I felt like they were put there just for "fan service." They didn't feel believable and felt inconsistent with Arthur Fleck's character. I thought the Joker’s love interest didn’t need to be there. It was not how i imagined it would be. I thought the comic’s version of the Joker’s wife made more of an impact than Joker’s girlfriend. I thought the film could’ve been much darker had it taken a different approach with his love interest based on the comics. I disliked how some songs like those of Frank Sinatra didn’t fit well with the theme of the film. I didn’t think the song “smile” was placed in its proper scene. It could’ve been put in a better scene.
Perhaps the movie’s biggest flaw was how it focused too much on the Joker’s mental illness rather than his emotional turmoil. I was expecting to see a blend of emotions and mental illness. Lots of people already included hallucinations or the “reality vs. fantasy” motif in films on mental illness. It’s become too cliche. The film could’ve been more powerful if it stuck to creating drama while balancing out the Joker’s mental illness.
Spoiler review:
I loved the dark atmosphere in the background and the strong opening scene. It set the mood for Joker 2019 quickly. From the beginning of Joker 2019, you could sympathize with Arthur Fleck when he gets jumped.
Arthur Fleck’s philosophy is clear from the beginning of the film. He told Murray “my mother always told me to smile and put on a happy face. She told me I had a purpose - to bring joy and laughter to the world.” Regardless of what happens be it good or bad, Arthur tries to see things from a positive outlook. Arthur’s co-worker gave him a gun for self-defense which made Arthur uncomfortable as he wasn’t a violent person. He took the gun anyway because he didn’t want to be a victim. Even when he got jumped and fired for suspicion of stealing the sign, he still smiled. It infuriated him, but he smiled and maintained his composure nonetheless.
The train scene:
One of the scenes that break down Arthur Fleck well was the train scene. The Wayne Tech. executives bully a woman. Arthur tries not to laugh due to his medical condition. He doesn’t rescue her because he doesn’t want to become a victim. He simply wants to be left alone even if she looks to him to save her with a fearful look on her face.
The train scene is one of the most powerful scenes of Joker 2019. This scene knew how to build tension well. This was one of the darkest and most intense scenes of Joker 2019. The train graffiti and barely working lights showed just how broken and disorganized Gotham is. You can see how distrustful people are of each other.
He tries so hard not to laugh because he doesn’t want her to think it’s funny. He also doesn’t want to attract the bullies' attention.
When she leaves in fear, he busts out laughing. I’m in distress. I sat there thinking “he screwed up!”
The bullies target him shortly after she leaves. He tries to maintain his composure and ignore them.
As the taunting progresses, it’s difficult to tell if he’s laughing through the fear or crying from the fear of being a victim. I think it’s probably both.
He pulls out a gun and shoots them. He’s filled with anger, dread, terror, shock, the list goes on over what he’s done. He locks himself in a bathroom, trying to rationalize what happened.
Arthur realizes the gravity of what’s done as you could see the anger, stress, and shock on his face. He runs away and locks himself in a bathroom.
The bathroom scene - Arthur recomposes himself and starts dancing in the bathroom. He does this to cleanse his guilt and cope with the reality of what he’s done. He tries to channel all of his negative emotions into something positive and forget what happened. This part gave me goosebumps, especially the soundtrack that plays in the background.
Thomas Wayne news clip scene - After the incident, Thomas Wayne comments on the train shooting. This part shocked me because Thomas Wayne defends the three men killed because they were college students. When Thomas said “what kind of coward hides behind a mask? Gotham’s lost it’s way” and calls those who target successful people “clowns”, i was outraged as much as Arthur was. Wayne had no idea of what happened that night. What’s interesting about this scene was that we get a unique perspective of how Arthur sees Thomas Wayne. In many Batman films and media, Thomas is portrayed as a charitable rich man who loves Gotham. In Arthur’s mind, Thomas was a corrupt tyrant who looked down on the poor and only looked to benefit the rich. We see the injustice of favoring high class citizens over lower ones.
When Thomas Wayne comments on the three murders of Arthur’s bullies on the subway, he defends them. In Thomas’ mind, they were innocent college students who were murdered by a low-life scumbag. Arthur is infuriated because Thomas’ was fully ignorant of what truly happened on the train. He sees his judgment as unfair and biased against the lower class.
Murray makes fun of Arthur scene - It must’ve been crushing for Arthur to see Franklin Murray, his idol, backstab him. It was hard to watch. I felt very tense during this scene. I could feel Arthur reaching a breaking point. You don’t know what he feels towards Murray at this point or what he’ll do and its disturbing.
Arthur discovers the truth of his chilldhood scene - The part when Arthur asks the administrative staff member for his mom’s medical records was very intense. You didn’t know what that would do Arthur’s mental state. It was mostly the dialogue and facial expressions which disturbed me. At this point, i was very tense. I thought Arthur was going to reveal his crime. I was expecting the assistant to call security and have Arthur investigated. In my head, i exclaimed “Arthur! You messed up big time!” As soon as I saw Arthur's reaction after the assistant revealed the truth of what his mother did, my heart sank. This was one of the most pivotal points of Joker 2019. Right here is where he discovers his mother lied. There was no turning back. Something bad was going to happen and you could feel it.
This was one of the turning points in Joker 2019. This scene was one of the darkest and most shocking scenes of Joker 2019. Arthur realized his mother was mentally ill. She lied about Thomas Wayne being his father, adopted Arthur, and allowed her ex boyfriend to abuse him.
He felt betrayed by his own mother who was the biggest support he had in the film.
I was shocked as I watched this. My mouth dropped.
Arthur kills his mother - I was completely shocked at the dialogue and scene where Arthur kills his mother in the hospital.
I loved how the camera shifts to behind him so we can see how intense of a struggle it was. I was morally conflicted on how to feel about this. On one hand, i was cheering him on for what she did to him. On the other, it was disturbing because it was his own mother and he could’ve legally had her punished. I didn’t expect Arthur to kill his own mother because it seemed like she was such a huge support in his life. Probably the biggest one. The fact he killed her was disturbing.
I loved how the camera films this from so many different angles in slow motion. It looks graceful even though the Joker’s movements are random and chaotic. It just shows how disorganized his mind is.
Arthur is slowly becoming the Joker. You can tell from the way his new clown appearance differs from his old one. He feels a sense of liberation and redemption after committing several murders.
The chase scene - The chase scene was probably one of the most intense scenes of the movie. The detectives undoubtedly knew Arthur committed all the murders. When Arthur runs, it just confirms all of their doubts.
The moment Arthur gets hit by a car, i was in dismay. I thought “they’re going to grab him for sure. It’s over. He’s getting arrested..” Just when i thought it was over, Arthur gets up and keeps running.
He gets inside of a train full of rioters in an attempt to lose the detectives in the crowd. Perhaps the smartest thing he does is steal someone’s clown mask and disguises himself as a rioter. This gives us a clue of how much of a cunning foe he will be against the Batman in the future.
I was very nervous during this scene. The train is full of angry rioters who are far from being the Government’s friends. It’s bad enough the guy whom Arthur stole the mask from punched another civilian, believing him to be the thief. I’m sure some are prone to violent acts against the police to take out all of their frustrations. A train crowded with people was an ideal spot to disarm and assault the detectives. Just as he’s getting away, they spot him.
The cops tried to shoot him, but shoot an innocent bystander. That was the biggest mistake they could make because the rioters saw that as more proof Gotham’s ruling elite has betrayed them. That’s why the detectives get jumped.
Arthur finally reveals himself as the detectives are helplessly beaten and Arthur escapes after doing a mocking dance in front of them.
As the cops are chaotically rushing to help the detectives getting beaten, they completely fail to notice Arthur walk out of the station. I wasn’t surprised this happened as police weren’t that advanced in the 80’s-90’s.
Just when i thought Arthur was going to kill himself, he admits to killing the three Wayne tech. executives. I gasped in shock just like the people in the show. I could understand admitting it in a private conversation with Murray, but in public? That’s beyond absurd. I was surprised when the cameraman cuts the show off air.
Arthur takes a dramatic turn and blames people like Murray for his suffering. In Arthur’s mind, people like Murray and Thomas Wayne were guilty of profiting from the suffering of the poor.
I felt all sorts of emotions watching this scene. Arthur reveals how he really feels about society as he talks about how the rich take advantage of the poor and disenfranchised. He talks about how people like Murray brainwash the audience into what he thinks is funny and reveals humor is subjective. In this conversation, we learn Arthur suppressed his enjoyment of killing the three bullies on the train until now. He tried so hard to fit in with everyone else and what everyone else thought was funny. He finally says “who am i kidding? I enjoy killing. This is what i find funny even if everyone else doesn’t.”
At this point in Joker 2019, Arthur stops denying who he is. This is evident when he says “I didn’t know if I even existed, but I do now.” For almost the entire movie, Arthur based his life on how others expected him to be. His mother expected him to be someone who brings laughter to the world. Franklin Murray expected him to be a highly skilled comedian like he was. His ex-boss expected him to be one too. When he tells Murray that humor is subjective, it’s implied that Arthur realized life and death were amusing. He denied it when he killed the three college students, but came to embrace his violent sense of humor. He calls out people like Murray for brainwashing people into accepting what he thinks is funny due to his high position in society. Arthur realizes life’s a joke. It doesn’t matter if you’re good or evil. If tragedy still occurs to you despite your attempts to be good, why be good? Arthur tried hard to smile through hardships but realizes its futility. Everyone has limits. He couldn’t keep trying to be “the bigger person” forever. Rather than be a victim, he chooses to go on a murderous rampage and take it out on society.
What Arthur says is so true. I find Murray’s response an accurate reflection of how society responds to what Arthur says. I feel Arthur’s anger at how society treats people. When someone like Kobe Bryant dies, everyone mourns because its on the mainstream news. When its someone you see everyday like a beggar who dies, no one bats an eye. Why? Because its not on TV so its not deemed important. Murray denies it by saying “you’re making excuses.” and “not all of us are like that..” I hate the “not all of us” argument because its so dismissive and misses the point. Not everyone is bad, but many are and need to be dealt with.
When Arthur shoots him after telling a joke, that gave me chills.
It’s interesting because when he said “when i was a little boy and told people i was gonna be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well no one’s laughing now..”, it was almost a foreshadowing of Arthur Fleck becoming the Joker.
It’s also interesting how the film gives a new interpretation of Thomas Wayne and his wife’s deaths. The Joker in a way made the Batman who he is according to Joker 2019.
In summary, Joker 2019 does a spectacular job in explaining how all of these factors combined with his inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy contributed to Arthur Fleck becoming the Joker. Joker 2019 did an amazing job in making the characters relatable and giving multiple interpretations of the Joker's origins. You could watch Joker 2019 more than once and see things you originally didn't see before. You could thoroughly analyze Joker 2019 and come up with your own conclusions on how to interpret what you saw.
I loved Joker 2019 and highly recommend you buy the DVD if you're a Joker fan.
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