A closeup of Joker's poster at Cineplex Saint John.
The Joker is one of most charismatic, insane and terrifying villains in not only Batman’s Rogues Gallery, but comic books, period.
Todd Phillips, director of Old School and The Hangover trilogy, puts his spin on the birth of of the Clown Prince of Crime, yet he has never had a definitive origin story his origins – which makes the character such an intriguing, larger-than-life being of chaos.
Joaquin Phoenix, (Gladiator) begins Joker as the mentally unwell, wannabe-comedian Arthur Fleck, caring for his ailing mother, Frances Conroy, (Six Feet Under) pining over a single mother, (Zazie Beetz, Atlanta) and stuck in a dead-end job, where he constantly faces abuse. To make matters worse, a health condition that causes Arthur to erupt into painful laughter further isolates him from society.
A slow-motion collision course of events and circumstances, inflamed by the cruel rejection of talk show host played by Robert De Niro, (King of Comedy) and background actions of billionaire Thomas Wayne played by Brett Cullen, (Narcos) culminate the cruel joke of Gotham City’s most infamous villain.
Joker has faced a whirlwind of media coverage since its debut at the 76th Annual Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion for Best Film, the festival’s top honour. The film’s victory was a landmark for the superhero genre, proving superhero films can be legitimate auteur cinema and not solely blockbuster entertainment whose box office revenues keep Hollywood afloat.
The nihilism of the film has brought conversation through pop culture circles that Joker may be glorifying its disturbed protagonist.
Joker may be a warning of what happens when the chaos and cruelty of people and society’s institutions beat down the less fortunate.
Joker opens in theatres today.
