Simply put, Joker is a great movie. It does not try to “force fit” into an expanded universe. It does not try to appeal to kids. It embraces the horror, humor and insanity that the Joker embodies. And because of that, I put on my happy face immediately after seeing it in the theater. 🤡

Reason #3: 🚫 DCEU

I’ve stated many times on this blog and via Twitter, that Warner Brothers has always been at the height of its creative powers in the comic book movie genre, when it releases singular stories about singular characters. From Richard Donner’s Superman films to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, this focused storytelling has been gold.

Most recently, Shazam and Wonder Woman focused less on DCEU connections but rather on building up their titular characters.

Joker 🃏 does this in spades ♠️.

Reason #2: Todd Phillips

I was a tad skeptical when it was announced that the director of the Hangover movie franchise would direct Joker.

How could a guy who’s been most known for birthing one of the funnier, albeit often tasteless, film franchises in the past several years direct such a dark, dystopian tale centered around arguably the greatest villain in comic book movie lore?

Much to my surprise, Phillips did an unbelievable job in this latest iteration of the infamous Joker character. If you look closely, you will see elements of Phillips’s often racier/lewd tones injected into some of the film’s dark, comedic moments.

But the lighter tones are few and far between in a film which is mesmerizing to watch, disturbing at times, and a bit depressing (i.e. tackling mental health issues). Nonetheless, I found Phillips’s direction excellent.

Reason #3: Joaquin Phoenix 🤡

Although Heath Ledger’s Joker interpretations may still be the best we’ve seen, the always-great Joaquin Phoenix puts on a virtuoso performance. This side of Jack Nicholson, there’s probably no actor more perfect to portray the clown prince of Gotham than Phoenix.

It’s as if his bizarre road show as a rapper and his stunning performance in Her are all channeled into his performance here. His David letterman interview is eerily similar to Arthur Fleck‘s interview with the smart-ass talk show host (deftly portrayed by Robert DeNiro) in Joker, in terms of its zaniness.

In summary, I highly recommend Joker. It’s a very good film but it starts and ends with Joaquin Phoenix’s mesmerizing performance for the ages.