"Joker" Review: The Beautiful, Dark, & Twisted Origin Story
With Warner Bros officially creating a new movie genre, DC Black (DC- based standalone films), who better a character to start with than with their most iconic villain himself, the Joker? With all the great actors who’ve played the villain (Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Mark Hamil and Jared Leto) my initial thought was that it was going to be hard to fill those sinister clown shoes. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Director Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix take the comic book villain and give him a beautifully dark, twisted, gritty anti-hero reintroduction.
Taking a few pages out of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver with character development and some references, Phillips peels back the layers of the complex character to humanize him and show how he began his path of brutal destruction. This is a period place that takes place in the early 80’s and shows the grislier and faint side of Gotham City like we’ve never seen it. It follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally ill misfit, who works as a clown by day and failed comedian by night. His journey to menacing criminal is perhaps all the more horrific because it’s grounded in reality.
One of the opening images is of Fleck, working as a clown, looking in the mirror while contorting his face into that creepy, iconic smile while laughing uncontrollably from his pathological laughing disorder while crying. It’s immediately followed by a portrait of the city of Gotham, and it’s not compassionate to say the least. In the first few minutes Fleck endures mental and physical abuse by everyone from his job, his therapist, civilians, his job again, and then his mother (Francis Conroy). It’s a hard watch. Throughout the movie this seems to be a trend as life itself continues to punch Fleck in the face, increasing its power at every turn. In his lighter moments, when life isn’t knocking him down, he pursues a career in comedy. His jokes are dark and twisted, writing what he believes society deems as funny, wishing to one day be on the Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) late night show.
Something that sets this movie apart is the progression of Fleck’s character. He evolves from and awkward, gentle loner to the malicious, confident Joker. Robert De Niro and Zazzie Beetz interactions with Phoenix give more depth to the character’s development with their limited but memorable interactions as Fleck’s idol and love interest respectively. Conroy also helps identify some of the loose ends of his childhood that viewers may find interesting. Rather than being eaten by the dog eat dog world, Fleck eventually embraces it with a cynical twist that feels so natural.
This is ultimately a standalone film that we’ve never seen in the comic universe that has a sinister and refreshing twist to it. It’s well crafted, with a vintage, grunge look that captures the mood and tone being portrayed in the film. From beginning to end, Phoenix owns the character. It has remnants and a few nods to them but Phoenix pushed my perception of the character or new uncharted anti-hero territory. The only knock I have toward the movie is the slow, build but once it started you were invested. Overall the casting, the story, the development and the conclusion of this film is phenomenal and gives you the ultimate satisfaction of an origin story. I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie gets an Oscar nod.
Rating: A-
"Batman: The Killing Joke" Review
I won’t lie, I came to Batman: The Killing Joke late. I didn’t read it until this year when I heard buzz about the feature film. That doesn’t, however, lessen the power of the comic book’s impact on me. In fact, I’m pretty sure that it had the same impact on me that it had for folks in 1988. It’s raw, smart, and compelling. Unfortunately, the new feature film doesn’t compare to the force of nature that is the graphic novel.
The film starts out with a voice over from Barbara Gordon (Tara Strong), Commissioner Gordon’s (Ray Wise) daughter, telling us that she’s sure “this isn’t how you thought the story would start”. It isn’t, but we’ll go with it. For the next thirty minutes we see the relationship between Batgirl and Batman (Kevin Conroy) as they try to capture Paris Franz (Maury Sterling), a pompous sociopath. Perhaps this deviation from the source material was to establish Batman’s motivations for going after The Joker (Mark Hamil). Perhaps it was to set up future animated features. Whatever it was, it detracted from the overall story.
The prologue gives us a soap opera love triangle amongst Bruce (Wayne), Barbara and Paris. It paints a misogynistic image of an older man being pined after by a young love lorn coed. (Bruce and Barbara are closer in age than the film made it look like.) It’s a forbidden love story of a teacher and student that feels forced. Especially when Batgirl rips off her top (costume) and makes love with Batman high above the city.
Once the story we know takes off, it’s an entertaining film. Your mind goes between what you know from the comic book and what’s been added to fill in blanks. Hearing Mark Hamil’s voice as the Joker once again is great. It reminded me of all those days of grabbing a snack and watching “Batman: The Animated Series” after school as a kid. Hamil has fun playing the unpredictable equal of Batman, as evidenced in his delivery. Kevin Conroy lends his controlled, powerful voice to the role once more and sells Batman.
If you haven’t read the comic book, do it! It’s awesome! Ultimately, this feature film, like many movies adapted from books, can’t compete with your imagination. The mind is a powerful thing, filling in thoughts and feelings where the page’s frames doesn’t. It paints an incomparable cinematic experience! While the feature lifts some of the iconic panels found in Batman: The Killing Joke and puts them into motion, it can’t beat the original.
Rating: C
"Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" Review: Little Brother Fights Back
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice had a lot riding on it. Forget the hardcore fanboys’ opinions, huge budget, and bringing major DC characters together on the big screen for the first time in this generation. If DC didn’t get this film right, it could have sunk the franchise. Period. With this installment, director Zack Snyder and the crew give us a very entertaining gateway into the next chapter of DC super hero cinema.
As to stay away from spoilers, let’s establish the rules of this review. I’ll keep it inside the lines of a few things: 1) nothing you haven’t seen outside of the trailers, 2) nothing you can’t deduce from the title, and 3) I will only paint pictures that color the cinema techniques in the film. Fair enough?
From the start you know that the film is in the hands of a visual director. Snyder has a distinct way of telling the story with the frame and dark palette cinematography. After a brief Bruce Wayne origin sequence, the film picks up with the title “Mankind is Introduced to The Superman”. We see what was going on from Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) perspective during the massive fight between Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) from Man of Steel. It’s an incredible sequence that answers the question of “what was happening on the ground during the fight between these two super beings?” It immediately sets the stakes for the film. Is Superman someone that humans can trust, and with so much power, how can we keep him in check?
After the showdown in Metropolis, Bruce develops a grudge against the seemingly unstoppable alien. He spends time preparing to fight Superman, which obviously entails him having a level playing field because head to head there is no match. Jesse Eisenberg is introduced as Lex Luthor, and Eisenberg’s signature tics and fast talking antics from characters past really works for this Lex Luthor. He’s crafted an entitled, insecure, brilliant, low key maniac with just enough swag that for me worked well. Luthor’s money and intelligence allows him to have a pulse on what’s really going on in the world and gives him the power to influence it as he sees fit.
A large part of seeing Batman V Superman is not wondering what the outcome will be, but what will things look like? Is Affleck a good Batman. Yes. There is no point in which I didn’t think he was Batman or an older Bruce Wayne for that matter. When he’s in a scene with Cavill, you know who the seasoned actor is. Is Gal Gadot a good Wonder Woman? She fits in the film as it needs her, and when it does, she does a good job. Her introduction to this world felt a little clunky and forced, but seeing her fight...I look forward to future films (perhaps more so to see Wonder Woman’s powers more than Gadot’s acting). Overall, the acting in this film as a collective is solid.
The movie works really hard to engage your senses and thrust you into a cinematic experience. The weight of objects are seen visually, and heard aurally on an extremely detailed level. The sound and effects departments deserve a round of applause. One of the best sequences in which you can appreciate this is watching the batmobile tear through the streets, buildings, other cars, and then get tossed like a toy car when it runs into Superman. It’s a set up you know is coming (from the trailer) but works to show Superman’s power and strength. Let’s not leave out the amazing score from Hans Zimmer (my favorite film composer of all time) and Junkie XL! The score is its own character and pushes the story forward in all the right ways.
Batman V Superman has its issues. In fact, the film builds up to the ultimate showdown so well that once it gets there things get a bit awkward. In some ways it's like writers Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer had the beats they wanted to get to in the story outline but couldn't make smooth transitions between major plot points. However, it delivers on the spectacle that you want to see! For a team up film, everything comes together as it should, and sets us up for an entry of more characters in this world. It’s hard to bake the best cake ever, but the film is very tasty and satisfying! Will DC take the reigns from Marvel in the box office now? No. But little brother just got a good lick in that the rest of the world has to give him props for! I’d pay to see it a couple more times!
Rating: C+