Kalin Norman
Photography Editor
After years of seeing how superheroes on the big screen become the characters, we all know and love, it’s finally the villain’s turn to tell their story. Next up to bat is the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker.
However, this time, unlike some of the supervillain movies before it, Jokeris not your average comic book movie in anyway audiences have seen before. So different in fact that it has people leaving
the theater saying “Why so serious?!”
First things first, if you are going in to the movie expecting a “Dark Knight”Joker with nonstop action, and see what a serial mass murder clowns does best. This is not the movie for you. This movie puts us in the shoes of the Joker, who’s real name is Arthur Fleck, in a very real Gotham City and asks the question “If real, what makes a person become the Joker?” That is not saying there isn’t any action in this movie, but it is definitely not the main focus. Instead, the movie shows what it’s like to be a mentally ill person and forgotten by society.
This is where the movie shines the most. This movie does what most films of its kind does best, and that is holding a mirror up to its viewers. Then asks “Who are you in this world?” The movie honestly shows Arthur being treated less than a human everyday by not only strangers, but family and friends.
Another thing the movie does extremely well is keeping the viewers guessing and blurring the lines between what is and isn’t real. Staying true to one of the comic book Joker’s most famous lines, “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!” The movie is very smart by doing this, because by the end you will be cheering in suspense by the time the climax comes around for Arthur.
Speaking of the climax, it does take a while for the movie to get there.
“Joker”is roughly two hours in runtime but feels longer due to the extremely heavy subject matter and the slow burn method the director chooses to tell the story. Although telling the story in this way is extremely important for plot, I did become a bit anxious towards the third act.
Although the last act of the movie does deliver on the promise the trailers made, it is the only time viewers actually see the Arthur be the Joker. Which, by the way, are senses that can easily scare or gross out people that are not expecting a killer clown to be a killer clown.
Todd Phillips’ “Joker”is an amazing movie that everyone should see at least once. It treats its audience as adults, asks questions and making statements that not only do the characters have to answer but its viewers. This movie successfully does what “Iron Man”did ten years ago, by challenging what a comic book movie can be. “Joker” is worth every dollar that you pay at the theater and even a copy on dvd.
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