When walking into the theatre to watch the Joker movie, you can’t help but feel excited. I saw the movie a little bit late so I did hear about how morbidly disturbing the movie was, but never truly thought about it. After seeing the movie however, I felt as if it had let me down, and the movie wasn’t enjoyable for the most part.

For those who have not seen the movie
SPOILERS AHEAD

The movie opens with Arthur Fleck staring into a mirror in full clown attire and makeup. He’s doing the (now famous), joker smile.

This part of the movie creates such a negative atmosphere, especially the fact that the only music, is music played in the background of the scene, and is very eerie. As the movie progresses, you can’t help but to think back to this particular scene. With it’s dull colors; slow, deliberate camera work; and it’s superb acting. It provides a perfect opening for a great character.

Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?

Arthur Fleck

Let’s talk about the character of Arthur Fleck and Joaquin’s performance. Arthur starts as a good man, trying to work his way through the harsh Gotham world. Unfortunately, Arthur has many undiagnosed mental disorders, so it doesn’t help when the government cuts funding to his “therapy”. However, when he cares for his mother or tries to bring joy into others lives, something bad always happens to him. Eventually he snaps. Joaquin does a great job with making us feel for this character and wanting there to be change. And you do feel empathy for him at the beginning. However towards the end, the movie takes its turn for the worst as it completely goes overboard.

Towards the end of the movie, Arthur starts to go really insane. He kills many people (including his own mother), but the people he kill are only people who have wronged him. However, when the movie takes a dark turn, there is no balance of a sense of good in the town. I believe movies have two purposes, to entertain, and to share a message. This movie does have a message to share on mental illness, but is not entertaining to a degree of rewatching it ever again. In the Dark Knight, Heath Ledger’s character does far worse things than Arthur Fleck does, but there’s a balance between Heath’s character and Batman. This is why this movie is so successful, entertaining, yet morbidly dark at the same time. Since the Joker doesn’t have the balance that it requires, the movie starts to feel bland. Everytime Arthur gets in a conflict, he shoots the person in the head and moves to the next conflict. There are tons of obstacles, but they are removed in a second. So by the end of the movie, you feel empty.

In conclusion, I believe that the joker movie had so much potential. The cinematography was top of the line. The acting was superb. But the amount of empty and complete lack of reliable conflict makes this movie fall short.

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