Cast – Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz & Frances Conroy

Director – Todd Phillips

Genre – Drama/Thriller

Running Time – 2h 2m

We had mentioned earlier on in our preview that it had all the right ingredients to be a memorable classic, now having seen it, we were right on the money with that assumption. Beautifully crafted with an intense underlining throughout, Joker is unique and will live long in the memory mainly because of the fact that it’s one of the few origin story based on a villain instead of the usual superhero premise. It is excellently executed and Todd Phillips (the director) should be applauded for this majestic piece of movie making.

Attempting something that has never been done before (creating an origin story) and using one of the greatest villains in comic book history was always going to be risky but if ever it was going to be done then this is how. The movie dives into the haunting downfall of Joaquin Phoenix’s character, Arthur Fleck aka Joker. An origin story (entirely separate from any previous cinematic iteration of Batman’s most enduring foe), the movie follows Fleck as the world around him begins to crumble, pushing stresses on the man that apparently lead to his complete undoing—and his rebirth as the cackling, calculated crown prince of crime.

A front runner for Academy Awards (we have no doubt about this), the larger than life Joaquin Phoenix comes through with an absolutely incredible performance. Fully immersive in the character’s portrayal, the movie revolves around Phoenix and his ups and downs as a man beaten down by the harsh world around him to the seeming catalyst for a clown-mask-clad revolution. It really is a shame when you consider that this is set as a once off with no chance of us seeing Phoenix assuming the role again. He is firmly the best Joker since the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the character in the classic Dark Knight movie.

One for the ages and a classic already, Joker is what really good movie making is all about. The real life setting of it is what makes it believable and a really good watch, if you ask us this is the route DC should continue on and with the Batman movie (with a similar real life feel) also in the works the studio is doing all the right things. Beautiful cinematography and excellently executed, Joker, together with this one, is by far one of the movies of the year and a hot favorite for all kinds of major awards. Also, the last 30 mins of the movie is one of the best we have ever seen, it won’t be hard for anyone to stick around till then we reckon. We really really enjoyed it and that’s why it gets a blockbuster 9 out 10 rating from us.   

It just has all the right ingredients to be a memorable classic..we just hope we are not wrong in this assumption. Over the past few months we’ve already had a few glimpses of Todd Phillips’ take on this one that displays how a man like the Joker could come to existence. We now have another trailer from Warner Bros that further gives insight into what to potentially expect and it’s quite special…

The latest trailer dives even further into the haunting downfall of Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck. Set as an origin story entirely separate from any previous cinematic iteration of Batman’s most enduring foe, the movie follows Fleck as the world around him begins to crumble, pushing stresses on the man that apparently lead to his complete undoing—and his rebirth as the cackling, calculated crown prince of crime.

We also see chance encounters with everyone from Robert De Niro as a mysterious TV host and perhaps even more intriguing, the Wayne family itself – with Brett Cullen’s Thomas Wayne briefly shown as he takes a swing at the Joker. For us the best thing about this movie and as the trailer showcases is we see Fleck rise from a man beaten down by the harsh world around him to the seeming catalyst for a clown-mask-clad revolution. A psychological thriller that is no doubt going to shake the movieverse in all the right ways (mark our words), Joker hits theaters on 4 October.