Review of Joker (2019) by Geng1S — 03 Oct 2019

I went into this film knowing two things, the score from Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (friend of Johann and Chernobyl musical genius) meant the tone of this film was going to be glum at best and Phoenix throwing himself into all his roles would undoubtedly deliver. Both of things for me at least were spot on.

The story is desperately sad if not a little predictable, my only really gripe being the use of on screen notes to move the plot along at times, I find trying to nail which part I am meant to be reading takes the immersion out a little and I’m pretty sure It happens on at least three occasions. Acting across the board is fantastic; I can understand why Phoenix has been called out by some reviewers but for my mind the Joker is meant to be over acted and his slow descent into madness is perfectly executed.

Overall this feels like the sort of film you end up studying in English class, there is a lot to take in and you will have questions come the end. Not everyone will love this as it can plod a little at times but it’s a needed plot that adds to the overall mood of the film.