Joker hit theaters on October 4th. It is quite the film. I’m almost certain people were expecting me to say it was bad, like everyone does with DCEU movies, but I think it was a genuinely well made film. Let’s take a look at the acting first. Everyone pulls off a superb performance as their characters, especially Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/The Joker. The cinematography is a masterclass of camerawork and presentation, which makes us see Gotham City as a nearly lawless city.

The costume design is really amazing for The Joker, and same for everyone else. The writing is great and helps in making us feel that Arthur Fleck is a broken and depressed man. This helps us feel a little sympathetic for Arthur as he slowly descends into madness and becomes The Joker. We haven’t seen a definitive origin for The Joker in so long, so this doesn’t feel contrived or overused. I also like how the movie doesn’t end with a huge CGI battle at the end because those are just so overused and fake.

The one issue I have is with the tone of the movie. It makes the film a little difficult to go through due to the overly-dark tone and reminds me of the mess of a movie that was Batman vs. Superman. However, it does not detract from the movie and it’s still a very thoughtful and introspective drama disguised as a comic book film that deserves to be seen. I give this film a 7/10, we need more movies like this!

Image by Warner Brothers.