Movie Review: Joker

What if you give a sad clown a gun?

Warning: There may be little spoilers ahead, but I don't think it'll ruin your watching experience.

After Justice League, Aquaman and Shazam, DC comes back with the release of Joker, the origin story of a villain we all know and love. DC teased us with such a dark trailer that a lot of us fans and regular audiences are unsurprisingly psyched to see the film.

What you see in the trailer is what you get. A dark, devastating story of how a man, clouded and overwhelmed by a world full of hate, lies, deception, and madness, slowly breaks him into a mad man. It's beautiful to watch it unfold before your eyes, and yet, at the same time, tragic.

Joaquin Phoenix, playing as Arthuck Fleck a.k.a. The Joker, was amazing and bold in portraying this complex character, especially applying the condition of Pathological Laughter. It's almost horrifying to have empathy for him, but you just feel his pain. You can't help but feel pity and understand him as we watch him spiral into a point of no return.

The only minor, or perhaps major, slip-ups about the film is the age gap between Bruce Wayne and Joker. Yes, it should be no surprise that little Bruce, the soon-to-be-dark-knight, would have a "cameo" in the film. There's a little familiar scene in the movie that fans will love, but would leave us confused and questioning about the timeline and age gap in the DC universe.

There are actually two things happening in the film: One, a story about the division between the higher-ups (portrayed by wall street boys and Thomas Wayne) and the undergrounds. Second, a story about a man full of pain, and a lifetime of abuse, searching for an ounce of hope to believe life will get any better. But life won't give it...it gave a gun. 

And what happens if you give a lost man a gun?

Unrelenting chaos.

The film just perfectly portrayed what violence does to a person who has nothing to lose, who has nothing but pain and abuse. The scary power they feel when they are given the opportunity; when they experience what destruction they are capable of.

Since that night of violence, it triggered a domino effect of events that made Arthur Fleck into the Joker we know; hope was lost, past and secrets were revealed, and everything came tumbling down.

The story is simple yet psychologically deep, that at the end of the film, you are left speechless. Mixed emotions. 

And then you realized that you've just watched the birth of a villain. 

Rating: 🤡🤡🤡🤡
Experience: 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

JOKER IS SHOWING NOW IN PHILIPPINE CINEMAS NATIONWIDE!