Those of you who have followed the world of superheroes, especially DC, certainly know well about the super villain character named Joker. This character has a long history as a mortal enemy of Batman, and is one of the criminal brains of various terror and chaos that occurred in the city of Gotham. After frequently appearing in various DC series and films such as Batman, Joker now has a solo film that tells his “normal” life before finally deciding to become a “Joker”.
“Put on a happy face”
Introduced as Arthur Fleck, he is a Gotham citizen who has a profession as a party clown under the auspices of the agency “Haha’s”. We are invited to see how the life of an Arthur Fleck who at first glance looks normal, but has a variety of problems and conflicts, especially because Gotham is getting a variety of threats, ranging from the threat of rat pests and trash, to situations that make the atmosphere increasingly insecure and tense for some people. . And this is also exacerbated by Arthur’s own mental health condition, which requires him to talk to social workers and take medication regularly. Therefore Arthur requires exciting activities to improve his emotions for the better. One thing Arthur can do is soccer bet at Yukbola and making lots of money to get rich.
We are also invited to see how Arthur struggles to take care of his mother alone without the help of others in an old apartment, as well as how he often strives to progress to a career as a comedian who dreams of all the difficulties and problems he experiences every day.
Leaving aside the various problems he faced, Arthur still tried to do his work while still taking care of his mother without complaint. But this soon changes rapidly over time, especially when Arthur is confronted with a reality that he finally realizes, a reality in which he decides not to pretend to himself, nor care anymore about whatever is around him.
“All I have are negative thoughts.”
Conceptually, the story of the Joker movie will remind you of the DC comic “The Killing Joke” where the Joker character eventually becomes a “Joker” because he experiences “one day of badness” accompanied by dropping him into chemical waste, resulting in facial changes and iconic hair as we know the “Joker” to this day. But Todd Philips as the director and producer of the Joker film had said that this film would not have any relationship from the DC comics about the Joker that were circulating, and this was proven by the film itself with its own universe.
The film tells the Joker with a different plot and perspective, but still can provide good progress and character development, making the audience better understand why Arthur Fleck eventually became a “Joker”. Although this Joker did not go “crazy” in the conventional way as we know it in his comic book, the Joker film succeeded in giving another reason why the madness could occur since the film began through a story that we can relate more to everyday life.
There are doubts about the selection of the main actor for the Joker at the beginning of this film began to be announced publicly, but Joaquin Phoenix managed to provide the character of Arthur Fleck who lived full of conflict, tragic and ironic, with mental health conditions that began to be unstable, until finally becoming the crazy Joker clown. It is difficult to compare this new Joker with actors who have played the Joker before, but it feels like choosing Joaquin to play the Joker is a very appropriate decision. We can see in this film how Joaquin’s hard work to understand the character physically and mentally, so that it succeeded in showing good character development along with amazing acting skills.
Elements of fantasy and fiction are still present in this Joker film, but the more realistic spice of conflict is one of the keys to the success of character building and the dark atmosphere until the end of the story. This film does not present a variety of exciting action scenes, but rather is focused on the drama of life as a Gotham society whose situation is not conducive for everyone. Conflict that can be better understood and coupled with how Arthur sees the world and his surroundings which is heavily influenced by his mental health condition, we are invited to take part in falling into the madness he experiences throughout the film. There is greater sympathy for the character of the Joker this time, but it also creates a conflict in your mind that what the Joker himself did cannot be fully justified.
Must Watch?
This film provides a more different and fresher picture and development of the Joker character, making it one of the must-watch solo films especially if you are a big DC fan and interested in getting to know the Joker character further that cannot be seen in his comic books.
But keep in mind, this film has an R rating or Adult, not without obvious reasons. Various scenes of violence and killings often occur throughout the film, with one or two of them ending brutally while others are able to provide uncomfortable feelings, although perhaps the scenes of violence or murder usually do not give a bad feeling when viewed in other films.