Take your head back, to five years ago. D.C. was at an all time low, and Marvel at an all time high, what with Endgame just having come out and the world still reeling from Josh Whedon's absolute trash take on what could have been Zack Snyder's Justice League; Covid was still at least six months away, and I was still young and had hope for my life.
Joker came like an unexpected whirl wind in a time which was ripe for it.
No one expected it to be as good as it was, I mean every one was cautiously optimistic because the trailers were pretty good but the bitter taste in everyone's mouth from it being D.C. and the fact that Joker as a character is as enticing as he is because he is bit of an enigma.
In other words, giving him a backstory is not the best idea now is it.
Add to that the fact all of that the fact that the Movie is R rated, and the fact that Todd Philips really does not like Superhero movies, and you have got a perfect cocktail for what seemed to be a disaster in the making.
WB definitely did not help, like legit, their decisions are what help me sleep peacefully at night, knowing that no matter what I do I will never make decisions as terrible as them.
The media themselves were not really helping the Movie, they almost seemed hellbent on saying that this movie is literally hell-spawn, no wonder considering that the entire movie was a horrifying look at the societies own reflection, something which would very much make some people extremely uncomfortable.
Especially because it made a very important point, Criminals are people too, you will observe with concern, throughout the movie as you find yourself rooting for the worst of all evil.
It made some people realize that unfortunately, we as a society play just as big of a role in making a criminal as the criminal themselves, guess that took some people's sleep away.
And the Media is well known to farm emotion clicks, so they saw a Large audience of people extremely pissed off people and it saw some easy bucks.
Yeah some people would like to believe that the Media was personally offended with the movie cause it presented them in a Negative light, but I think it's much simpler than that, it was and always will be, about the Money.
And while I understand why some people will have an issue with criminals and especially, Incels, which is what the Joker/Arthur Fleck was very close to being, (some may even say he was one.) I believe it is important for people to realize the uncomfortable truth that unlike what movies show, Criminals are actually everyday people who live amongst us, I think realizing that will help with dealing with statements like, "he doesn't look like a criminal" "I thought he as a decent chap." etcetera.
I mean look at Arthur, through out the movie he tries to be kind.
He Dances to entertain sick children, he is very kind to Gary who is undoubtedly bullied for his short stature, and he does try to gel into society, but he doesn't get it, he tries and he fails, and his attempts are made fun of, on live T.V. no less. Obviously at the end of the day everything he did was his choice, but really what does one do when they are down on the ground and being kicked to death.
And once someone gets a taste for blood...
Anyways, point is, one needs to realize that criminals are not these exaggerated caricatures, I believe most don't cause realizing that calls for one to realize the evil within oneself, which is harder said than done.
It also takes realizing the fact that a large part of your story is unfortunately controlled by those around you, by society, factors outside your control.
What does that make one?
All of this I am saying to make one understand that it is not the out of the box Idea, or the fact that this is a sequel that didn't need to exist, or the fact that (unfortunately this is how some people think) this one had a woman in it(I cringe that I have to say this but seriously twitter, stop that.), that made this movie a bad movie.
And neither was it that outlandish to believe that Folie a Deux would actually be a good movie, cause Joker had everything going against it, and yet it all came together in something way better than the sum of it parts.
And also, the name being French is not a problem, yes this last one is a good Litmus test though, a good indication of something being pretentious as fuck is that the name is pretentious as Fuck.
It's as Joker said.
Even this being a Musical is not a terrible idea, in fact I would say it is a great Idea, Joker aspires to be a comedian, one of the most performative of arts, the Sequel being extremely performative is a good direction to take it in.
Especially since this was supposed to be Folie a Deux, a shared madness, a shared hallucination.
It was supposed to be, it wasn't though.
No most(I am tempted to say all) of the Musical sections were completely in Arthur's head, and not - as the title would imply - Shared. Maybe they were I don't know, the movie didn't give me much to go on.
See the problem with this movie lies in the line above, "You wouldn't get it." You see I snuck in Zack Snyder's Justice league for a reason, I think, that, anyone looking at that and the Whedon Cut objectively and Free off any external bias, will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that the Zack Snyder's version was the superior one.
And dare I say, if that were the version that actually came out in cinemas it would have actually pushed marvel to be way, way better than Marvel, like just the way it begins, with Superman's Death Scream travelling across the world, awakening the mother boxes, literally shaking the world, and ringing a bell, signaling the end of times.
It's ominous, it's gripping, it immediately captures everyone's attention.
And Steppenwolf, that guy got an amazing glow up, not just in his design, but in his character, the Superman Resurrection carried actual weight, and then we have the Flash Time Travel scene, the whole thing felt like a comic book come to life, the aspect ratio certainly helped, damn, it made me like Jared Leto's joker.
That scene in particular was almost a representation of the movie itself, going back in time to undo a failure already passed.
I certainly think many things could have made it better, like an Aquaman movie, a Flash movie, a Batman Solo movie where he isn't trying to murder superman, but you know, save Gotham, not a Cyborg movie, I think this version of the character works best when he is first introduced in this team up movie.
So Zack Snyder was right all along, just like, Todd Philips was right all along.
And then what? Then, Zack Snyder did get full creative control of a movie, and guess what.
We got Army of the Dead.
A movie that while certainly had some great ideas, was not that... it was not that great...
Too much of a good thing people, that's what giving my boi Zack full control did.
Certainly not as bad as Folie a Deux don't get me wrong, and we will get to that don't you worry.
And so this brings us to the current year, Todd Philips, as some might know, is not big on Franchises, he wants more, single movies, and while that is certainly a good sentiment, it makes him a terrible choice to direct a Sequel.
And this man has no background in Musicals, and it... it really shows.
You see, one of the main things that bothered my boi Todd other than the fact that WB dared to throw another Billion Dollars at him to make a sequel, was the fact that people. seemed to actually like the Joker as a Character, they related to him, which I mean crazy thought here, that's the role of a Protagonist.
And certainly some follow up movies do tear down the previously sympathetic character, even the protagonist, and are all the great for it, in fact you know what, you want to tear down Arthur Fleck?
Here is a crazy Idea, have him and Harley escape Arkham together, you know, during the fire she started, and then have them come back to court, galivanting as their Joker selves, representing themselves, and actually not care about a Guilty verdict, they escape anyway.
Because they can't be caught, the whole city supports them. I mean that's almost what they did, the... the court room did blow up, and they escaped, Gotham is incurably corrupt, that is the point, And it seemed that for a moment, the Movie was making it a point that, after a horrific killing, the Society around the murderer, tend to turn him into a Messiah, movies are made about him, people fawn over him, fantasize about him, put him on a pedestal.
I mean my man incited a riot at the end of the last movie, you are telling me, there was no better way to capitalize on that?
The way to bring the Joker down is to make him become the horrible murderer and criminal he has always been in the comics, to show him being evil and getting away with it, not to have him cry and say in the middle of a court hearing that this whole thing is bullshit, the Joker is just a fantasy.
But I bet the other way wouldn't have helped my boi Todd feel all smug about himself.
And you know the main reason all of this is so infuriating? Because the beginning of this movie was perfect.
Now that the Joker has done scathing commentary on the state of society I think it was indeed time for this movie to do the same for our prison and court system, like mate, the Joker is born out of Abuse, that is why he is such a disturbed individual.
And seriously, that one scene where Gary tells Arthur that he was the only one nice to him, nails home the point of the previous movie, Nice people can be bad if put in a bad enough situation.
What was the saying?
Ah yes, all it takes, is one bad day.
The best of societies can crumble if put under the right amount of pressure in the right way.
Seriously, it's creepy when the Joker has a point isn't it?
But no, this entire movie is, remember that previous movie? Yeah that guy has a trial now, enjoy, Seriously, I can't shake the feeling that if this movie had a brief period in between where Joker and Harley escaped and caused more Mayhem, got arrested again, got abused and in the end got away with it anyways, this would have been much better.
And it would have gotten the name right as well, Folie a Deux, a shared madness of two, and not, one man fantasizes about a woman for a bit and she indulges him.
And all of this, I have said, without even once talking about how the movie actually decided to end things.
What does the psychopath do?
He tells the comedian you get what you fucking deserve.
Then Arthur is stabbed and killed by the Joker from Gotham. The show not the city, I mean it is in the city, but, you get my point.
YES INDEED, JEDI KNIGHT CAL KESTIS DECIDED TO MAKE A CAMEO APPEARANCE AND KILL OFF THE JOKER.
For those of you who don't get the joke Cameron Monaghan is the Actor who plays both, Gotham's version of Joker(Both of them, cause yes, there are two.) and the Jedi Knight Cal Kestis, in the video game series consisting of, Star wars: Jedi Fallen order and Jedi Survivor.
I mean granted, this Joker was played by a different actor, which is why I had a very hard time recognizing it.
So yes! The version you all related to? Well he was a mentally ill hack who wasn't really the Joker, and you just fell for some random guy who essentially just got stabbed and killed by the real Joker, to be forgotten forever.
Fuck you Audience! Sincerely, Todd Philips.
Not gonna lie, I have a friend who watched it without giving any money and even he hated it.
Comments