–
—
Netflix
Thriller, drama, superhero universe
For a long time the huge, white letters were everywhere: on movie posters, in magazines, in various Internet forums. Hardly any other film from the DC / Marvel cosmos has sparked such a controversy as JOKER. And now, two years later, the film has made it into the Netflix Top 10 list within a few days. What is so different about the supposed superhero film and whether that justifies the hype, you can read this week in the Streaming Review.
A crowd favorite in the spotlight
Joker. The iconic terror clown who has made life difficult for Batman since the beginning of his career in Gotham is almost more popular with fans than his bat counterpart. And Todd Phillips and DC Studios knew that when they filmed their own Origin story for the super villain in 2018.
Already from the start rose JOKER apart from its genre siblings, showed itself to be the black sheep of the family, so to speak. Not only is there no brilliant, perfect superhero in the focus of the plot, but the story revolves solely around Arthur Fleck, who has been rejected by society. All viewers know who will stand at the end of this story: a villain, an unscrupulous super villain who has been embodied in the past by greats like Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson.
–
—-
–
Everything will be different this time
Dramatic music. Dark scenes that give you goose bumps. Without further ado, I would give the trailer for JOKER the title that many critics have given the film: a cinematic masterpiece. My personal visit to the cinema was marked by great expectations and enormous anticipation: and maybe that’s exactly where my disappointment lies.
The superhero genre has not necessarily enjoyed an artistically valuable reputation in the past. Allegations of lack of ideas and mass processing are reinforced not least by statements such as that of Martin Scorsese: “Marvel Movies aren’t cinema”, According to him, Marvel films are not really cinema.
Although we have a competitor with Marvel’s DC, the genre is largely the same. The difference: JOKER is a psychological drama that is told intensely and darkly instead of relying on bombastic action effects and comedy like its colleagues.
–
But is it really as groundbreaking as everyone says it is?
In my opinion: not really …
Joaquin Phoenix, who also won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role, is undoubtedly doing a breathtaking job. His performance is touching, shocking and captivating. If you think about its performance, however, there is not much more left of the film than an average to flat script, a sometimes rather sloppy violin soundtrack and few surprises. If you’ve seen the trailer, you basically already know the basic content of the film.
Is this unusual now, just because you are used to something different from the genre? I do not know.
JOKER is a film that is neither bad nor excessively good. I find it a little difficult to ride the wave of hype, but: Joaquin Phoenix’s acting skills are definitely worth an evening. Even if the rewatch potential is limited.
–
Conclusion: 3/5 clown tears. A classic “not bad, not fantastic” film: the trailer and Joaquin Phoenix’s acting remain a masterpiece, the rest is rather poor.
–
–
