• Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    1168·
    11 months ago

    Not high art, but refreshing to see actual acting in a comic book movie.

    Especially after they made an entire island of warrior women do Israeli accents just to paper over the fact that their lead actress can’t fake a different one.

        • otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          112·
          11 months ago

          Specifically, Pacino’s “Cuban” accent was so bad that actual Cuban cast members were trained to mimic it just to help it be less glaring. Additionally, Pitt’s “pikey” was so nonsensical, the other actors couldn’t even begin to approximate it and the disconnect is visible onscreen in their reaction time to his lines.

          • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
            71·
            11 months ago

            and the disconnect is visible onscreen in their reaction time to his lines.

            I thought that was intentional, like part of his character, that he speaks nonsensically.

            • otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              22·
              11 months ago

              Nope. Pitt “panicked” and leaned into nonsensical rather than accuracy (likely due to his shite accent in The Devil’s Own).

              • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world
                51·
                11 months ago

                But it was part of the character. The other characters react to him with dialogue. He just couldn’t do *Cockney, so they improvised.

        • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
          51·
          11 months ago

          He’s saying that his bar for high art is higher than “other comic book movies” but still pretty low.

          To use the metaphor from the meme, he’s swam in a lake, but still not the ocean.

  • pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io
    703·
    11 months ago

    I just didn’t watch this movie for years because I was thinking just like the reviewer here. This year I finally watched it and… it was ok. The biggest reason to see it was because I really like Joaquin Phoenix and I wanted to see the movie from which he won his Oscar.

    There’s a lot of things in his Joker performance worth a revisit: how he talks, and how he moves, is really unique and definitely worth the victory. I just wish he would’ve got his Oscar from The Master, which for me is a groundbreaking movie and has one of the best scenes of all time with Joaquin and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the jail cell.

    But he got it from the Joker, and I’m glad he got the recognition.

    • DrMango@lemmy.world
      23·
      11 months ago

      Joaquin carried the fuck out of Joker and his performance, as usual, was spectacular. Unfortunately, for me at least, that’s where the merits of the film ended. I get that it resonated with a lot of people so maybe I am just not in the right headspace to truly appreciate the message, but ultimately I share the thoughts of the reviewer in the OP on this one.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
        111·
        11 months ago

        It was a Taxi Driver remake that licensed a DC character instead of paying Scorsese. It was solidly okay.

        But Phoenix 100% earned the Oscar with it.

      • pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io
        3·
        11 months ago

        I fully agree with you. We also went to see Napoleon because of him and were left disappointed. Please hire him for a great movie, somebody! PTA is making a new movie, so maybe we’re lucky?

      • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
        331·
        11 months ago

        Yes, worth the watch.

        Just keep expectations neutral, this one is also unique in that it focuses more on decline of society, dark movie.

      • fsxylo@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        19·
        11 months ago

        It’s a suspenseful movie showing miserable things. If that’s your thing then it’s worth the watch.

        • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
          61·
          11 months ago

          Maybe for the first half, but their character development diverges at the end. Travis Bickle attempted to do something good, however misplaced, but the joker just wanted to watch the world burn.

            • thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
              2·
              11 months ago

              That’s the beauty of the movie. He steps past the breaking point but his focus was on getting the girl out so all the violence is justified. But he’s not perfect, otherwise his true intentions would have been completed and he’d be recognized as the monster he really is. It’s all perspectives.

          • ShustOne@lemmy.one
            7·
            11 months ago

            I mean no offense to the previous poster but I feel like it was fine. A lot of people talked about Joaquin Phoenix being amazing but I felt like they just haven’t seen his amazing performances haha.

          • MindSkipperBro12@lemmy.world
            62·
            11 months ago

            That’s fair, I’d argue that a viewer being able to closely relate to the protagonist or a character in the film is what changes their view of the film.

            For example, I’ve heard a lot of people love the Black Panther movie and the antagonist. I personally never liked the movie, nor relate to the movie at all, but I can understand someone relating to being an oppressed minority in American urban cities and the desire to rise up.

        • idunnololz@lemmy.world
          7·
          11 months ago

          I didn’t relate to anyone in the movie (that I can remember) and I still loved it.

          I really enjoyed it because of the immersion. I just thought it was good story telling and excellent acting.

          I didn’t really take the movie to have any deeper meaning. To me it was the telling of one version of the joker’s origin story, one that is more grounded and realistic.

          • murmelade@lemmy.mlEnglish
            11·
            11 months ago

            I was confused about him being Batmans brother. Is that canon now, or was it just in one of the marvel multiverses?

              • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
                3·
                11 months ago

                He confronts Wayne in the bathroom at a party/fund raiser, IIRC.
                His mother used to work for the Waynes and hints towards this throughout

                • idunnololz@lemmy.world
                  3·
                  11 months ago

                  Wait why would that make them brothers?

                  I should add that I didn’t really care too much if the movie isn’t true to any source material. My enjoyment of the movie was of it as a completely self contained story.

      • burgersc12@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        74·
        11 months ago

        Imo its overhyped. Its an alright movie that no one would give two shits about if “The Joker” was not the focus of it

          • burgersc12@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            32·
            11 months ago

            I mean yeah? Hypothetically take the parts of a movie that are “unsubstantial” and just look at the plot. It is not interesting enough on its own, which is my biggest gripe. The whole message of the movie literally boils down to the “we live in a society” meme.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
        12·
        11 months ago

        I bought the movie in UHD 4K DVD. I watched it one time and donated the DVD. I won’t be watching it again. Worth a watch? I guess? Maybe? Do you like feeling like shit after watching a movie? Then it’s definitely worth a watch. Phoenix is my favorite actor, and I think he’s the most talented actor in Hollywood, but I did not enjoy watching his psychosis.

    • Amaltheamannen@lemmy.ml
      45·
      11 months ago

      Felt like the message of the movie was society is rotten, but protesting is even worse. Kinda lame.

  • IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee
    348·
    11 months ago

    I saw it in the theater and glad I did. What I saw on the screen was a reflection of my own mental problems. A lot of people didn’t see themselves up there, and that’s totally cool. But it’s pretty disingenuous to wave the movie off like it had zero meaning.

    And that werewolf scene is classic cinema.

  • Floey@lemm.ee
    162·
    11 months ago

    Why does every piece of media need to be the deepest thing ever? Or why do we have to assume media is trying to be? This to me sounds like when people call music pretentious simply because it’s a combination of something they don’t like and also not like things normally on the radio. It’s even weirder in a case like this when the movie is a blockbuster film and not some indie joint.

    • Hugin@lemmy.world
      163·
      11 months ago

      In the case of this movie a lot of people were saying it was an important and deep move. So this review is more a reaction the tremendous over hype joker got from some groups of people.

      • RobotsLeftHand@lemmy.world
        66·
        11 months ago

        And in valiant battle against the edginess they just became more edge. Criticism doesn’t get much lower than basing the review on the “tremendous over hype” of others. That just makes the critic a tool.

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
    13·
    11 months ago

    The truly outstanding thing about Joker was the OST by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Other than that, it was…fine.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
    154·
    11 months ago

    You guys are crazy! Joker is a nuanced and thoughtful study on the ripple effects of sustained trauma and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is perhaps the best of his carrier. No, wait, sorry I was thinking of “You Were Never Really Here” (2017)

    Anybody notice the Batman villain as social anxiety trend? Leger’s Joker channeled Islamic terrorists, Phoenix’s channeled lone wolf shooters, while Dano’s Riddler was an incel.

    Edit: i made a change

    • madcaesar@lemmy.world
      87·
      11 months ago

      This whole trend of trying to make villains deeper and giving them reasons to be assholes needs to stop. It’s rationalizing asshole behavior. Plenty of people have shitty things happen to them without turning into monsters.

      • yesman@lemmy.world
        10·
        11 months ago

        I’d say the ubermench protagonists who are assholes, but their behavior is justified by being superior is a bigger problem. Think of Sherlock, Rick Sanchez, or Tony Stark.

  • Aarrodri@lemmy.world
    41·
    11 months ago

    I just want to say the comments in this thread are very interesting to read and thought provoking. Just taking a moment to appreciate this community.

  • FIST_FILLET@lemmy.ml
    2826·
    11 months ago

    i dislike that sentiment so much. no one is saying joker is a deep movie, you’re just too far up your own ass to be able to enjoy something “simple” for what it is. joker is a very decent movie with a great performance from joaquin, and anyone who praises it as the best thing of all time or labels it as the worst thing in cinema, are idiots. reject both extremes and enjoy the fucking movie. 1 star is just petty and embarrassing

    • Gambit@lemm.ee
      3610·
      11 months ago

      anyone who praises it as the best thing of all time or labels it as the worst thing in cinema, are idiots. reject both extremes and enjoy the fucking movie. 1 star is just petty and embarrassing

      Do you extend this generous view that “opinions must be firmly middle of the road” toward all movies or do you just expect others to be charitable with their opinions when it concerns a movie you liked?