Joker

Wow! Forget about the MCU, Black Panther or Logan. Joker has redefined, possibly even transcended, the superhero/villain film genre. It was absolutely possible to take it as a standalone, character-study, independent of its comic-book pedigree. And it was brilliant.

Joaquin Phoenix was the ace in the deck. He was immensely riveting, insanely transformative and immersive and utterly unforgettable. Just give him the damn Oscar already. Truly, he was in practically every scene of this film and you cannot take your eyes off him. His eyes were magnetic, his body language was (and the dances!) hypnotic and his voice - and that laughter! - was uniquely indelible.

Joker was an in-depth character study that went beyond the supervillain origin story tropes. Director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver found a way to humanise and authentically translated the downfall of Arthur Fleck the man and a rise of a Joker the villain.

The story itself, was well-paced and although it had its comic-book cliches and the third act meandered into socio-political overtones that felt concurrently overhanded and underbaked, the narrative itself still managed to be surprising and unexpected especially in terms of how certain outcomes were reached.

The best moments of the film were the musical interludes, either from the haunting and oppressive strings of Hildur Guðnadóttir's or Phillips' song choices, where Phillips' just followed and circled around Phoenix as he moved, danced and simply commanded the camera and the screen and our attention. 

Lawrence Sher's cinematography had its moments too, with a couple of standout scenes that were shot and lit beautifully. And together with Phillips' direction and Guðnadóttir's score, their work together helped to support Phoenix and translate his phenomenal characterisation from paper to screen.

Phoenix owned this film and our attention. He was equal parts pitiable, sad, scary, lovable, charismatic, menacing, evil, good and all were mostly done through his eyes and face and body. He and Christian Bale could possibly be the two most method-actors out there now, and he could be the best on-screen Joker of all time (sorry Heath Ledger).

For now, the Oscar is his to lose (if all things being equal, but we all know the Oscars is more than just performance-oriented). As for the supporting cast, Francis Conroy was well-cast as were Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz although Beetz had nothing much to do. But all three had good chemistry with Phoenix.

Joker was a riveting film elevated to greatness by Phoenix. It deserved to be watched and the concerns surrounding its validation of a sociopath are unfounded as long as the audience watching it have some level of intelligence to be able to differentiate between art and life.