Written by George Heftler
I don’t get excited for DC movies anymore.
Nobody is more disappointed by this than me. I love several of DC’s characters (especially in the Batman canon) but between disappointment after disappointment when it comes to the on-screen product and Zack Snyder yelling at us to “grow the fuck up” for being upset that he has Batman killing people, my passion has cooled, to say the least.
But just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in.
The Joker is executive-produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Todd Phillips. The supporting cast includes Robert DeNiro, Zazie Beetz, and Marc Maron who is a delight on Netflix’s GLOW. And oh yeah, the Joker himself is played by acting phenom Joaquin Phoenix. Based on this teaser, he’s about to put on a damn showcase. He’s sickly thin, looking like Christian Bale in The Machinist. He’s got a great Joker laugh, perfectly eerie and sets you on edge. Gotham looks like an actual city now—not gritty for grit’s sake, but authentic, and lived in.
Perhaps my favorite thing about this teaser is the lack of Batman. This is a movie exploring the character of the Joker, and I am glad that they are not splitting the attention to his story by having to balance a superhero arc as well. This instead seems to have major Taxi Driver vibes (and Scorsese’s King of Comedy), following one lunatic’s descent into violence as they spiral out of control. So sign me up, Joker. I’m in. October 4th, I’ll be putting on a happy face.
