Joaquin Phoenix is the Joker. The physical and mental metamorphosis of this character starts immediately in the first scene of a film that will constantly flirt between a politically incorrect morale and a liberal apologetic analysis of someone's transformation into a popular anarchist symbol. The heart of this film is this 44 year old actor, clearly the performance of a lifetime, who is able to lead a quite weak script but whose performance makes this major flaw go unnoticed. He makes us explore a plethora of feelings with great intensity, from feeling pity to be afraid of him, that we cannot remember last time we were so blown away by a performance of this level.
Todd Philips takes us into the darkest streets of Gotham City even though this could be in any large city where individualism, selfishness and anger is at its paroxysm. Gotham City becomes a reflection of the turbulent times of the 21st century (particularly in the US) with Government budget cuts, high-homicide rates, strong social inequalities and especially, an angry society. Despite quite cliche scenes and predictable outcomes, the wonderful score by Icelandic Hildur Ingveldar Guðnadóttir as well as the fantastic photography privileging faded colours and shaky shots make the film an actual bumpy ride!
This original re-imagination of how the Joker became who he is will set a new benchmark for Marvel and DC studios. Maybe the time will come for Supervillains taking the throne from Marvel superheroes denouncing a capitalist, egocentric and individualist society that prefers to ignore people asking for help helping to generate monsters that do not only feel self-pit but also who wants to watch the whole world burn.
