Why I'm looking forward to Joker

 

Character belongs to Warner Bros. Pictures

When our friends at Warner Bros. released the final trailer for Joker at the end of August, I admit that it left me a little chilly. Despite the star draw of a colossal talent like Joaquin Phoenix, the trailer looked like a bloated fluff-ball of artistic pretense to me. But upon burying my initial knee-jerk reaction, I opened my eyes to what Warner Bros. was trying to do. As the first in a series of standalones under the newly-minted DC Black label, Joker looks like a breath of fresh air — a touch of indie-style creative freedom to flush the commercial muck clinging to the much maligned DCEU. Director Todd Phillips envisioned superhero 'verse climbing out of the MCU's long shadow, with creators committed to bringing strong stories to life unstained by the push to pound them into a multi-film behemoth like mismatched puzzle pieces. And for what it's worth, he looks like he's succeeding. Though the film’s already seen light in Venice, it won’t make stateside until the 4th next month, so in the meantime, I'll list a couple of reasons I think Joker will enrich our appreciation of this pivotal dark fulcrum in the Batman mythos. 

1. It Was Influenced by a Batman Comic Classic 

 Back in 1988, illustrator Brian Bollard teamed up with the incomparable Alan Moore to create Batman: The Killing Joke.  Moore and co. scrapped the criminal mastermind shtick from the 40s and 50s, opting instead to drape the villain’s tale in tragedy: he was now a chemical engineer and failed comedian driven to crime by desperation, culminating in the now quintessential “one bad day” which changed a struggling family man into one of the most notorious killers in comic book history. This solid story has been a guideline for most iterations of the character, directly or indirectly, ever since its inception. It has made headway into Batman animated adaptations, other comics, and even inspired the Nolanverse’s terrifying take on the character. The comic's basic plot works so well because of how it warps the Joker into a fun-house reflection of the Dark Knight himself. Batman remains an evergreen pop culture legend because of how he rose to become one of the most feared heroes in the world just by turning a terrible experience into a singular, obsessive drive. The Killing Joke runs a parallel tale with our demented clown; much as one senseless murder transformed Bruce Wayne from ordinary boy to God-like vigilante, the Joker was just an average Joe whose “one bad day” pushed him into a pitch-black shade of monstrosity that makes even the most eldritch of beings tremble in disgust. It speaks to a deep part of us, both hopeful and fearful, that all it takes to propel us to godhood or sink us to the Black Pit is a choice any normal person can make after just one, life-altering event.

2. It Completes Chritopher Nolan’s Image of the Joker

Though set in a different universe far removed from Nolan’s groundbreaking trilogy, Joker shares a peculiar darkness with Ledger’s take on him. The Dark Knight’s Joker remained a blank from start to finish, less a man than a destructive force of nature — without origin, identification, or particular reason for his insane, nihilistic march. The closest we get to a motivation is the variable backstory he doles out on his scars (another inheritance of The Killing Joke) and his exchange with Batman during the interrogation scene. Otherwise, the man swaddles himself in a fog of Machiavellian manipulation and flat-out sociopathy so thick you can't tell what, if any, truth lies beneath. But Joker offers to lift the veil, to see the man before the monster, and would be the first such major treatment of the character since the one-dimensional mobster portrayal in Tim Burton’s Batman back in 1989. But Joker may just as easily serve as antithesis to his Nolanverse counterpart. Again, Ledger’s Joker embodied a mysterious force of evil, almost tailor-made to sow discord and whisper millions of little devils into the ears of Gotham’s unsuspecting citizenry.  But in Joker, Arthur Fleck is merely a man, one forged by circumstance and bad luck into becoming one of DC’s most notorious monsters. None of that excuses his actions, but it speaks yet again to the wealth of relatability Killing Joke-like stories bring to the table. Ledger’s Joker inspired a combination of fear and awe over his marvelous displays of manipulation and cruelty; but Phoenix’s take on the character will no doubt bring him back down to earth.

3. It’ll Wash the Taste of Suicide Squad Out of Your Mouth

Okay, this one’s subjective, but bear with me. Though I wasn’t especially kind in my review of the movie, I didn’t hate it, either, but even Suicide Squad's most ardent supporters felt cheated with Leto’s minuscule screen time. He was more a prop, a device, than an actual character, and the hullabaloo drummed up about his presence in the film borders on false advertisement. This is a shame, since the little snippets that seeped out from the extensive post-editing left me a little curious for more. But with plans to revive his role for future DCEU films apparently shelved for the time being, we’ll have to rely on this standalone to sate our killer clown fix.

Without question, Joaquin Phoenix will add his own defining stamp to the iconic character, and with its heart-rending backstory and dark feel reminiscent of the celebrated Nolanverse, this may be the film to finally bring the character out of Ledger’s generous shadow.

Star Wars: What's All the Hubbub, Bub?

We're Back!

I think it's fair to say that Star Wars is, without doubt, a "huge deal."  Uncountable geekdoms were spawned forty years ago from the moment the first interplanetary warship graced the silver screen, and few fictional characters in any medium can boast the devotion claimed by Luke, Leia, Solo, and the rest.  While I never fell deep into it, my sister has been a hardcore fan since the very beginning, and I've always appreciated its role in popularizing the Science Fantasy genre I've relished so much over the years.  So all that said, I confess I didn't think much of the announcement a few years back that Disney was releasing a new addition to the saga.  In fact, I'd say it left me down-right sour.  Between the 30-year gap from the last "beloved" trilogy, the relatively lackluster prequels, and the always-divisive presence of Disney in, well, everything, I hardly imagined there would be any room for longing from even the most devout Star Wars fan - and the relative apathy from my sister seemed to have confirm that.

I couldn't have been more wrong.  There's been mounting anticipation steaming from many quarters over the past year or so, but it was only on the trailer premiere and ticket sale opening this past Monday that I really felt the force of my errancy.  The full trailer has already broken 35 million views on YouTube, and even if most of the outrageous rumors of $700 ticket sales turn out to be just that, their existence speaks volumes about the excitement surrounding this upcoming blockbuster.

Naturally, such fevered expectation invites an analysis of some kind, and though I've toyed with dissecting the trailer to uncover its core, a number of other critics have already done just that, so instead I'll briefly examine just a few of the possible engines driving this surprising surge of Star Wars fanism, despite the setbacks of recent times.

1. The Eternal Return 
As implied by the trailers and the cinema rumor mill, this new iteration of the Star Wars franchise won't merely feature a brand new cast of fresh nobodies that plead us to care about them.  Instead, we've got Mark Hamil, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher all making a return, stirring the pot of nostalgia for both long-term followers and those raised on their eulogizing memoirs of escapes into distant galaxies.  Part of the problem with the previous trilogy is that it felt disconnected from everything that imbued Star Wars with meaning, especially the original cast and their idiosyncrasies.  This new movie, therefore, must feel like a "coming home" of sorts for many long-time fans. 

2. Fresh promise
Still, we shouldn't skimp on the new characters entirely; Daisy Ridley and John Boyega will share the spotlight with the "old favs," and if the trailer is anything to go by, they'll breathe fresh life into the franchise, making their own mark in Star Wars history.  Ridley's apparent rendition of the Mysterious Lone Drifter archetype - so common in these epics, but so uncommonly played by a woman - may show her to be the next Luke Skywalker, and Boyega's prominence in the trailer all but cements his arc as one from darkness to redemption, and finally onto heroism.  We won't know for sure what role they play in the greater scheme of things until the final wire, but it's the mystery that's so engaging.  This isn't a fabricated origin story, the conclusion to which is already set in stone; we really don't know what destiny awaits for Ridley and Boyega or the characters they play.  But I'm sure we're all eager to find out.

3. The Hero's Journey
This last point culminates much of the appeal of the other two - and indeed, probably explains the popularity of Star Wars as a whole more than any other individual factor.  Let's face it: however much it's parodied or denied, however much it's criticized and discounted as meaningless through the lens of comparative mythology, Joseph Campbell's monomyth has left an undeniable mark on the human psyche since it was first formulated.  Who hasn't wanted to be part of a greater battle between Good and Evil?  Who hasn't wanted to rise from nothing, discover your fate and your place in the world, and make a difference?  While cynical or "mature" minds scorn these fantasies as infantile or even dangerous, their appeal is undeniable and timeless.  Star Wars is Campbell's chanting herald in the movie realm, and the star ensemble so far seems ripe to deliver the age-old goods: a few fresh-faced wanderers - both literal and metaphorical - called to adventure and guided by both Old Masters and old salts.  This is the nexus of Star Wars, the heart and soul of its power, and the trailer flows with all the pregnant possibilities that this new journey can offer.

While I admit that I'm not foaming at the mouth or tossing money at my screen on the return of the franchise after over a decade, I'm a good bit more excited than I was just a few months ago.  Only time will tell if Lucas and co. can deliver on their promise, but Star Wars is sure to be on everyone's minds come the holiday season.