JOKER - A thought provoking origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime

Rating: 4.5 stars

Following the controversial film of Suicide Squad in 2016, Todd Phillips’ Joker focuses in on DC’s most well-known villain and the story of how he came to be the coveted Clown Prince of Crime. From the first shot to the very end, audiences are treated to a gritty, fine-tuned, sophisticated woven tale of Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian seeking connection in the streets of Gotham City. Much like his comic counterpart, he wears two masks – one where he puts on a show and paints his face as a clown-for-hire at his day job, and the other projecting his attempts to fit in with society despite being bullied, isolated and disregarded. As society’s views on him become more and more obvious, Arthur slowly begins his descent into a dark world of madness, vengeance, and betrayal, ultimately transforming him into the criminally insane mastermind known as the Joker. 

Joaquin Phoenix delivers a phenomenally, gut-wrenching and thought-provoking performance as the titular character, from the way Arthur interacts with society to the inner thoughts shared in both his journal and with his social worker. He never misses a beat.

Joker presents a whole new controversial origin story for the iconic DC villain, one where Todd Phillips’ loosely makes use of a real-life medical condition to explain the criminal’s infamous laugh. The Pseudobulbar Affect or PBA, is an emotional disorder where the person’s outward emotions are completely disconnected to that of their inner emotions, manifesting in uncontrollable fits of laughter or weeping in situations deemed inappropriate.

Now, I personally am on the fence about using real-world mental conditions in films to portray the struggle of characters – particularly those considered villainous – and their isolated connection to society. But I will say, Joker plays this out really well by using Arthur’s “condition” as a way of enhancing the character’s disconnect with the real world around him, people seeing him as ill and essentially giving more reason for his journey down the dark path and why he would later end up in Arkham Asylum.

Given the story follows a lonely, disturbed man in a dark, chaotic and unconventional city such as Gotham in the early 1980s, it’s important to be able to capture both the darkness and sensitivity of the city and its titular character.

Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir creates an eerily beautiful soundtrack for the character, full of melancholy to reflect the inner torment that Arthur experiences throughout the film. ‘Call Me Joker’ is a theme often played throughout the film when he starts what could be this enchanting almost metamorphosis of a dance. Phoenix himself even credits Broadway performer, Ray Bolger – most well-known for his role as Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz – where Joaquin takes inspiration from Bolger’s The Old Soft Shoe.

“There’s this odd arrogance almost to his movements” and this is something that Arthur portrays in his movements when dancing up and down the steps or in the grimy bathroom.

Joker is truly a fantastic piece of cinema – depending on where you stand. It plays around with the idea of the iconic DC villain, taking a more twisted turn in way of his origin story and how he became to be the leader of Gotham’s underbelly. In some strange way, it’s bleak and gritty but at the same time is able to bring those uplifting undertones of finding his freedom amongst Gotham City and its chaos.

BLAST OFF WITH ROCKETMAN

Rating: 5 stars

Much like 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, 2019 has been treated to yet another musical biopic in the way of Rocketman. Following the story of a young Reginald Dwight, a piano prodigy who would grow up to become one of the world’s biggest stars, Elton John. From his childhood in the 1980s through to the present moment, Rocketman takes the audience on a whirlwind of emotions as the reality of Elton’s life with substance abuse, coming to terms with who he is and ultimately accepting that.

Whilst I may have been born a 90s kid, I will forever be listening to the older jams of the 70s and 80s. As a child, I loved listening to these throwback songs and whenever Elton John would come on, I’d want that music blasting and I’d be shaking it every which way!

Elton truly is a star full of life, love and one heck of a story.  Aside from his music, he’s real and honest about how he became the star we all know and love and the obstacles he overcame to get to where he is today.

In Rocketman, Elton is portrayed by the uber-talented Taron Egerton – best known for his roles in Eddie The Eagle and The Kingsman films. He oozes Elton’s charisma; his voice is incredible and he really does take to this role with a grain of salt in hand.

Taron previously made a tribute to Elton by belting out ‘I’m Still Standing’ in 2016’s Sing, which most certainly aided him in attaining such a big role and capturing the attention of Elton. The creative decision to have Taron actually sing Elton’s biggest hits and not just lip-sync is what brings this film to a whole other level.

Over the course of the film, audiences realise that Taron isn’t doing an impression of the rockstar but has thrown himself fully into the mindset and life of Elton. It truly is remarkable. The physical resemblance between the two is uncanny and through each of the elaborate costumes worn in the film, it cements it even more. Almost feeling like you’re not watching a film about Elton John but actually going back in time to witness where he was when he was younger to the present day.

Aside from the ridiculously talented Egerton, there are so many other wonderful stars thrown into this film. Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, songwriter for Elton, giving a high-quality performance and taking up almost an angel-like position in Elton’s life as he hit his downward spiral with fame and substance abuse. On the other shoulder sits the all-consuming devilish Richard Madden as lover and manager of Elton, John Reid. Madden puts on a stunning performance, seducing not only Elton but also the audience with his devilish ways, his smooth-talking, and melodic voice.

The cherry on top of these incredible co-stars is the one and only Bryce Dallas Howard who steps out in the role of Elton’s problematic mother; a selfish woman of sorts who very deep down does hold some love for Elton but is blinded by her own life to really show how much she cares.

 

This overall standard of this cast is ridiculously high given the story being told, able to move from a lighter tone to a darker one almost in the flick of a switch. Taron is undoubtedly the star of this film, but these other fabulous stars cannot be overlooked for the captivating performances they hold as people who have either helped Elton or pushed him down in his life.

Unlike Bohemian Rhapsody where Queen’s songs were simply featured every now and then to help the story progress further, Rocketman takes it further and uses the songs to tell Elton’s story. This was one of my personal favorite points in this film. The film opens to Elton in a group therapy session wherein after strutting into the session in his flamboyant attire, he proceeds to have a breakdown and use his hit ‘ The Bitch is Back’ in which audiences see a young Elton outside his childhood home, being called for dinner and really serving as the perfect introduction to Elton and his life with his self-absorbed mother, inattentive father and lovingly supportive Nan.

Having music play such a bigger role in Rocketman opens up the story for some wonderful development as it moves from lighter times in his life to the darker times. And as his career climbs higher, Elton’s dependency on drugs and alcohol becomes more apparent and unfortunately takes a harsh but sad turn. One key moment in the film is when Elton’s iconic ‘Rocketman’ is used in such a moving tone, where audiences see his struggle with substance abuse which eventually leads him to try to drown himself in his pool. It’s incredibly moving, emotional and heart-wrenching to see this bright, vivacious star go through such a rough period and hard downfall in his career.

Rocketman as a film takes so much depth in making the brave decision to steer clear of a PG-13 rating and take on a darker tone with sexual references, use of drugs and alcohol, and offering a film with a far darker – and more realistic – approach to the rockstar lifestyle. There’s something about the grit and honesty of Rocketman that is just so appealing and gives the film a lot more substance than expected in a musical biopic.

As a fan of Elton but also just a fan of this film and the way it has been done, I highly recommend watching it, jam out to the songs and enjoy the rock and roll of Elton John’s biggest hits.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME - NON-SPOILER REVIEW

11 years, 22 movies and a journey of a lifetime for those of us

who quite literally grew up alongside the MCU...

We're finally here.

We're in the endgame now.

As this is a NON SPOILER review, I'll keep it short and to the point.

Avengers: Endgame is a truly extraordinary piece of cinematic history.

If you thought Avengers: Infinity War was an emotional rollercoaster,

ooh you best strap yourself in even tighter!

cr: @cevansbitch via Twitter

Now, I know I'm repeating myself and many others but one truly struggles to comprehend the mass amounts of work that go into creating the MCU and the films within it are unlike any other seen in cinema before.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend staying behind to watch the credits and just take a moment to truly appreciate every single individual listed and pay respect to the amount of work each of them have contributed to these movies.

From the incredible concept art on the pages to turning the unreal sets, detailed costumes and bringing these creative visions to life. It's all truly a masterpiece.

And of course, where would we be without the absolutely stellar cast behind our beloved Marvel characters! Every scene, every nuanced performance is done to perfection, making viewers feel every emotion possible. Their acting truly is something else entirely, and for the original six Avengers, cultivating over 10 years of character development, weaving themselves into these adored characters.

This really is the end of an era...

But it is an ending that has been done in, what I and I imagine many others would agree, to utter nuanced, extraordinary perfection.

11 years of characters we love and stories we watch over and over again, all tied up in the perfect bow.

cr: @RobertDowneyJr via Twitter

Congratulations to the cast of Avengers: Endgame, Kevin Feige, the Russo brothers and every single person whether they're behind the scenes, part of the creative team, etc. You've created cinematic history and made Marvel fans all over the world feel so special to be a part of this journey and watch as this era draws to a close.

"I love you three thousand."