"Arthur isn’t supposed to be funny. He’s supposed to be sad. But Arthur isn’t just not funny here. He’s anti-funny. He’s so miserable that he creates the opposite of laughter and mirth."
So in the first film, he was kind of an unpleasant Andrew "Dice" Clay who incites a bunch of braindead followers and here he's more like ... Andy Kaufman? Either way, I loathed the first one, and have no desire to pay money to see this (and I paid money to see Megalopolis), despite having been a fan of the Joker character since childhood. But this is not that Joker.
This is a well done review. I don't agree with you on the first "Joker". I thought it was fantastic. My only complaint was the overlapping and repetitive musical montages...
So the fact that they turned the sequel into a musical is not a good thing, IMHO.
I gotta say I kinda dug this one even though I didn’t particularly care about the first one.
I liked that it was a correction to the worst fans of the first one, where it makes clear that the character they idolized is a mentally unwell not particularly smart man who is in desperate need of actual help, but who falls under the sway of toxic Stans who encourage his worst tendencies.
I didn’t like it enough that I would get into a fight about its quality, but I respected what it was going for.
I think it would’ve been better received if the marketing campaign hadn’t sold a false bill of goods. If it had sold this film as a sobering up and a reckoning after the first film instead of an even deeper trip down madness.
I understand Phillip's desire to scream "no you don't get it. He's bad! Society may have failed him but there is no excuse for this!" He did such a bad job directing the first film that people saw him as an anti-hero who will bring down the system, man! He has the same problem here. He did such a bad job directing this corse correction that it makes him too sad, too pathetic.
I respect everything he tried to do here. He's just completely failed. Like with Metropolis I admire the ambition at least.
Yes I remember many progressive critics getting very offended by this movie, including Rabin here. How dare you make the Joker compelling! How dare you identify with lonely, angry men, express their pain and give credence to their grievances! POCs! Trump! Incels! This is the wrong message to send!
I've read other reviews that say something similar to you, Phillips was so aghast at the reception to the first one that he decided to completely defang the character and take away any of his cred as an anti hero.
To put it another way....
Poochie died on his way back to his home planet. Yay!
"I made an important, timeless piece of art about a weirdo who dresses up like a clown and does crimes. "
I agree!
Wait, you're talking about Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies, right?
This is Ebert-reviewing-North level of hatred and I love it.
"Arthur isn’t supposed to be funny. He’s supposed to be sad. But Arthur isn’t just not funny here. He’s anti-funny. He’s so miserable that he creates the opposite of laughter and mirth."
So in the first film, he was kind of an unpleasant Andrew "Dice" Clay who incites a bunch of braindead followers and here he's more like ... Andy Kaufman? Either way, I loathed the first one, and have no desire to pay money to see this (and I paid money to see Megalopolis), despite having been a fan of the Joker character since childhood. But this is not that Joker.
This is a well done review. I don't agree with you on the first "Joker". I thought it was fantastic. My only complaint was the overlapping and repetitive musical montages...
So the fact that they turned the sequel into a musical is not a good thing, IMHO.
Why Lady Gaga attached herself to this incel musical is beyond me, perhaps it is to build the most iconically 'camp' career that she can.
I, too, used to love Phoenix. I am now viscerally repelled whenever I see his face or hear his voice. Dude is permanently high on his own farts.
Pete Holmes pretty thoroughly dismantled the original film with his Batman/Joker video on Youtube.
Those posters are pretty good, though.
Yeah, I came down here to say that it sounds like the posters are the best part, followed by the interview sequence in this review.
I gotta say I kinda dug this one even though I didn’t particularly care about the first one.
I liked that it was a correction to the worst fans of the first one, where it makes clear that the character they idolized is a mentally unwell not particularly smart man who is in desperate need of actual help, but who falls under the sway of toxic Stans who encourage his worst tendencies.
I didn’t like it enough that I would get into a fight about its quality, but I respected what it was going for.
I think it would’ve been better received if the marketing campaign hadn’t sold a false bill of goods. If it had sold this film as a sobering up and a reckoning after the first film instead of an even deeper trip down madness.
I understand Phillip's desire to scream "no you don't get it. He's bad! Society may have failed him but there is no excuse for this!" He did such a bad job directing the first film that people saw him as an anti-hero who will bring down the system, man! He has the same problem here. He did such a bad job directing this corse correction that it makes him too sad, too pathetic.
I respect everything he tried to do here. He's just completely failed. Like with Metropolis I admire the ambition at least.
But, like, three-year-olds know the Joker is a bad guy. Anyone who doesn't understand he's a bad guy is refusing to understand it on purpose.
Yes I remember many progressive critics getting very offended by this movie, including Rabin here. How dare you make the Joker compelling! How dare you identify with lonely, angry men, express their pain and give credence to their grievances! POCs! Trump! Incels! This is the wrong message to send!
I've read other reviews that say something similar to you, Phillips was so aghast at the reception to the first one that he decided to completely defang the character and take away any of his cred as an anti hero.
To put it another way....
Poochie died on his way back to his home planet. Yay!
This is an INCREDIBLE review. I loved reading it. So many great lines. Well done, sir.
Thanks for also reminding how much I hated "I'm Still There"