Super conflicted about this film. It is indeed a superb piece of cinema, and Phoenix is mesmerising. I swear I had to force myself to blink through parts because I just couldn't take my eyes of him. I felt so anxious and nervous for the character, his awkwardness and lack of social skills rattled me a bit, but in a good way. Like when a thriller puts you in edge for days after, or a horror makes you check all the windows and locks before you go to bed. It's done it's job. But all that aside, this version of the joker villain isn't really for me. Let me explain. I think the thing I loved about the character from dark knight and other batman media is that he is an unknown. A purposefully sociopathic villain that uses, manipulates and kills people just to insight madness and chaos (and to antagonise Batman). Someone who is intelligent, seems to have military training or tactics and knowledge. That can control people by threatening to take away everything they love, and forcing them to go against everything they believe in to do his bidding, without really knowing why. That to me is the joker. A formidable apponent against Gotham's hero, an equal and opposite reaction to batman. Phoenix's Joker would not stand a chance against the caped crusader or come close to becoming that evil, he seems more interested in being loved and famous rather than causing mayhem, and also seems to have accidentally sparked a revolution rather than cleverly igniting one (plus he'd be super old by the time Bruce dons the cowl). One idea I did have which I though would be quite good is that Arthur Fleck could have been the inspiration for Heath Ledgers portrayal of the criminal mastermind. I can see a him as a kid watching the acts of Arthur Fleck before he also mentally snapped later on in life. The truth is for me 'Joker' humanised a villain character whom I used to be genuinely scared of the thought of, some one who's not interested in money, power, or fame. Who Michael Cane so eloquently implied in the dark Knight as a man who just wants to watch the world burn. With so many versions of the joker now (and batman) it doesn't really matter anymore. This is still a great film in itself and will be remembered for years to come.