R-MAN

This movie was never supposed to happen. The first Joker movie is a masterpiece; however, the sequel is just plain horrible. It never looked promising to me, and it turned out to be even worse than I expected when I finally watched it. Even though this is an Elseworlds DC story, it wasn't necessary. The musical parts were absolutely dreadful. I'm not finished with my review yet, but I will say that the beginning sequence—after the animated intro but before meeting Harley—was decent. Unfortunately, the movie fell apart after that. For a film that cost around $200 million to make, it feels like one big "I hate you" to the fans of the original Joker because it is one big "I hate you" for anyone who loved the first movie. Todd Phillips wanted nothing to do with this movie so I've heard. Well, if that's true, THEN WHY DID YOU WORK ON THIS PIECE OF GARBAGE OF A MOVIE? YOU HAD FULL CREATIVE CONTROL, YOU COULD HAVE CONTINUED THE JOKER'S LEGACY BUT INSTEAD, YOU CHOSE TO SPIT IN THE FACE OF WHAT THE FIRST MOVIE STOOD FOR AND IT WAS EVIDENT IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE! Whenever a serious scene occurred, it would abruptly shift into a musical segment. There's a time and place for everything, and forcing musical numbers into the movie at every opportunity is, well, that's just bad writing as Deadpool would say. Everything was plain rotten (No pun intended). To quote the late Stanley Kubrick: 'If you really want to communicate something, even if it's just an emotion or an attitude, let alone an idea, the least effective and least enjoyable way is directly. It only goes in about an inch. But if you can get people to the point where they have to think a moment about what it is you're getting at, and then discover it, the thrill of discovery goes right through the heart.' That quote is so important because this film has many symbolic elements. One example is when Arthur gets shot during the Joker and Harley segment, symbolizing the movie shooting down the legacy of the first Joker film. Then there's the scene where the guards strip down and beat Arthur after the trial, representing how this movie strips away and destroys his character arc from the first movie. When the guard Sullivan took out a fellow inmate who was close to Arthur, it served as a metaphor for how this movie treated its fans like trash, as if they meant nothing. It’s like this is how Todd Phillips views this movie and its audience. The final symbolic element is the literal definition of character assassination; everything that made Arthur who he was as a character is torn down, piece by piece, moment by moment. His character development is stabbed multiple times throughout this movie, if you pay attention, you will see how this movie viciously tears down Arthur's character development just like the final scene where he is written off in the most dumbfounding way possible. This movie was a choice. And it wasn't a good one. If you're considering watching it, don’t—it's not worth your time. 'Nuff said.