I went into this not expecting to like it, and I did. I think it's interesting and misunderstood. The new movie gives you a lot to think about, and a change in perspective. Whether or not you agree with every choice they made, I think we can all agree that it's at least interesting.
Spoilers ahead
The movie was very nice to look at and was shot well. I thought all of the actors were great. The different kind of Harley was interesting. It's like her and Joker switched places from their traditional dynamic, but I think it's a bit more than that.
Arthur Fleck is an interesting character. His story is a story about society and mental illness, but is the story the people have been saying it is for the past 5 years? Arthur is a mentally ill person treated badly by not only the system, but the people in his life. He became a symbol. But he became a symbol for the wrong reasons, and he knew that. He's mentally in a world that doesn't understand what that even means. He's a person with a right to agency. He doesn't want to be bigger than he is, become the symbol of a movement, or be associated with random acts of violence. He doesn't want to be associated with people who use his likeness for the wrong reasons or for their own agenda. To take it for themselves, stealing it. And what it does it say that Harley in this universe is someone who pretends to know where Arthur is coming from, but is essentially just cosplaying his struggle? What does Arthur represent? I think it's interesting. This movie had interesting things to say about a variety of things; the legacy of the movie itself and it's place in society, mental health and the prison system.
It started to lose me a bit toward the end, but the ending was very good, I thought. There was nowhere else but down for Arthur to go, and he got killed by someone who potentially *will* be the Joker that people want. What Arthur knew he couldn't and didn't want to be. Maybe a new serious novie Joker would be interesting. It's been a long time in comic book movie years since Heath Ledger's (RIP) Joker.