The ultimate trailer of Warner Bros. and DC Film’s collaborative venture Joker is out now. And Todd Philips has this character headed into a different horizon.
This spin-off will encircle Joker’s genesis story of sorts this fall. Moreover, the film’s not a slice from the DC cinematic universe and is divergent in the complete sense of the word. The final teaser lends us a better cognizance into Todd’s Joker world.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix in and as Arthur Fleck, the movie encircles his journey or maybe fall to the most legendary villain of the comic world, the titular Joker. Phoenix enters the league of Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto and a minority who have played the role. Moreover, it appears that Phoenix is ready to leave his impression as Joker on the sands of time. Phoenix as Joker has his patent cackle, guise, and facial articulations that paint his inner chaos. The last trailer highlights the Joker’s caliber as a standalone that’s untied to Batman and is inclined to his character analysis as opposed to one of his crime stories.
The first reviews from Joker’s upcoming debut at the Venice Film Festival followed by the Toronto International Film Festival is still awaited. Cameron Bailey, a co-lead of the Toronto Film Festival, has already eulogized the film forth seeing it.
R Rated it is, for barbaric violence, deranging conduct, language, and cursory sexual content. Hence, it’s not going to be one of those family entertainers. The movie will enter the theatres on the 4th of October. While a lot of mystery still shrouds the film, let’s dive in to see what its trailer breakdown indicates about Fleck’s outset and motivation and see what else we can expect from Todd’s comic adaptation.
Gotham City and when does the hell break loose
In the opening sequence of the final Joker trailer, we see Gotham city in its full glory. Suggesting a divide, Gotham is cut right through the middle by a train track spanning through the entirety. Gotham for the fans is not just a place where set-pieces perform, but it has always been a character that breathes.
Gotham has always been accommodating for various interpretations. Drawing conclusions on different architectural symbols and the people filling the scenes, the movie seems to set up in 1980’s Gotham. We do see the crime hub transformed through the length of the trailer. The city has always performed and has created a definition for itself by the stories it witnessed
A torched soul
Arthur Fleck is all but skin and bones, his bruised back and protruding spine are all indications of the man’s sufferings. The scene in the bus, even though Arthur is trying to make the kid smile, we see a deep pain in his eyes.
He is seen fixing his shoes, which we assume was after being beaten up in the streets; he seems to be frustrated and looks like a man on the verge of sanity. The society, an ailing mother to take care of and being mocked at for being a failed comedian all these might have taken a toll on Arthur’s mental health. We see him visiting a therapist and discussing all of his thoughts being nothing but negative once. We are surely in for a psychotic journey and to fall off the tipping point with Arthur.
The Iconic Laugh
Arthur let out a maniacal laugh that inevitably hits the parts of our subconscious that we never knew existed before. Joaquin Phoenix was seen saying that he developed his laughter watching patients suffering from pathological laughter, a real neurological disorder that makes people laugh uncontrollably.
Phoenix surely has added the value of being a method actor he is, and all of that can be summed up in this one laughter.
The Trigger That Calls Off The Mask
Fleck is seen as having a deep life conversation with an unnamed woman. The woman is likely to be a counselor from the Health Department. She is seen trying to incorporate Arthur back into Gotham society.
Fleck has a job working as a Human billboard. He is seen endorsing a local store disguised as a clown. A bunch of kids then steal his sign and Arthur runs after them into a back street where he is beaten up. The dwellers of the Gotham City back in the 1980s have failed Arthur his entire life.
In conversation with the lady, we see Fleck smoking and confessing to her that all he has is his noxious thoughts. Hidden beneath the man trying to put laughter on a child’s face, disguising as a clown at work, and rehearsing his toxic laugh is someone we don’t know. His interaction with the therapist is possibly the beginning where we’ll witness Arthur’s transformation in his legitimate self. A renewal Gotham towners will regret to have triggered involuntarily.
Fleck In The Hospital Setting
In this segment of the trailer, we have Arthur sitting alongside a woman who is aptly aged to fit into the role of his mother. She is on the life-supporting system, and Arthur’s hand is resting near hers on the bed. Suddenly Arthur is transfixed on the television where Murray Franklin’s late-night show is airing.
Franklin exhibits an excerpt from Fleck’s sitcom regime, which comes as a rib-tickler. Arthur Fleck says that he was laughed upon as a child when he told people that he aspired to be a comedian. However, no one laughs now. Ne Diro dumps Fleck’s joke down the bin and amasses the audience’s laughter. At this point we see Fleck goggling at the TV with a little sentimental look. This backfired joke could be a breaking point for Arthur and a crunch in the film that drives Arthur to his sinistrous side.
Gotham City Turns Into Clown City
In the subway of the Gotham city, someone probably Arthur tosses a clown mask. The trailer features a lot of this item. This clown imagery seems to storm the Gotham City, and its dwellers appear to stand up for this cause.
We see the Gothamites protesting outside Wayne Hall masked as clowns with one of them holding a placard that reads ‘We are all clowns.’ Maybe it’s an indication that the crowd’s sick and tired of the government’s dirty politics as we see a suited man walk out of the building right before the protesting scene drops in. And we assume that all of this revolves around Thomas Wayne who is Batman’s father.
Joker Is Born
We see a string of scenes that showcase Fleck’s transformation into Joker. He is seen applying white makeup on his face and a bit of it on his tongue. Further, Arthur walks down a corridor in his full Joker avatar playing in a puddle outside.
Although he appears quite playful as he dances through the street but one closer look there and we can see a dash of anger on his face. Arthur Fleck finally allows his profound destructive side to take over.
Fleck And Sophie Lock Lips
The entire trailer is full of segments where Arthur Fleck and Sophie Dumond are in the same frame. They are likely living in the same apartment compound based on the scenes of their elevator rides. Also, we see Dumond’s appearance on Arthur’s comedy show. These two also share a passionate kiss inside Sophie’s place. It seems Sophie is Fleck’s only link to the real world and his only way back to sanity. Nevertheless, their kiss in Fleck’s full Joker avatar bowls out our estimation.
Do the Murder’s In the City Have A Clown Connection?
A vile form of clown mask reigns the front page of the Gotham City newspaper. The image is accompanied by the headline that establishes a connect the murders in the city and the Joker. However, the headline cuts off from there but its quite evident that the clown uprising has taken a dicey turn.
Cult Of Personality
Amidst this clown uprising, Arthur’s vision gets stuck on a person occupying a cab’s back seat sporting a clown mask. Here, we see Arthur’s lips curl up. This setting probably occurs before his Joker transformation. Hence, this scene could be from the time Clown movement was in its infant stage.
Arthur Fleck On A Run Possibly From An Asylum
One of the final segments of the trailer show Arthur Fleck in an asylum. However, he is seen running from there with some files locked under his arms. Since we see him in conversation with a counselor at the start so its quite possible that these are his case files. Well, we will get clarity on this only when the film hits the theatre on 4th October.
Thomas Wayne’s Symbolic Batman Punch
Now we know who landed Bruce Wayne aka Batman his skills. Yes, the trailer is full of Thomas Wayne’s portrayal by Brett Cullen. But our favorite part is the full-blown punch that he plants on Arthur’s face after the protest. Most probably this scene is set outside Wayne Hall forth the rally as Arthur appears in the same outfit.
Here, an angry Wayne enquires Arthur as to what is so funny to which Arthur continues to laugh. As of now, we are not aware as to what Wayne is referring to in the conversation between them. But we do know that this ends with Wayne losing his temper and punching Arthur right on his face.
Is Gotham prepared for chaos
Gotham has always been a giant magnet attracting all negativity. Guns, Bombs, Hostile takeovers, and deaths are no strangers to this part of the world. Batman always kept the city clean, in his absence how well is Gotham prepared to take the chaos brought by the clown movement. The movie suggests a giant protest breaking out in Gotham presumably instigated by the crown prince of crime, “the joker” himself.
We see the satisfaction in Arthur’s face when he stands in the center of the chaos. The fans must be at the highest point of their excitement to see all this action set in the heart of Gotham.
Arthur At The Apex Of Being Joker
The scene where Arthur Fleck completely metamorphoses into the greatest comic book villain the world has seen, ‘The Joker’ is the perfect closure to the trailer. In all his pure glory Arthur, who is about to go on Franklin’s late-night talk show wants to be introduced as Joker. Throughout history, we have seen this urge in Joker to be the center of attraction. He always wants the world to sing his praises pun intended. Although, not very clear where this sequence falls in the grand picture, but we for sure get a taste of the ultimate personification of the Clown Prince. Can’t wait to see him on the widescreen this October 4th.
Clear your calendars for Oct 4th
Fingers crossed, this for sure is going to be the cult favorite of the year. A dream that Todd Phillips had has finally taken form. It took a year for Todd to convince Warner Bro’s to make this twisted R Rated flick that for sure will take us through a mind-boggling journey. Though produced at the cost of $55 million which is one-third of what Aquaman’s was yet it would be a tremendous success if they gross half of what the other DC flicks amassed.
One of the best things that happened to this movie was the inclusion of the brilliant method actor Joaquin Phoenix. He had pulled out what might be one of the very best performances from his arsenal. We do know what he is capable of but looking at the trailers we are quite convinced that a lot of physical and mental transformations have gone into preparing for the role. Todd Phillips was seen saying how mesmerized he was by Joaquin’s performance that he started making changes to the script in between the shoot to accommodate for more scope to perform.
We are hyped to watch the whole of Gotham engulfed by the immaculate performance of Joaquin Phoenix as Joker which shines like a Champaign unravel. If the director can convincingly sell his vision to us, I can bet my life this is going to be like no other joker interpretation we have ever seen or imagined.
https://youtu.be/5btyBWXgl44
