It really seems as though Todd Phillips’ DC Comics movie, Joker, has split opinion, and I’m going to come and say it, that’s fine.
People are allowed to have their opinion about a movie, and that’s what so brilliant about cinema.
People disagree about movies. People have differing tastes, and that can sometimes spark interesting debates and conversations about movies.
However, those conversations do often have a tendency of getting nasty, especially when you are discussing comic book movies.
People get very defensive and aggressive when it comes to comic book films. The same can be said about Star Wars films.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck in Joker (Credit: Warner Bros.)
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That’s exactly what happened when Marvel comic books writer, Dan Slott, took to Twitter to reveal that he really didn’t think much of Joker.
Personally, I loved the movie, but I’ve heard a few critics and non-critics (although, everybody’s a critic nowadays), say that they didn’t like the movie much.
Often, I do understand why they didn’t like the movie much, but I just can’t ignore the fact that I was thoroughly gripped whilst watching the movie, and it’s really stayed with me since leaving the cinema.
Saw the JOKER tonight.
Loved DARK KNIGHT & WONDER WOMAN.
Thought AQUAMAN & SHAZAM were FUN.
Can’t wait for HARLEY QUINN.
This isn’t an Anti-DC thing.JOKER was bad.
Real bad.
Joaquin Phoenix’s performance was a GOOD thing… in a BAD movie.
Also, JOKER was a bad Joker movie.
— Dan Slott (@DanSlott) October 13, 2019
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Slott didn’t feel the same way, and he took to Twitter and wrote: “Saw the JOKER tonight. Loved DARK KNIGHT & WONDER WOMAN. Thought AQUAMAN & SHAZAM were FUN. Can’t wait for HARLEY QUINN. This isn’t an Anti-DC thing. JOKER was bad. Real bad. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance was a GOOD thing… in a BAD movie. Also, JOKER was a bad Joker movie.”
He went on to explain why he felt that way in further tweets, saying that the film was too much like Martin Scorsese’s The King Of Comedy, and that the movie ventured too far away from the comic book version of the character.
I completely get where he’s coming from. Phoenix’s Joker isn’t anything like the characters from the comics, but personally, that’s what I loved about the movie.
I loved the fact that Joaquin and Todd were brave enough to do something different with the character, and as for being too much like The King Of Comedy, I would argue that it’s more of an homage to Scorsese’s movie, and Todd has been very open about that.
There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by other movies, and most movies are inspired by what came before them. That’s just the way art works.
Instead of watching the JOKER,
just go and watch THE KING OF COMEDY instead.
It’s a better movie.Trust me.
— Dan Slott (@DanSlott) October 13, 2019
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What I didn’t appreciate was the amount of hate Slott got for giving his opinion on something on the Internet.
As I mentioned before, people are allowed to dislike things and say so in public. They don’t deserve to be abused because they didn’t love something uncompromisingly.
What did you think of Slott’s comments, and what did you think of Joker? Let us know in the comments below, and please, keep it clean and civil.
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