As someone who loves the Batman mythos, I wasn't sure if a Joker movie without the Caped Crusader could even work, and after seeing it, I'm still not. The film goes to great effort to redefine the Joker's origin story so audiences can root for him. Rather than adhere to the classic, chaotic-evil, psychopathic version of the character, the film creates a new iteration of the Joker - one whose actions are supposed to be justified because people are mean to him. While this version is more true to life (most real serial killers had traumatic lives), the whole story reeks of nihilistic angst, and the insinuation that people are allowed to do terrible things because society is innately unjust unnecessarily politicizes the character. That being said, Joaquin Phoenix gives a great performance. The shadow of Heath Ledger difficult to escape, but Phoenix really makes the role his own, and it helps that this version couldn't be more different than Ledger's in terms of personality. This Joker isn't a schemer; he's far more rash and imbalanced, which adds a thrilling element to the story because no one knows what he'll do next. Overall, I give the movie big props for providing a fresh, unique take on a character who has been around for the better part of a century, but I still believe a Joker needs a Batman to balance him out.
