326: Joker: Put on a Happy Face

[00:00:00] 35 documentary film. Let's get to the DC Comics character piece, I guess you could call it, which is Joker put on a happy face from 2020. This one is directed by Yuri Ramon Deli. It stars a huge array of filmmakers and actors who were involved in all the different Batman and Joker movies from David Ayer, Christian Bale, Tim Burton, Jared Leto,

[00:00:30] as a producer, let's go on and on. It's also narrated by Kevin Conroy who voiced Batman for quite some time. And the synopsis is featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of the Joker and learn why the clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic book supervillain of all time.

[00:00:52] So I think this one came out shortly after Joker, the Joaquin Phoenix film. And I've seen it a couple of times now. It is only about half hour and it is on YouTube for anyone who is curious about it. I would recommend it.

[00:01:07] I as I've talked about a lot on the show before, I prefer generally DC over Marvel. And one of the reasons for that is I love how a great villain can help feed and allow you to learn more and develop the hero of the story.

[00:01:23] So I love a great villain both in terms of that dynamic and conflict, but also how it can support the hero and how the hero can support the villain story as well. Whereas I feel like Marvel generally it's one sided. The villains are not usually very good with the exception of a few.

[00:01:42] And more specifically, the Joker to me is the best villain really of all time, especially in comic books as the movie is discussing. I think there's something about him that is so wild and crazy and unpredictable that it allows for such entertaining, compelling storytelling that I never really tire of it.

[00:02:08] I want them to continue to reinterpret it. I like everything from Jack Nicholson's to Jared Leto, Heath Ledger, like I love every single one for their own reasons. And so this movie for anyone who likes comic books for anyone who likes DC or even like Marvel and is curious about the conception, the timeline of a character like this and how influential it can be, which of course the Joker probably more than any other villain ever has been incredibly influential and impactful.

[00:02:38] So I think one of my only criticisms of the movie is it's too short. I think that for a character like this, you could have made a feature length movie and had it work and gone a little bit more into each one. It is entertaining enough. It's informative enough and I think it'll satisfy most people in terms of their interest in the character and the subject matter, but I just wish it was longer. I think you could do that.

[00:03:03] But besides that very well put together while edited all the interviews are very interesting and it really does give you that full history all the way from the very beginnings of the actual comic book to when the comic books were censored and then when it broke back out into the very dark, violent psychological style.

[00:03:20] And that's basically what we've been with ever since and takes you through the original Batman show Tim Burton's Batman Heath Ledger Jared leto walking Phoenix, the video games and TV shows a little bit. So there's a lot to really enjoy there and I really like seeing all the different actors and directors talk about their own reasons for why they like the character and Mark Hamill is another big one of course.

[00:03:46] And while I think I can understand someone's frustration or possible boredom with the Joker being constantly brought back or being the villain of a Batman movie or whatever else to me that works like while yes, I would happily see other villains like the riddler and the Batman and amongst other things if they want to reinterpret it again with a new actor. Hey do it.

[00:04:10] And it's the same thing with Harley Quinn like I think the Batman, Harley Quinn Joker triangle is my favorite group of comic book characters ever in any medium and Gotham in general as well just to sit in that whole world of characters. So to me personally I love it. I'll never tire of it whether it's always a home run or if it's just some crazy one off reinterpretation go for it because I think there's endless possibilities with it and

[00:04:39] talking about the documentary itself I wish they would do this sort of thing about more characters in comic books both Marvel and DC. I think there's enough history with a lot of those characters that you could make something like this pretty interesting but I think

[00:04:53] in terms of how many people have played the Joker it works a little bit better. But very interesting movie, something that I can kind of just pop on easily on YouTube for free and get a little bit of a DC comic Joker satisfaction.

[00:05:09] So I would recommend it check it out if you like anything in that world or if you're just interested in something different. So that is a four out of five.