So, WB just released a video of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker (possibly in response to leaked set photos earlier in the week) and it's a reminder of the fact that you jerks are all just going to have to accept that this movie will be far more interesting than the cookie cutter crap that *other studios* plan on putting out next year.
Repost from #toddphillips1:
Camera test (w/ sound). Joker. pic.twitter.com/R9W2QqKwNS— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) September 21, 2018
Two points:
And:
Here's the thing: I have no idea what this movie is going to be about. I don't think that really matters. What matters is they have an interesting actor playing the Joker. That little eyebrow twitch in the first gif? That subtle transformation from grinning goon to deadpan psychopath in the second gif? That's all Joaquin Phoenix. And maybe everything about the movie will be terrible—maybe the story will be trash and Todd Phillips* will be out of his depth and the supporting cast will be horrible and it'll all fall apart—but the one thing it looks to have gotten right is to cast an actual actor, one with interesting ideas and total control of his persona and what he projects on the screen.
Now look: I get it! This video clip didn't feature the Joker punching an old woman in the face. Which, as we all know, is an extremely funny thing to have happen in a trailer. It's funny, you see, because we don't expect old women to get punched in the face! An old, smiling woman—why, she seems so friendly! Why would our hero want to punch an old woman in the face? Certainly it wouldn't be to create an instantly meme-able image for an audience of slack-jawed yokels who need something to pass around on Twitter in order to demonstrate that they are Very Hip And Also Possibly With It.
No, all this movie has is an actor who can express a range of emotions and doesn't have the same constipated look on his face all the time. And hey, would you look at that: he even manages a smile or two.
*Todd Phillips is an underrated director and I don't care who knows I think this.