The Final ‘Joker’ Trailer Gives a Refreshing Look at a Saturated Genre
Joaquin Phoenix is the latest actor to dawn red lipstick for the role of the Joker, a role that has become iconic for not one, not two, but for three different actors before him. With the release of the final Joker trailer (the final trailer before the film’s release on October 4th ), it’s pretty easy to watch without constantly comparing to what once was. Despite how epic all that once was… was.
Everything about this Joker trailer says that this is something different. Phoenix’s seemingly stellar performance aside, even the colors featured here are clearly intentional – specifically blown out yet desaturated in tone. It doesn’t feel spectacular. It doesn’t even feel disproportionately gritty. It feels stylistically tangible. Stylistically… real.
Is that even a thing?
Oddly, when taking in the trailer, I wasn’t reminded of a comic book movie, but of another film. Martin Scorsese’s highly regarded 1982 offering, The King of Comedy. Which, perhaps not coincidentally, also featured (a much younger) Robert De Niro in a leading role coveting his moment in the limelight.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion (clearly recent Box Office results confirm it as such), but I’ll fully own the fact that I’m a bit fatigued on whole superhero/supervillain thing. Frankly, I’ve come to not only anticipate but to expect jaw-dropping visuals when I’m watching a movie these days. Epic swooping shots of CG armies engaged in an epic battle against other epic CG armies with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, all while, for good measure, of course, a few recognizable buildings are destroyed and come crumbling down. Epicly. While I, of course, haven’t seen this Joker yet, there is something completely refreshing about this being sold as a character-driven piece — all set in a world lacking flying time-traveling galaxy snake bot spaceships.
This trailer did its job. Color me (very) intrigued. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new trailer? Sound off in our comment section below!
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