The new Joker movie provides a depressing glimpse at the future of cinema
The IndependentSign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. While there are elements of Batman mythology on the film’s fringes, from its Gotham City setting to the presence of Bruce Wayne’s father Thomas, rewritten here as a monstrous Trump figure rather than the kindly billionaire of the comics, Joker is by all accounts a decidedly standalone entity. Joker, unlike much of the modern comic-book movie genre, is also entirely a character study, a dark and violent voyage into the mind of a man left bereft by a broken society. Joker, in comic-book movie terms, is a welcome next step for the genre, proving that these movies don’t need to continually exist as a series of vaguely identikit origin stories, supervillain transformations and battle sequences all indebted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Joker may come and go, make money and then vanish, its sole legacy a run of standalone DC Comics movies anchored by villains or B-list Gotham City characters and directed by Hollywood auteurs.