Few movies in history have had such an extreme pre-release experience. It is almost unheard of for a mainstream Hollywood studio film to win the Venice film festival’s Golden Lion. And it is unheard of for Venice’s winner, usually an erudite art film, to inspire grotesque hate speech from fans on social media should anyone be the least bit critical.

A violent look at “how Batman’s foe got that way,” Joker has been hailed as revolutionary for its depiction of mental illness, but – at least in gun-toting America – screenings have been suggested as a potential trigger of violence. There’s been no shortage of conversation around Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s movie but until now, as is so often the case online, few people had actually seen it. Until now. Here are the pressing topics, only some of which are worth laughing about.

Is Joker actually a comic book movie?

Todd Phillips, who is as crafty with the press as Mr Terrific is with T-Spheres, has said that he convinced Phoenix to appear in his supervillain origin story by suggesting they would “sneak a real movie in the studio system under the guise of a comic-book film”. This does not sound like someone who is particularly enamoured of the genre. “Let’s make a real movie with a real budget and call it fucking Joker,” he continued. He’s cited movies by Martin Scorsese and (surprisingly) Chantal Akerman as influences. So the question is: is this movie really that different?

We’ll give Philips the points here. This is lightyears away from zippy, agreeable fare like, say, Ant-Man and the Wasp or Thor: Ragnarok. Even the so-called “grimdark” superhero movies like Batman v Superman or Watchmen feel like an entirely different genre. While Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck does paint his face, and eventually masks do come into play, there are no costumes and certainly no stylised slugfests. This is a dark and (eventually) gruesomely violent drama that is nihilistic and performance-driven. It isn’t about special effects.

Comic book enthusiasts will still, however, find a few examples of their beloved DC lore. Arthur Fleck (which is what the Joker is named in this version) pays a visit to Arkham State Hospital, a tweak on the Arkham Asylum from the comics. The more exciting connections come with the Wayne family. For a stretch it is suggested that Thomas Wayne might actually be Arthur’s father. This turns out to be a red herring, but not before Arthur heads up to Wayne Manor and makes contact with the young Bruce Wayne … who playfully slides down a pole at some point. That’s right – an ur-Bat Pole! (Note: this is just about the only moment of levity in the entire picture.)

During the big climax, we see, once again, Bruce’s parents get killed. In some of these tellings (notably Tim Burton’s version) culpability is laid at Joker’s feet. The new movie offers a clever twist. As the dispossessed citizens of Gotham City rally around Joker as some sort of political hero, it’s just some random thug in a clown mask who kills the famous zillionaires, not Joker himself. (In a nice spin, they are still outside a theatre showing Zorro, but it’s the dopey 1981 comedy Zorro, the Gay Blade.)

Sympathy for the incel

Is this movie really just the biggest-budget Ben Shapiro video? To what extent will misogynistic creeps “feel seen” in this film? Well, for most of its run time, it isn’t quite the alt-right manifesto some of the pre-release discourse suggested. It’s really just a drama about a mentally ill man with no friends who is targeted by bullies, lives with his mother, is ignored by the attractive woman down the hall and only finds purpose in mass murder.

Wait, I know that sounds like it is sympathy for the incel, but Fleck’s anger, for most of the movie, stays rooted in his own circumstances. He isn’t really railing against PC culture or how he’s owed anything, like a guy who won’t stop talking about Jordan Peterson. It’s more of a generic “My life sucks!” cry than an “Our life sucks, brothers!”

In the final reel, though, there is some angry monologuing, and some of those “Nobody cares!” talking points come through, but the writing is too vague and incoherent to really land a point.

Awards for Joaquin

Heath Ledger won an Oscar posthumously for playing Joker. Jack Nicholson was nominated for a Bafta and a Golden Globe. Does Joaquin Phoenix have a shot at a statuetee? Anything’s possible, I suppose, but if it were up to me, I would say heck no. I like when awards go to best acting not most acting.

Phoenix’s mimicry of the pseudobulbar affect (a psychological disorder that causes uncontrollable laughter, coughs, bleats and whimpers) is accurate, at least based on one YouTube video I found. But this is a surface thing. There’s little depth to the character other than, you know, he’s nuts! Time Magazine’s Stephanie Zacharek said it best when she called him “a chicken bone soaked in Coca-Cola”.

A few great scenes

By now you’ve sussed out that I’m not really a fan of Joker. I mostly found it bleak and juvenile. But it is not without merit. The location photography in Newark, New Jersey and the Bronx captures some real grit. The big finish, while dumb from a story point of view, is marvellously shot. And the big acts of violence are effectively rattling.

There’s one moment that shows a true creative spark. Two of Fleck’s old work buddies come to visit him. One (Glenn Fleshler) has long been a jerk, so Fleck, now a killer, stabs him, spraying blood all over the place. The other guy (Leigh Gill), is horrified, but since he was always nice to Fleck, he’s not in danger. Fleck says he can leave and, quaking in terror, Gill heads toward the door. It is, unfortunately, latched from up high and as Gill has dwarfism he can’t reach. It’s absolutely chilling to hear this man ask someone who just butchered a person for help.

Part of why this scene works is that it plays to Phillips’s strengths. While it keeps Gill’s dignity intact (he’s one of the few nice people in the film) it’s still a bit of business that finds humour in interaction with dwarfism. For better or worse, that’s the kind of thing Phillips built his career on with bro comedies like The Hangover. It’s sure footing for him, far less so than nihilistic drama.

Unnecessary Glitter

Once Joker has more than a few kills under his belt, he heads into Robert De Niro’s TV studio for his big catharsis. There’s a psych-up scene as he dances outside his apartment, so there’s a pop song needle-drop. Phillips chooses Gary Glitter’s Rock and Roll Part 2. It’s a song you absolutely know, even if the title doesn’t ring a bell. More to the point, especially from a guy recently quoted as saying that “woke culture” has torn him away from comedy, it’s a song recorded by a convicted child sex offender. Todd Phillips really is a troll.