Joker Rising (2013)

This is apparently a fan made film. If you enjoy fan made films, you might enjoy it. However, its overall production values, sound quality, and acting level make it clear that this is not a professional production. If this were a studio or professional film, I would have given it one star. However, I don't want to completely discourage the film makers, who more than likely worked hard creating it. I did not care for it. A previous reviewer suggested that the film might be compared to Tarantino's work. The film is similar in that Tarantino is preoccupied with crime in his films. However, this film feels more like the repetitious, uninspired imitations of Tarantino's work that took the most superficial trappings of his movies but lacked the goofy, twisted imagination that has caused him to play with the film form rather than slavishly copy one film or another. I am not really a Tarantino fan, but I have appreciated some of his movies as having a unique voice, sense of humor, and awareness of how they can confound viewer expectations. This film does none of that. The Joker as a character is all about a sense of humor, sick as it may be. There is none of that either.

SPOILERS! Joker Rising is a very creative, brilliant and powerful film. Although it's loosely based on the comics, they somehow made the characters fit into the story line, and was just brilliant. The Joker was awesome, I liked how they made their own origin story for The Dark Knight's Joker, and it was absolutely brilliant! I really liked Harley too, although IMO they should've made her name Harleen since that's her real name, but it's just a minor issue, other than that, she was great. One very powerful scene was at the end when Cyrus/Joker cries and has flashbacks of Harley, made me think of how much he has changed from the beginning. The shots were great, capturing the action and emotion. I give this movie a 10/10, was absolutely amazing, one of the best movies I've ever seen!

Terrible, just.... why would anyone make this? Not only is it a dreadful film but the very notion of giving the Joker a definitive origin spits in the face of every Batman fan. The point of Joker is he was born from chaos and you don't know where he came from, and where he came from doesn't matter. There's a reason DC always remain vague about his origins and leave it open to interpretation. Very stupid film. Clearly very low budget, which I don't want to hold against it, yet when you're struggling to hear dialogue and background noise is overbearing it's hard to ignore. Also the camera work and directing is atrocious. The only vaguely redeeming aspect is the acting which, while not great, does at least make watching it nearly almost a little bit bearable. Oh yeah, and it doesn't really have a soundtrack. Watch Gotham or something worthwhile instead.

I have watched this film many times and each time I appreciate something new about it, realizing just how much thought and effort went into it. I absolutely love the creativity in changing up some of the traditional Batman trappings, beginning with the Joker's past itself, making for a more believable and relative experience. The soundtrack is engaging and well put together with the various sequences. The movie as a whole and especially the ending is very, very powerful. Thank you to all responsible for this masterpiece. I look forward with great anticipation the sequels said to be in production. You can count on my support and hope you get all that you need to make it all happen! Thank you for sharing your life and dreams with all of us so openly.