Right off the bat, didn't care for this one and I don't recommend it.
Now, to clarify, the movie is fairly well-made. Todd Phillips is a competent director, I liked how the film was shot, Joaquin Phoenix turns in a sold performance, the music is good etc. However, if the primary goal of a film is to entertain, then this one just missed the mark for me. I was bored for a good chunk of the runtime, and I thought the film was a mess.
I obviously wasn't expecting this to be a big, action-packed spectacle like a typical comic book movie. Honestly, that's why I was interested in this to begin with. With that being said, if you're not offering me a story about wacky criminal being foiled by Batman then you should at least make it a compelling film. As a portrait of a man with mental illness who the system has failed, I suppose it was fine but nothing special.
Maybe if the movie was paced a bit better, was 30 minutes shorter, had a better script, had less scenes stop dead for Joaquin Phoenix to dance, or made Gotham City feel like unique place, I would've enjoyed it a little more.
As is, even though I really wanted to like this movie, I give it a 1.5 out of 5.
