Just caught this and while I think there's much to say for Joaquin Phoenix and this movie's tone and its successes, I thought this movie was very good and just that. There's something about it that just falls short of being great for me while there's so much here that could've been great.
It's hard to not see this film and compare it to Scorsese's work, Taxi Driver and King of Comedy are two very big and obvious influences, and while it does well at capturing that look and texture of his 70's films, and the direction is serviceable, there's something empty about this for me. It lacks a certain panache. I wouldn't say it's unremarkable, but it is very conventional. Although, I must admit, it might just be me spotting where the influences are and unfairly comparing what's done here to the master film maker that it's drawing from.
I suppose it ultimately lacks subtlety, for me. It's a character study that focuses more on plot than character. I understand it's supposed to be a character study but there's ultimately no character development. We're with Travis Bickle as he grows more alienated and increasingly unstable; Arthur Fleck is already alienated and incredibly unstable. Everything else after our introduction to him isn't so much for us to build an empathic connection to him, but a justification for his violent actions. It's not formulaic but it is very "A + B = C"; Arthur needs to become the "Joker" so these things have to be in place for him to get there. One hinderance I felt that would've helped with that is that we're never really shown how bad Gotham is, beyond some shots of mountains of litter and garbage, all of its problems are all given through dialogue, on or off-screen, or in recycled real-world news bulletins. I think giving some time to just show what Gotham (70's New York, basically) from the street level would've helped fill out that world more.
While I enjoyed that film, it's not where I think it wants to be. I commend it trying to be a level above the current offerings of these comic book movies, but that's what's so frustrating about thinking about the movie more after my initial viewing: it's just not quite there.