Joker Review: 9 Ups & 3 Downs

2. The One Weird Musical Moment

Did nobody tell anyone at Warner Bros about Gary Glitter? Like, seriously.

There are some pretty dark issues about Arthur's past explored in a particularly revelatory moment and they're very keenly set up as a key point in his "development" as it were. And then, Rock and Roll Part 2 by disgraced, child-molesting former rock star Gary Glitter plays and Arthur dances down a flight of steps. If you can watch that without your toes curling out through the back of your ankles, you're a strange one.

There's also a slight issue with having Joker walk slow-motion into the camera lens while Cream's White Room plays, because anyone whose ever heard more than 2 bars of that song knows it's inherently tied to coolness. It's a rare time when the mask slips and we get a look at why this film might actually be dangerous.

Which leads us to the point where I lose you...