I know what you mean about the Joker\Harley relationship, that was dreadful, it felt like they were trying to pander to idiots who fantasise about that kind of thing.The Romulan Republic wrote:Well, in very brief, it felt crass, exploitative, and gratuitously grimdark.
Plus, I think Harley's a really hard character to do well. No slight intended to Margot Robbie, as her and Will Smith's performances were the highlight of the film to me (well, that and the Bat cameos). But Harley is essential a domestic abuse victim, and it always bothers me that writers can't seem to figure out weather to portray her as a tragic character, a monster, a romantic figure, or for laughs and/or fan service. And some of those just don't work, especially in combination.
To be honest, there were a number of points where I felt that the film was romanticizing domestic abuse, and/or portraying abusers in an overly-sympathetic light.
Also, knowing the character mainly from the DCAU, I was a bit shocked by how evil Amanda Waller was in this film. That's part of a larger problem I had with it, which was that there just weren't a lot of characters I could sympathize with much in this film.
As to the Joker... he was weird, and not in a Joker kind of way. More in a "the film makers were trying way too hard to be edgy" kind of way.
I haven't seen the DC cartoons in years and I haven't read any of the comics Amanda appears in but yes she is very evil and very stupid in this movie.
As for the Joker, it felt as if both the writers and Jared Leto didn't really know how to pull this incarnation off, he came across as an overly-edgy, hip, modern take on him. He wasn't particularly funny or disturbing or even satirical and clever like some incarnations manage to be.
Harley, in general, I felt as if the writers and the director were trying to romanticise her entire character and make her seem like this awesome, beautiful fallen angel who loves life. Yeah there is the gross, edgy scene where she's force fed but it just came across like she was intended to be sympathetic and admirable, I found that hilarious at times but when I really start to think about it, it's rather disturbing. If you go on Facebook regularly you'll see how beloved this character has become and how much girls seem to dig the Joker\Harley romance, it's creepy and I'm disappointed that the film took this direction and disturbed by how popular this aspect of it has become.
I can't resist bringing this up, but I actually really liked Katana, the way she was introduced was (unintentionally) funny as hell, the actress playing her is just adorable and even though she barely gets any lines or does anything, I got the impression she was trying her best.
Anyway, I'll stop before I de-rail the thread.
