Joker Rising (2013) User Reviews

A fun homage as long as you aren't looking for Canon

[Qui_Gonn_GinGi · 8/10 · 17 September 2015]

I personally believe that fan films shouldn't always be held to canon for the fandoms they are a part of. If you disagree, than this film may not be for you.

When you consider how many theories and previous story lines have been dedicated to the "Origin" of the Joker in comics, movies, TV, video games and now fan films, I prefer to let the Clown Prince of Crime speak for himself: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another ... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" The best part of this film is how much it delivers on a $3000 budget. It allows the story be the star. Rather than depending on refined audio, soundtrack, special effects and/or CGI to carry a weak premise (as so many fan films seem to do), instead we are treated to a rather well acted, well written premise.

I found the name changes and tweaks to characters to be a subtle nod to the source material while still allowing the writer/director to make their own film.

Finally, lest we forget Christopher Nolan omitted any actual backstory for Joker in his brilliant trilogy, completely revamped "Robin" as merely a "wink homage", ignored Bane's entire venom enhancement and invented a sexual tension between Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne for Rachel which in turn is the catalyst for him becoming TwoFace. Those films were a fantastic version of events in the Batman fandom as well as being great films. But, liberties were taken....

This film was obviously written and directed by someone who loves the world of Batman and wrote and directed an interesting idea for a backstory for the Joker. If that sounds intriguing, you will most likely enjoy this film. If you are looking for strict canon, zero deviations from Comic Book lore or another retread of the same story, this is not the film for you.

an interesting take on the character's origin.

[Rclarke115 · 8/10 · 18 February 2020]

For a character such as The Joker, a character who's first appearance was him in his main clownish state, there is a whole lot of free real estate that can be made up for him and where he came from and what made him what he is. This film proves that.

Cyrus (Dylan Hobbs) is part of a gang owned by infamous crime lord; Oswald, and with his upbringing, He doesn't seem to be taking joy with his life and everything around him due to Oswald's demands. He gets the attention and support from a young woman named Harley, who with the support she gives, Cyrus starts to feel more alive and proud. Since then, events start to tear down his being and his new life as The Clown Prince of Crime begins.

Having a low budget for your project forces you to get creative, and it works to it's advantage. each character has quite an interesting take of their original comic counterparts, It has a sort of Breaking Bad feel to it, and with the origin alone, it could've easily been an upbringing for Heath Ledger's Joker.

overall, it's an entertaining experience that succeeds to impress it's viewers by showing what they could do with the right characters with the right material.

Rating: 8.8/10

Great movie on a limited budget.

[gunshotrhyta · 8/10 · 1 August 2017]

Overall this is a very good movie and in many ways is better than some Hollywood Batman films. It has a much more realistic, tight story. The main actors do a good job despite some rough acting from some of the minor characters (which is to be expected on a very low budget movie shot over such a short period of time). A couple amazing scenes really make this movie worth watching. The sound quality is not great at times, but the soundtrack is very good. My wife and I return to watch this movie often.

Very Creative, Well Done, and Powerful

[samuel-provance · 10/10 · 20 November 2013]

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.

Low-budget, What else do you expect?

[darthvoice · 1/10 · 17 November 2013]

I'm not entirely sure exactly how so many people have been gushing over this on YouTube, but this entirely missed the mark in my opinion. Firstly, calling the city "Gotham", then filming entirely in palm tree infested California is distracting to say the least. Then there's the writing, the most familiar lines were pulled directly out of The Dark Knight. The Riddle... sorry, "Riddles", is a pimp that just happens to spout off some terrible "riddle" when he tries to attack the Jok... Dang, I mean "Cyrus", that goes something like, "What's covered in scales and full of metal? A stuck fish". Oh yeah, and "Harley" is an iPhone 4 carrying hooker that dies before he even becomes the Joker.

I watched this because of all the glowing reviews on YouTube, but now I'm starting to think that none of them have ever actually been formally introduced to the genius that is the Batman universe.

The best thing I can say is that for $3,000 and 8 days of filming, I guess this is better than some other independent fare as far as the actual cinematography goes...

I mean no disrespect to the filmmakers, I simply must say that as a life long fan of anything Batman, this was very disappointing.

It is obvious to me that the people in charge of promoting this movie have sent people to down rate my review. I assure anyone taking this into consideration that watching will be a waste of time and that my review is wholly accurate. Keep sending people to down rate my review, it doesn't make your film any better.

Best Fan Film I've Ever seen

[mickladd1994 · 9/10 · 24 December 2013]

When i stumbled on this i wasn't expecting much, but as far as fan films go this is one of the best around if not the best (imo at least). Some great lines and solid acting(for the most part anyway)combined with a very Tarantino-esque soundtrack and over all gritty feel make this a must watch for joker fans. There are loads of brilliant references to the dark knight which put a smile on my face(see what i did there haha...okay i'll get my coat) It was really well shot and filmed my only problem was palm trees showing up in the background in some early scenes which kind of broke the atmosphere slightly but other than that it was great. For $3000 it's unbelievable what this production has achieved do yourself a favor and give it a watch. i eagerly await the sequels.

An fan made film that feels like a fan made film

[msep · 3/10 · 20 March 2015]

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.

This movie was fantastic

[sevethspawn · 9/10 · 23 October 2014]

For a super low budget I was expecting another movie I watched for about 20 minutes and then stopped watching because it was so bad. This movie on the other hand was better than some (to be unnamed) large budget, big studio productions. This movie had very good acting, very good filming, and a story that should have been picked up by Warner Brothers to make into a large budget movie. This movie is a must watch for Batman fans and even people who like to watch comic book movies. Harley Quinn is in this movie too. It brings some perspective on how she came into the Joker's life and changed him in such a way that he has become the villain that we love today. Watch, watch watch this movie and then hope that they make more with Warner Brothers' help.

Even for a fan film, it is terrible

[smashmon-82291 · 1/10 · 4 May 2019]

Terrible cinematography, lazy writing, an awful movie all round.

Great Movie with a Different Perspective

[brandonovan · 9/10 · 2 August 2017]

This is the greatest "Batman" movie that you've never heard of. Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Jack Nicholson are the usual stars of Batman movies. Though Dylan Hobbs' parents are the only ones who have heard of Dylan Hobbs, his performance is easily in the top 3 of all Batman movies. This movie offers a unique perspective of Batman's most notorious villain. Joker Rising has several powerful and intense scenes that changes the way you view the Joker forever.

Low Budget is not an excuse for getting characters wrong

[jamests · 1/10 · 5 August 2015]

Frist off, I seriously can't understand how some people are giving this 10 stars, even for a fan made film.

They got pretty much every character wrong from Killer Croc (who is apparently Rodriguez, not Waylon Jones) to Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (who looks pretty much looks like Andrew Lincoln/Rick from The Walking Dead), The Riddler, or as he's known in this, "Riddles", who is the exact opposite of The Riddler. The only thing "Riddles" and The Riddler have in common is they're both men. "Riddles" doesn't even say a single Riddle throughout the entire film or even hint towards his obsession with them in any way other than wearing a necklace with a green question mark hanging on the end of it. Harley Quinn is now a prostitute who works for "Riddles" and meets the Joker/Cyrus by standing on a street corner. In every origin story for her, she is a psychologist working for Arkham who is assigned to The Joker to study him and ends up falling in love with him over time as she slowly goes insane as she falls in love with him.

Now for the acting. Other than basically every character being portrayed completely wrong, the acting was also pretty bad most of the time. They would constantly change how loud they were talking for no reason which at times, made it near impossible to hear what they were saying without having to turn my volume up. The movies was filled with clichés and scenes that made no sense at all. They were constantly telling Cyrus/Joker to "smile" or "why so serious", and all sorts of lines that they took from The Dark Knight series, using them to the point where it got annoying. I really don't understand why they felt the need to change basically every Batman villain that appeared in this. I really can't see why they couldn't just use random people as characters in this rather than having all sorts of famous villains in it, just for them to all get killed off in the end. In my opinion, it would have made more sense, and worked better, if everyone Joker/Cyrus met throughout the story that got killed at some point were just random thugs or mob bosses rather than ruin well established villains just for plot. Especially for Harley Quinn. If they had just changed her to be some random girl that he fell in love with, it would have worked a lot better, and they wouldn't have even had to change any of the script for her character.

Joker Origins / Joker Orisings ;)

[cptvalleyberg · 10/10 · 10 April 2019]

This is the greatest origin story of Joker you will be able to see for a long time. Sure it's a fan film. But I do not enjoy fan films. This one however kept me going until the end... and soon is the second part arriving!

I read other comments. Sure, maybe he is not that funny - maybe - maybe he just is RISING to be!

Love it! the music. the story It's a classic!

It's scary to know, what would the creators do if they had bigger budget.

First review ever

[gathie2009 · 12 February 2019]

Shockingly bad I watch fan films to support fan films but this was tedious wooden and a country mile from the mark joker at the end was the only saving grace watch predator crusades much better fan film

Why would you make this?

[charlie4862 · 1/10 · 25 October 2014]

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.

One Of The best Fan Films I have Seen

[ladymidath · 10/10 · 30 June 2014]

I am a huge fan of fan made films, many of them such as Patient J, Batman Dead End and The Bat In The Sun Productions are really great. But after watching Joker Rising, I have to say, it blew me away. A wonderful gritty and deeply moving film about the origins of the Joker. But this story is completely original. A wonderful addition to all the fine fan made films out there.

To think that this film was made for an estimated $5,000 dollars, it's look and production looks like much more was spent on it. The acting was spot on and the actors actually made you care about the characters.

Violent, deeply moving and yes, even heart wrenching at the end, this is a movie that will stay with you long after you have watched it.

Kudos for a completely different take on how the Joker came into being and also a different look at some iconic characters from the Batman mythology.

I hope to see more from director Alek Gearhart.

Great for a fan film, mediocre when compared to big studios

[dono5876 · 5/10 · 5 August 2017]

Joker Rising is a must see for people who are fans of both Batman and can appreciate low budget fan films, though if you hate either, you will hate this. It is one of the better fan films you can see, and the lead's take on Joker is only a small dip in quality from the studio films. The biggest problems however are several of the other actors in smaller roles, several of whom I assume are not actors but friends of the film's creators. As with most fan films, don't expect this to be the best in the series, however it clearly beats the lower tier studio films, namely Batman & Robin.

A remarkable re imagining of the Joker's origin

[mediauwant · 9/10 · 26 January 2015]

When I came upon this film on Youtube, I played it with the intent of using it as background noise while I worked on some home projects. It didn't take long before I set my projects aside to give the film my full attention.

What you have in Joker Rising is a production created with sheer talent and imagination. On a shoe string budget of $3000, this film lacked the over the top special effects and over paid actors of the Hollywood Batman films. However, what it did have was solid performances from actors who deserve far more recognition than they will probably ever get, a story of characters who you will actually care about, and an overall production value that far exceeds it's budget.

Whether you're a Batman fan or not doesn't really matter. I would suggest you watch this film.

Great Movie! Are you sure this is merely a fan film?

[poofta · 10/10 · 5 May 2016]

This movie was easily the best fan film I have ever seen done and no one should pay any attention to the review done by "jamests" from Canada, as none of his comments pertain to the film itself but are merely complaints about the director going in new directions that were intended, well thought out, and made the movie and characters come to life as they seemed to be within the realm of the possible and made sense. I was riveted from beginning to end and even if there were some minor production glitches like variations in the sound volume, the movie on the whole could stand up to most of what we see on our big screens and televisions even today. Hollywood or some studio in it should hire this man and do it soon because he has created a piece of art work here that some studio should be buying and putting on television itself if permission can be obtained with respect to any copyrights issues etc. Once you see it I am sure you will agree that this one is a nobrainer, because for what it is, it really is that good. Watch for yourself and see.

In any event, well done Mr. Gearhart and cast! Well done!

Well worth a watch and blows a lot of big budget films out of the water

[josephhowarth · 9/10 · 19 August 2015]

I am only giving this 9 and not 10 because of the couple of audio drops in the film. There are a lot of reviews slamming the fact that some of the characters don't marry up to their comic book counterparts. But in honesty this didn't bother me.

I put this film on out of curiosity and thought I will give it 10 minutes and probably turn it off. It didn't even take 5 minutes before I was hooked. I applaud the director and actors and anyone else involved in this film it was really really good. No cgi, no big action scenes but kept me interested and wanting more.

Also I think a film like this can inspire a lot of wannabe film makers into taking the plunge and making a film with a small budget.

An Excellent Tale of One Bad Day

[stantonkamerun · 9/10 · 1 July 2019]

It lacks in the cinematography and lighting department, but quickly makes this up with excellent writing and performances. A powerful story of loss and (twisted) identity, they, somehow, are able to tie this into The Dark Knight mythos while maintaining a sense of standalone quality.

All this made on a budget of $5000? Quite impressive.

Also, to everyone complaining about the accuracy of the characters: this is a realistic interpretation of them. Watch the movie for what it is.

Amazing 👏 🤡

[jrrywt · 10/10 · 10 November 2021]

The greatest DC fan film I've ever seen! Hands ****ing down!

• Story : engaging
• Camera work : personal
• Acting: was good enough.

I wish they had a bigger budget. These guys deserve it.

Low budget fan film at its finest

[georgemt-20723 · 9/10 · 9 August 2019]

Genuinely the best fan film I've ever seen. Additionally, remove the word 'fan' and I would say this is a genuinely great film. The low budget shows, hence the 1 star reduction, in the form of occasional low sound quality, lighting being imperfect, but again this is only occasional.

If you must have the glitz and shine of Hollywood, this film isn't for you.

If you enjoy character driven narrative with excellent acting, look it up.

The film is basically a character study/crime drama. What events must occur for something like 'the joker' to be created? Dylan Hobbs deserves all of the praise he has received as Cyrus/the Joker, but he is supported well by all the major players. Alek Gearhart uses amazing camera work and sharp editing to make this a surprisingly good film in its own right. Highly recommended.