Why Was Leto's Joker Poorly Received?

[Punjabi_Hitman]

The only time I remember him laughing was when he's lying down among a bunch of knives in a circle. He's the joker, I expected to see him make his sadistic jokes, like in The Dark Knight.

Joker hands a card which is a joker card.
The disappearing pencil trick.
Him having a blast using the rocket launcher.
Etc..

The joker in Suicide Squad looked like he hated doing the things he was doing. He just seemed like a depressed psychopath gangster.

[Sirzechs]

He was just a generic and unmemorable character.

Ledger was a genuine force of evil in his movie. He was legit scary and had some really laugh out loud moments. Leto's Joker was neither scary nor funny

Ledger Joker was the main villain in that movie, Leto had a full 10 minutes in Suicide Squad as side character in Harley's subplot, it's not even comparable how can most you not get that?

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

I'm not altogether sure Leto's Joker was poorly received.

Seems to me people want more of him.

[Lightning Rider]

Ledger Joker was the main villain in that movie, Leto had a full 10 minutes in Suicide Squad as side character in Harley's subplot, it's not even comparable how can most you not get that?

Yeah you just can't compare them. Ledger's introduction, his monologues, were all designed to have him steal the show. I liked Leto's performance, wouldn't say he was memorable, but think he offered enough of his own take. I have no idea how people say he was just a generic gangster. He was totally creepy to me.

[Robotman]

Leto had a lot of cards stacked against him. People were going to be comparing his take on the Joker to Ledger's Academy Award winning performance, he only had 10 min to make his mark, the scrip he was given wasn't very good, and those ridiculous tattoos instantly turned off a lot of fans.
While I really didn't like his performance I'm gonna wait until the Batman stand alone flick to make my final decision. At least we know for sure he'll be working with a better director.

[RobinFan4880]

The editors cut a lot of Leto's scenes, that added to his characterization and motivation.

Plus, to be honest, the movie should have really been Joker with a Nuke rather than wiggly-hips-Enchantress.

[thefiresky]

So basically he was Joker from the animated series ?

I'm hoping that you're not degrading the masterpiece that is Mark hamill's joker...

[Lightning Rider]

I'm hoping that you're not degrading the masterpiece that is Mark hamill's joker...

Doubt it, more likely emphasizing the thematic similarities that garner praise in one context and for some reason scorn in the other.

[Sirzechs]

Doubt it, more likely emphasizing the thematic similarities that garner praise in one context and for some reason scorn in the other.

This is what I was going for.

[Osiris-Rex]

The editors cut a lot of Leto's scenes, that added to his characterization and motivation.

Plus, to be honest, the movie should have really been Joker with a Nuke rather than wiggly-hips-Enchantress.

I think that was the main problem. The promoters did a bait and switch. From all the ads and media coverage people were expecting Joker to be the main villain
that the squad was formed to take down. Instead we get a ridiculous world ending supernatural villain no one cared about. And the Joker was almost non-existent
in the movie. All of his scenes could have been cut and we'd have the same movie. So the disappointment in Joker being such a minor character is being taken
out on Leto and what we got of him.

[Danileriver23]

Ok, so here why you can't compare Ledger's joker to Leto's

1. In the Dark Knight Rises, the joker is an actual character. He's the primary antagonist, he has character motivation, and an actual plot to follow along with.

the one thing I think everyone can agree on, whether you liked him or not, is that The joker is not essential to this movie at all. You could literally cut his scenes and re-work some of Harley's dialogue and it would be the same movie. he provides nothing other than a "look, it's the joker!" aspect

2. They take place in two completely different universes. And I don't mean that in the sense that the Nolan films are in the DCEU. The Nolan films are grounded in realism, which is why everything looks familiar in that world...but it's off. Batman is just Bat-man, not Bat-god like he is in the comics, Ra's Al Ghul is just a dick not an immortal bent on world domination, Bane is a really strong terrorist on pain meds as opposed to a guy roided out on super drugs, hell catwoman isn't even catwoman, she's just a thief.

The DCEU is supposed to be the REAL comic book universe. There's magic and science fiction and things that don't exist in this world. I understand that the DCEU isn't the comicbook universe, but its the movie equivalent. Nolan's film's are more "what if DC took place in reality" as opposed to the new films "what if DC comics were real" mentality

And don't say 'but the extended cut fills in the gaps.' No it doesn't. He still does nothing for the plot. He's still an extended cameo. Plus, I don't think it's fair to use "extended cuts" as a way to justify anything. If the director/studio thought it was integral to be included in the film, it would have been in that standard cut so everything else is irrelevant.

[Danileriver23]

As a side note, while I was not pleased with this portrayal of the Joker, I would say that it's a legitimate argument we don't have enough footage to make an accurate determination on our feelings of this Joker. granted I'm 95% sure I hate this thing with the tattoo's, the growling, and the weird accent, but he was so she-horned and so minimal in the film, it's possible I only saw the bad stuff.

[Sirzechs]

I think some one pointed it out that the purple Lamboghini video had alot of scenes with Leto that wasn't present in the movie.

[Sirzechs]

one thing for certain is that the next screenwriter that present a blue sky beam as the plot of the next action movie needs to be slapped silly.

[batnbreakfast]

Does the novelization give more hints about Katana's and Joker's parts/motivations?

They overhyped Joker's importance with their advertising.

Joker should be part entertainer and part sinister killer.