Maybe for the first half, but their character development diverges at the end. Travis Bickle attempted to do something good, however misplaced, but the joker just wanted to watch the world burn.
That's the beauty of the movie. He steps past the breaking point but his focus was on getting the girl out so all the violence is justified. But he's not perfect, otherwise his true intentions would have been completed and he'd be recognized as the monster he really is. It's all perspectives.
I mean no offense to the previous poster but I feel like it was fine. A lot of people talked about Joaquin Phoenix being amazing but I felt like they just haven't seen his amazing performances haha.
Thatβs fair, Iβd argue that a viewer being able to closely relate to the protagonist or a character in the film is what changes their view of the film.
For example, Iβve heard a lot of people love the Black Panther movie and the antagonist. I personally never liked the movie, nor relate to the movie at all, but I can understand someone relating to being an oppressed minority in American urban cities and the desire to rise up.
I didn't relate to anyone in the movie (that I can remember) and I still loved it.
I really enjoyed it because of the immersion. I just thought it was good story telling and excellent acting.
I didn't really take the movie to have any deeper meaning. To me it was the telling of one version of the joker's origin story, one that is more grounded and realistic.
I should add that I didn't really care too much if the movie isn't true to any source material. My enjoyment of the movie was of it as a completely self contained story.
I bought the movie in UHD 4K DVD. I watched it one time and donated the DVD. I won't be watching it again. Worth a watch? I guess? Maybe? Do you like feeling like shit after watching a movie? Then it's definitely worth a watch. Phoenix is my favorite actor, and I think he's the most talented actor in Hollywood, but I did not enjoy watching his psychosis.