The first reviews for the new Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix are in, revealing high praise for the Clown Prince of Crime’s first-ever standalone film.
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is premiering at the Venice International Film Festival today ahead of its U.S. debut in Toronto, however, a select group of critics have already had the chance to see the film. Joker, which features an original take on the character with Joaquin Phoenix in the role is the first film to take place outside of Warner Bros.’ DC films universe since it began in 2013. The film follows Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck: a failed 1980s comedian that becomes The Joker after he bombs with audiences.
You can check out what critics have to say about Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker below!
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman:
“Joaquin Phoenix is astonishing as a mentally ill geek who becomes the killer-clown Joker in Todd Phillips’ neo-‘Taxi Driver’ knockout: the rare comic-book movie that expresses what’s happening in the real world.”
TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde:
“Todd Phillips nails look and tone, mostly from other movies, in an R-rated origin that’s less than the sum of its parts.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney:
“Joaquin Phoenix boldly reinvents Batman’s cackling arch-nemesis in Todd Phillips’ dark new vision of the supervillain origin story.”
io9’s Germain Lussier:
“Phillips is much more interested in dissecting what makes a comic book character real than making a real comic book character and, in that aim, he’s successful.”
Empire Magazine’s Terri White:
“Bold, devastating and utterly beautiful, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have not just reimagined one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, but reimagined the comic book movie itself.”
IGN’s Jim Vejvoda:
“Joaquin Phoenix’s fully committed performance and Todd Phillips’ masterful albeit loose reinvention of the DC source material make Joker a film that should leave comic book fans and non-fans alike disturbed and moved in all the right ways.”
Comic Book’s Brandon Davis:
“Like The Dark Knight, Joker transcends being simply a film based on any super heroes or villains. It becomes a piece of art loaded with raw beats and stirs up internal and external conversations for its audience.”
Nerdist’s Dan Casey:
“While the film sometimes tells rather than shows, even going so far as to have Arthur plainly state its thesis at one point, the finished product is so satisfying that it feels like a minor quibble. If you don’t leave your preconceptions at the door for Joker, then the last laugh will truly be on you.”
JoBlo’s Paul Shirey:
“JOKER is as ambiguous as it is enthralling and it will no doubt inspire much discussion, think pieces, theories and debates long after it leaves theaters.”
Here is the official synopsis for Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker:
Director Todd Phillips “Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fracturedsociety. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.
Opening in theaters on October 4, 2019, the film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Marc Maron, Brett Cullen, Bryan Callen and Robert De Niro. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for more updates on Joaquin Phoenix and the Joker movie!
