Joker releases on October 4 in theatres.Warner Bros and DC’s upcoming R-Rated comic book movie Joker was screened at the ongoing Venice film festival. Several reviews of the movie are out and it appears that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have managed to do the unthinkable.
The film has received mostly positive reviews. Expressions like “masterpiece”, “game changing” and “unforgettable” are being thrown around by the critics who got to see the film.
The film holds an 86 per cent rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, “Joker gives its infamous central character a chillingly plausible origin story that serves as a brilliant showcase for its star — and a dark evolution for comics-inspired cinema.”
Joaquin Phoenix plays the titular role of Arthur Fleck/Joker in the film. Unlike other movies in the genre, Joker is described as an intimate character study of the Batman villain than a typical loud, effect-heavy comic-book film.
Time Out’s Philip De Semlyen wrote, “This is a truly nightmarish vision of late-era capitalism – arguably the best social horror film since Get Out – and Joaquin Phoenix is magnetic in it.”
The Guardian’s Xan Brooks says, “Having brazenly plundered the films of Scorsese, Phillips fashions stolen ingredients into something new, so that what began as a gleeful cosplay session turns progressively more dangerous – and somehow more relevant, too.”
Forbes’ Mark Hughes said, “Joaquin Phoenix gives a tour de force performance, fearless and stunning in its emotional depth and physicality. It’s impossible to talk about this without referencing Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance from The Dark Knight, widely considered the definitive live-action portrayal of the Joker, so let’s talk about it. The fact is, everyone is going to be stunned by what Phoenix accomplishes, because it’s what many thought impossible — a portrayal that matches and potentially exceeds that of The Dark Knight’s Clown Prince of Crime.”
However, not all reviews were glowing. The film has also attracted criticism for glorifying its murderous protagonist and the alleged shallowness of its political and social commentary.
Time Magazine’s Stephanie Zacharek wrote, “Phillips may want us to think he’s giving us a movie all about the emptiness of our culture, but really, he’s just offering a prime example of it.”
TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde said, “If you strip the Joker and his nearly 80-year history as a cultural icon out of this film, as well as all the 1970s movie homages, there’s not a whole lot left except for Phoenix’s performance, and it’s the kind of turn that’s destined to be divisive.”
Joker releases on October 4 in theatres.
