Todd Phillips' new film Joker is no laughing matter.
“haha.”
This dark, gritty, R-rated take on DC Comics' infamous Clown Prince of Crime isn't premiering
until October 4th, but the film had its debut on Saturday, August 31st at the Venice Film
Festival in Italy.
So what happened when audiences finally saw Joaquin Phoenix portray the mentally unstable
comedian Arthur Fleck?
"Well no one's laughing now."
"You can say that again, pal."
Most critics agree: The film is pure magic.
According to Deadline,
"[Joker] was met with an eight-minute standing ovation and shouts of 'Bravo!' at its conclusion."
Critics raced to their laptops to publish their first impressions of the film, and most
reviewers were effusive in their praise.
Right now, the critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes proclaims that,
"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."
Writing for Vital Thrills, Jenna Busch applauded Phoenix's transformative performance as Arthur
Fleck:
"The physical [movement] of the character alone could convey what is going on with him,
even if there had been no dialogue.
[...] He's awkward and twisted (particularly his arms and the position of his head) when
he's trying to be 'normal.'
The little dances he does as he tries to act sexy or confident are the sort that make you
embarrassed for someone at a party.
As he becomes who he really is, the movements are powerful."
Busch gave Joker a perfect score, adding,
"I'm struggling to find something to critique here.
As I've spoken about the film to myself and my colleagues, I've come up with nothing.
I'm sure I won't be the only one.
This standalone film was a brave choice by Warner Bros., and it's very likely going to
pay off.
Again, this is a difficult film to watch, and it's going to take time to process, but
ultimately, I think this is going to be a definitive part of Joker canon."
Empire Online's Terri White also gave the film a flawless score five out of five stars
writing that:
"[Joker is] a sad, chaotic, slow-burn study of someone who isn't visible; who doesn't
even exist to the world around them."
Elsewhere in her review, she writes:
"What writer/director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver[...] have written into life is
the Joker as a character.
What they and the film [are] interested in is the mental, moral, emotional, physical
make-up of the man who became the Joker.
[...] 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."
Time Out's Phil De Semlyen also gave Joker five stars writing:
"This is a truly nightmarish vision of late-era capitalism – arguably the best social horror
film since Get Out [...]."
In his review, De Semlyen also writes:
"[Phoenix] runs Heath Ledger cigarette paper-close as the finest screen Joker."
Brandon Davis at ComicBook.com also gave the film a perfect score five out of five stars.
He writes that Joker is quite unlike any DC film or comic book movie that's come before
it.
In fact, he predicts the film will rake in lots of awards, writing that:
"Phoenix's Arthur laughs his way through terrible scenarios.
For this, the actor demands an Oscar nomination [and] it might not be the only nod this DC
Comics movie earns.
The cinematography, score, and direction create something unlike anything before it and it’s
terrifying, thrilling, and moving."
He also makes a point to say,
"There has never been a movie like this in the genre.
[…] You'll need to see to believe it and, even then, you still might not believe it."
Pete Hammond at Deadline loved the film too, and was particularly affected by Phoenix's
work, writing that,
"[The actor gives] a performance so dazzling, risky, and original, you might as well start
engraving his name on the Oscar right now."
He also claims,
"No joke, this is a movie [...] unlike any other from the DC universe, and you will find
it impossible to shake off.
At least I did."
Hammond absolutely loved Phoenix's performance, writing that:
"Heath Ledger took it in a different direction in The Dark Knight and won a posthumous Supporting
Actor Oscar, and now Joaquin Phoenix gets his turn as the character in the stand-alone
origin movie Joker in a bravura piece of filmmaking that speaks to the world we are actually living
in today in ways that few movies do.
If you thought you knew Joker before this Joker, think again."
Many reviewers said the film offers a stark commentary on modern society.
Deadline's Pete Hammond argued that the film will make audiences think about the role that
violence plays in our current culture.
Of course, not everyone enjoyed Joker but negative reviews have been few and far between.
RogerEbert.com critic Glenn Kenny didn't feel like the film offered any sort of meaningful
message, writing that:
"As social commentary, Joker is pernicious garbage."
Kenny also claimed that,
"The final minutes, which will move any sentient viewer to mutter 'would you just pick a g------
ending and stick to it?' are likely an indication of what kind of mess we would have had on
our hands had Phillips been left entirely to his own cynical incoherent devices for
the entire runtime."
Stephanie Zacharek of TIME Magazine felt similarly:
"The aggressive and possibly irresponsible idiocy of Joker overall is [Todd Phillips']
alone to answer for.
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.
[…] Joker is dark only in a stupidly adolescent way, but it wants us to think it's imparting
subtle political or cultural wisdom."
She also found Phoenix's performance extremely off-putting, writing that:
"[He's] acting so hard you can feel the desperation throbbing in his veins.
He leaves you wanting to start him a GoFundMe, so he won’t have to pour so much sweat into
his job again."
Well, viewers will finally get a chance to form their own opinions when Joker hits theaters
on October 4th and we're sure the film is going to hit hard.
"Is this a joke to you?"
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