Table of Contents Joker Early Buzz and Reactions from 21 Film CriticsJoker Early Buzz and Reactions from 21 Film CriticsJoker Plot SynopsisJoker Cast
Joker Early Buzz and Reactions from 21 Film Critics
Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019) made its world premiere at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and reviews from the premiere have begun pouring in. Almost all of reviews are positive, many lauding the film and in particular Joaquin Phoenix‘s performance in the film. A few of the reviews mention social issue implications of certain events in the film. My rejoinder to that is that Joker is a comic book-based film starring a fictional character that slowly goes clinically insane. Joker should not be taken seriously.
Joker Early Buzz and Reactions from 21 Film Critics
https://twitter.com/davidehrlich/status/1167851481011240962
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— Awais (@OasisAwais) August 31, 2019
— Alex B. (@firstshowing) August 31, 2019 https://twitter.com/wayoutstuff/status/1167849407099867136
— Terri Schwartz (@Terri_Schwartz) August 31, 2019
— Jenna Busch (@JennaBusch) August 31, 2019
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— Dorian Parks @ Sundance (@DorianParksnRec) August 31, 2019
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) August 31, 2019
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) August 31, 2019
— ben mekler (@benmekler) August 31, 2019
The movie absolutely transcends being a comic book film and acts as a character study which, at times, will make audiences uncomfortable in wild ways. 10/10 pic.twitter.com/2B2mCkzbZy — BD (@BrandonDavisBD) August 31, 2019
— /Film (@slashfilm) August 31, 2019 Ben Mekler “Crowd at #Venezia76 went absolutely ballistic for #JOKER. Film is dark, sick, twisted. I’m with a crowd of fellow critics right now, running through the streets of Venice just screaming. Hollering. My legs are tired. We’ve been doing this for hours. Joaquin is an Oscar contender.” –Ben Mekler Owen Glieberman Many have asked, and with good reason: Do we need another Joker movie? Yet what we do need—badly—are comic-book films that have a verité gravitas, that unfold in the real world, so that there’s something more dramatic at stake than whether the film in question is going to rack up a billion-and-a-half dollars worldwide. Joker manages the nimble feat of telling the Joker’s origin story as if it were unprecedented. Dan Casey With Joker, Todd Phillips has proven that he is much more than “The Hangover guy” and created one of the most unexpected and rewarding comic book movies since Logan. But simply calling Joker a “comic book movie” does it a disservice; it is a story that feels like it could be about any number of disaffected people who are marginalized by the ruthless world in which we live. Terri White Phillips has said that though elements were drawn from 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke (in which the Joker is an unsuccessful stand-up), the film doesn’t follow the comic books. A bold move for a universe with such an ardent fan base, but it’s the film’s greatest asset. Not only does it, and the character, sit completely apart from the rest of the DC Cinematic Universe, but it stands apart from comic book movies entirely (even The Dark Knight, as grounded as it was). It’s a character and a movie that’s liberated, entirely. Free to be whatever and whomever it choose. Jordan Farley Going to deeper, darker and more disturbing places than any comic book movie to date, Joker isn’t just a captivating character study, it’s a superhero—or should that be supervillain?—movie like no other. Joker is so radically different from contemporary comic book cinema – structurally, tonally and morally – that it has more in common with Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy than it does with The Avengers or The Dark Knight. On multiple levels, it’s the most challenging, subversive and nihilistic comic book movie ever made. Steven Weintraub If you’re going into Todd Phillips’ Joker movie expecting to see a number of costumed heroes joking around between massive action set pieces, you need to adjust your settings. That’s because Phillips has crafted an intimate, standalone character study that’s extremely influenced by another era of filmmaking. From the way the opening credits play, to the final frames of the movie, Phillips has taken the colorful comic book movie to the dirty, gritty streets of the late 1970s with fantastic results. Trust me, you have never seen a comic book movie like Joker and I’m not sure we will ever get one like this again. – Steven Weintraub (Full Review) Mark Hughes “Get ready to rethink what’s possible in comic book movies. Again. In a little over a month, Warner Bros. releases the latest DC Comics adaptation Joker — an origin story of Batman’s arch nemesis — and if you thought The Dark Knight and Logan pushed the boundaries of adult storytelling and Oscar quality for these types of films, Joker is about to up the ante.” – Mark Hughes (Full Review) Eric Eisenberg “Joker is bound to be the subject of controversy upon its release, but it’s a controversy that it invites by leaving a great deal open for interpretation. Everybody is going to have their own moment where they view Arthur going one step past “the line.” Everybody is going to have their own take on what’s real, and what’s fantasy. Everybody is going to have their own particular political read. And then all of those opinions are going to flip when the movie is screened a second time. You’ll definitely feel like you’ll need a shower after seeing it, but once you’ve dried off and changed clothes, you’ll want to do nothing else but parse and dissect it.” – Eric Eisenberg (Full Review) Paul Shirey “Phillips and Phoenix have crafted a truly unique take on this character and raised the bar of their individual work to boot, paving the way for (hopefully) a wealth of more diverse, compelling and riskier takes on these iconic characters that will challenge our perceptions and leave us with something to chew on for years to come.” – Paul Shirey (Full Review)
Joker Plot Synopsis
Joker‘s plot synopsis: “A failed stand-up comedian…[seduced into Gotham’s criminal underworld in the early 1980s and] driven insane…[to] becomes a psychopathic murderer.”
Joker Cast
Todd Phillips’ Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Shea Whigham, Glenn Fleshler, Brett Cullen, Marc Maron, Douglas Hodge, Josh Pais, and Jolie Chan. Leave your thoughts on the Joker Early Buzz and Reactions from 21 Film Critics (Slashfilm, IGN, Slate, Cnet) below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Joker will be released in U.S. theaters through Warner Bros. on October 4, 2019. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.
