jokes on you
JOKER - the upcoming psychological thriller, is hitting cinemas next month with Joaquin Phoenix helming the infamous role for the blockbuster flick.
Despite the Joker's frequent appearances, the origin story behind the Clown Prince of Crime has never before been explored on the big screen but that's all about to change. Here's the lowdown...
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When is Joker with Joaquin Phoenix released?
Joker is slated to be released October 4, 2019.
The movie will serve as a first stand-alone film in a series of DC-based films separate from the shared DC Extended Universe.
This means that Joaquin Pheonix's take on the character will in no way influence and predate Jared Leto's, who is still intended to return as the criminal mastermind next year.
It's being produced by lead star and director of The Hangover trilogy Todd Phillips, and Bradley Cooper and unlike typical superhero movies, it will contain a lower scale budget.
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What are the reviews for Joker?
's Terri White highly praised the film for its decision to reimagine the comic book movie while capturing a story that was "bold, devastating and utterly beautiful."
White gave the film a whopping five stars, his review notes that fans will not be disappointed with the film as one is not to try and compare Joaquin's performance with Heath Ledger, who played the character in 2008's The Dark Knight.
He explained: "Comparing him to Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson feels like a nonsense: this is a Joker we’ve never seen — in many respects, it isn’t the Joker, it’s Arthur."
"This is, we mustn’t forget, the story of how a villain was made. But what writer/director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver (8 Mile, The Fighter) have written into life is the Joker as a character.
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"What they and the film is interested in is the mental, moral, emotional, physical make-up of the man who became the Joker."
's David Ehrlich went as far as to connect Joker to the likes of movies such as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, adding that it's a surprise not to see Martin Scorsese having been attached to the film.
“Todd Phillips’ Joker is unquestionably the boldest reinvention of “superhero” cinema since The Dark Knight; a true original that’s sure to be remembered as one of the most transgressive studio blockbusters of the 21st Century."
"It’s also a toxic rallying cry for self-pitying incels, and a hyper-familiar origin story so indebted to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy that Martin Scorsese probably deserves an executive producer credit."
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's Stephanie Zacharek notes how the movie shares an endless number of elements that fall back into our own lives; things we can all identify with.
"Joker is dark only in a stupidly adolescent way, but it wants us to think it’s imparting subtle political or cultural wisdom," she gushed.
"Just before one of his more violent tirades, Arthur muses, #Everybody just screams at each other. Nobody’s civil anymore.' Who doesn’t feel that way in our terrible modern times?
"But Arthur’s observation is one of those truisms that’s so true it just slides off the wall, a message that both the left and the right can get behind and use for their own aims. It means nothing.”
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Who's in the cast?
As expected with the intrigue around a character-based film on one of the comic's most interesting villains, the movie has an all-star cast:
- Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / Joker
- Robert De Niro as a talk show host
- Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond
- Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck
- Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne
- Glenn Fleshler as a comedian
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Who is Arthur Fleck and will Batman appear?
Director Todd Phillips uploaded a picture of Joaquin Pheonix on his Instagram with the caption Arthur Fleck to confirm the Joker's civilian name.
The character's origins have not yet been explored in a live-action film but a number of backstories have been provided over the years through comic books, although none definitive.
The most popular, Batman: The Killing Joke, which the 2019 film seems to loosely follow, presents the Joker as a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City.
Joker will include Thomas Wayne, therefore an appearance by a version of the Dark Knight is out of the question although it yet to be confirmed if any actor will cameo as a young Bruce Wayne.
Deleted Suicide Squad clip sees abusive relationship between Harley Quinn and The Joker
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