The release of Joker has caused divisive reactions from audiences and critics, with the prevailing highlight of the film being Joaquin Phoenix‘s portrayal of the character, with IT CHAPTER TWO and X-Men: Dark Phoenix star Jessica Chastain being the latest to praise the actor’s accomplishments in the film. While viewers might have taken issue with what the film attempts to say, or fails to say, the star of the film has earned tremendous praise for bringing to life one of the most iconic comic book villains of all time. Joker is in theaters now and continues to be a box office sensation.
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In response to Daredevil star Vincent D’Onofrio praising Pheonix, Chastain added, “I agree. It’s one of the greatest pieces of acting that I’ve ever seen. Mouth was dropped open in the theatre as it played. It left me shook.”
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and, in addition to taking the Festival’s top prize, earned massive amounts of praise from attendees. As the film continued being screened for critics and at festivals ahead of its official release, some of the reactions began swaying more negative, with its score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes falling each day.
Despite any criticisms lobbied at the film, it has accomplished the astounding feat of being nearly as profitable as Avengers: Infinity War in less than a month of release. Given that Joker cost a reported $70 million to make instead of the hundreds of millions required for Infinity War, the film was able to quickly recoup all of its production and marketing costs to be a major success for Warner Bros.
Ahead of the film’s release, it was the focus of a fabricated controversy that the violent nature of the film could somehow correlate with real-world violence. Director Todd Phillips, however, pointed out that he depicted violence in the film in a much more realistic way than other comic book films in hopes of giving more weight to the film’s more intense sequences.
“Isn’t it a good thing to put real-world implications on violence?” Phillips shared with the audience after the New York Film Festival Joker screening, per Yahoo!. “Isn’t that a good thing to take away the cartoon element of violence that we’ve become so immune to? So I was a little surprised when it turns into that direction, that it seems irresponsible because to me it seems actually very responsible to make it feel real and make it that weight.”
He added, “It’s a complicated movie and I’ve said it before that I think it’s okay that’s it’s complicated. I didn’t imagine the level of discourse that it’s reached in the world honestly. I think it’s interesting. I think it’s okay that it sparks conversations and there are debates around it. The film is the statement and it’s great to talk about it but it’s much more helpful if you’ve seen it.”
Joker is in theaters now.
