Joker Movie Review Roundup: What Are The Critics Are Saying?

While director Todd Phillips' new movie, Joker, isn't coming to theaters until October, the movie had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend. Additionally, reviews for the upcoming film are coming out, and if you want to figure out whether or not the DC villain movie is worth your time, we have a collection of excerpts from critics below.

GameSpot's own Joker review from Michael Rougeau said Phoenix turns in an "iconic" performance as the clown price of crime as he delivers a "new, complex version of the character we haven't seen before."

You can see a rundown of Joker review excerpts below, while more information on the film's critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

Joker

• Directed By: Todd Phillips
• Written By: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
• Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Robert De Niro
• Release Date: October 4 (United States)

GameSpot

"It might make you uncomfortable, and it will no doubt stay with you long after the curtains close; great movies often do." -- Michael Rougeau [Full review]

Time Magazine

"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." -- Stephanie Zacharek [Full review]

The Guardian

"What a gloriously daring and explosive film Joker is. It's a tale that’s almost as twisted as the man at its centre, bulging with ideas and pitching towards anarchy." -- Xan Brooks [Full review]

The Wrap

"It will be tempting for some to declare this the first art film based on a DC or Marvel property, but while it certainly represents a bit of a departure and something of a risk, Joker is ultimately grim-and-gritty comic book nihilism jacked up to the nth degree, wrapped up in a convincing but ultimately hollow simulacra of better, smarter movies." -- Alonso Duralde [Full review]

IGN

"Joker isn't just an awesome comic book movie, it's an awesome movie, period. It offers no easy answers to the unsettling questions it raises about a cruel society in decline. Joaquin Phoenix’s fully committed performance and Todd Phillips’ masterful albeit loose reinvention of the DC source material make Joker a film that should leave comic book fans and non-fans alike disturbed and moved in all the right ways." -- Jim Vejvoda [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter

"Joaquin Phoenix boldly reinvents Batman's cackling arch-nemesis in Todd Phillips' dark new vision of the supervillain origin story, also starring Robert De Niro." -- David Rooney [Full review]