Joaquin Phoenix has been tipped for an Oscar for his performance in The Joker.
The actor plays the titular character in the origin story of Batman’s nemesis and despite early misgivings from fans and critics, screenings of the film have seen rave reviews pour in.
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He has been branded “stunning”, “fearsome” and “gripping” in the film which is the first standalone film for the legendary villain.
Heath Ledger previously posthumously won a best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker but critics have hinted he will be followed by Phoenix.
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney said he performs the character with a “simmering psychosis”.
He added: “The neo-noir psychological character stud is arguably the best Batman-adjacent movie since The Dark Knight.”
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IGN critic Jim Vejvoda said: “Drawing its spirit and style from classic ’70s and ’80s films like Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, A Clockwork Orange, and Dog Day Afternoon, director Todd Phillips’ Joker presents a Gotham City that is unmistakably a stand-in for the hellish New York City of the era.
“Phoenix delivers a tour de force. Joker isn’t just an awesome comic book movie, it’s an awesome movie, period.”
It comes as Phoneix admitted he himself thinks “people are gonna be mad” that Joker doesn’t “follow anything” from the original comic books.
The 44-year-old actor fears that the upcoming movie based on the origin of the DC Comics villain may not live up to fans expectations as he and director Todd Phillips chose to stray from the original DC material and focus on the “story of becoming Joker”.
Phoenix said: “We didn’t follow anything from the comic books, which people are gonna be mad about.
“We just wrote our own version of where a guy like Joker might come from.
“That’s what was interesting to me. We’re not even doing Joker, but the story of becoming Joker. It’s about this man.”
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