Probably the most divisive DC film is now streaming on Prime Video

Joker is now out there to stream on Amazon Prime Video, and we will already hear the livid tapping of Twitter sizzling takes and Letterboxd evaluations. As one of the best Batman villain of all, many acclaimed actors have stepped into the Clown Prince of Crime’s outsized footwear, together with Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and most divisively, Joaquin Phoenix.

Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker tells a bleak origin story of the DC character. Joaquin Phoenix embodies Arthur Fleck, a failed comic and pathetic determine who, after a long time of being rejected by the merciless streets of Gotham, slowly unravels and begins down a path of villainy from which he can by no means return.

With a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics couldn’t fairly make their thoughts up about this movie — however that didn’t cease Phoenix from profitable a Finest Actor gong for his efficiency on the Oscars. Earlier than him, the final Joker actor to get Academy recognition for portraying the film villain was Heath Ledger.

Ledger’s darker iteration of the character in 2008’s The Darkish Knight was extremely praised by followers and critics alike, with many arguing that his portrayal of the character merely couldn’t be beat. So, when information of a Joker solo film dropped, critical debate was sparked over whether or not the movie was making an attempt to shadow Ledger’s legacy — or, worse, making an attempt to mimic it.

When early copies of the script leaked on-line, issues have been additionally raised over whether or not this new film was too sympathetic in direction of Joker. Positive, he’s a pathetic determine with an advanced previous, however as film critics identified on the time, do we actually need to make a terrorist the hero of the story?

IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich, as an example, described Joker as a “poisonous rallying cry for self-pitying incels,” whereas Time‘s Stephanie Zacharek wrote that “the film makes it appear to be [Arthur is] beginning a revolution the place […] the unhappy guys who can’t get a date turn into killer heroes.”

But, regardless of the controversy surrounding Joker, followers and critics take into account it to be amongst Phoenix’s finest motion pictures — and now you’ll be able to choose that for your self by watching Joker on the streaming service. With the Joker 2 launch date not being too distant, at the very least, you most likely need to catch up.

Joker isn’t a part of the DCU, however if you wish to revisit the state of DC to date, right here’s how you can watch all of the DC motion pictures so as. Or, if you wish to know what else is on the market, try our guides to The Batman 2 launch date and Aquaman 2 launch date.

Past that, DC is getting an enormous overhaul in a mission James Gunn and Peter Safran are dubbing Chapter 1 Gods and Monsters. To search out out extra about a few of the content material making up the slate, right here’s our guides to the Superman Legacy launch date, Creature Commandos launch date, Swamp Factor launch date, and Waller launch date.