Joker: Folie à Deux, directed by Todd Phillips, is a drama musical and is the sequel to 2019’s Joker. The film follows Arthur Fleck as he prepares for his trial for the murders he committed in the first film. 2019’s Joker was praised for its acting, intensity, and emotion and was rewarded with two Oscar wins including Best Actor and Best Score. As one of the most anticipated movies of 2024, Joker: Folie A Deux did not live up to any of its expectations and gave audiences a disappointing experience.
Madness Shared By Two
Joker: Folie à Deux takes place two years after 2019’s Joker. Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is admitted into Arkham’s mental institution where he awaits trial for the murders he committed in the previous film. While at Arkham, Arthur pushes away his Joker persona until he meets Lady Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel in a music class. Lee takes an interest in this persona and slowly restores Arthur to what Gotham City knows him as, the Joker.
Bad Romance
Joker: Folie à Deux’s Todd Philips wanted to convey emotions through musical numbers, but this aspect was a factor that negatively impacted the film. The musical numbers are meant to represent the emotions in Arthur and Lee’s heads that they could not express with words. This meant that they took place in the character’s heads and would appear whenever they went through a mental episode. The problem with this was how it ruined the pacing of the film. In musicals, musical numbers are supposed to further the plot, but in this film, it would put the movie at a halt to reveal what was going on in a character’s head and would not further the story. This was evident during the ramp-up of intense scenes where there is a buildup but is put to an abrupt stop because of a musical number.
Gonna Build a Mountain
2019’s Joker relied on its deep characterization of Arthur Fleck, which was the aspect that led to its critical acclaim. In this film, there was no additional expansion on this complicated character. The development of Arthur rather circles back to what he was in the first film. Although this seems like a creative choice representing the cycle in Arthur’s life, it was not effectively portrayed. Lee’s character was also very underutilized in this film. There was nothing about her character that felt unique or special compared to the other fanatics who admired the Joker. She was just a character that had access to Arthur in Arkham and was used to fill the emptiness of love and affection that Arthur was missing in his life. There was no depth or real motives in this version of the character, unlike the previous adaptations of Harley Quinn.
Bewitched
2019’s Joker was intense and conveyed a lot of emotion for audiences, but this was completely forgotten in the sequel. It doesn’t matter how artistic or creative the message is for a film if the movie is dull and boring. A factor that made Joker intense was the beautifully composed score from Hildur Guðnadóttir. There were little notes of the score in this film, but most of the music was through the musical numbers and already created music, and when her music did appear, it did not fit with most of the scenes. The film also tries hard for it to be a romance, musical, and courtroom drama but does not succeed in either aspect. There was a well-written scene in the film with the character Puddles on the stand, and it was intense and emotional until it was ruined by a musical number. The film lacked intensity and emotional sequences that would keep the audience engaged throughout this film.
That’s Life
As someone who thoroughly enjoyed 2019’s Joker, I find that Joker: Folie à Deux was an utter disappointment. Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga did great in their characters with what they were given, and the cinematography in the film was gorgeous, but it was not enough to save this film. The movie tried to be too many things at once and could not stick to one aspect and really flesh it out. The film fails as a thriller, musical, and courtroom drama, which doesn’t leave much to be excited about. The overall theme and message make a lot of sense, but it’s difficult to understand a deep message when it’s jammed into a project with no purpose or soul. It felt like this movie was made purely because of how successful the first movie was, and this was an attempt to replicate that success.
Joker: Folie à Deux is disappointing in almost every aspect and even though Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga provided great performances with what they were given, it was not enough to save a sequel that did not need to be made.
