I fear that most people who have watched Joker: Folie à Deux will not bother to read this review, as claiming that critics and fans alike were disappointed with this movie would be an understatement.
After Joaquin Phoenix’s astonishing performance in Joker (2019), fans were eagerly anticipating a sequel to this dark, alternative storyline of the best comic-book villain in any superhero franchise. However, the sequel did not meet the audience’s expectations for a number of reasons.
The most common complaint among viewers was the movie’s false advertising. Although I believe that the reviews of this movie were overly harsh, anyone who watched the first movie understands that there is a dramatic change in the telling of Joker’s story. In the first movie, we see a beautifully constructed origin story where failed comedian Arthur Fleck is driven to violent insanity by his isolation and the apathy of those around him. In Joker: Folie à Deux, we see an imprisoned Arthur Fleck who is put on trial for
multiple murders, and that’s pretty much all it is. As viewers watched Arthur Fleck become the Joker in the first movie, they were expecting him to be the Joker in the second movie. Instead, they were left with some sort of hybrid, where Joaquin Phoenix’s character couldn’t decide whether he was Arthur Fleck or the Joker. Ultimately, this back and forth between the character’s two alter-egos created a feeling of inaction that contributed to a perceived lack of story throughout the film.
Regardless of the story’s inaction, the initial mistake of this movie was choosing to make it a musical. I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoyed some of the musical numbers, but I think that the extensive number of songs took away from the story. This screen time would have allowed Harley Quinn, (played by Lady Gaga) to more clearly develop her relationship with Joker and play a more significant role in the plot of the movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga gave impeccable musical performances that effectively captured the essence of their characters, but it would have worked better on a Broadway stage. Joker: Folie à Deux reiterates my belief that when I want to see a musical, I should go to the theater as opposed to watching a musical movie.
Overall, neither critics nor fans have blamed the movie’s negative reviews on the acting. Joaquin Phoenix reminded the audience of his unique ability to play one of the most demanding roles in cinematic history. Lady Gaga was a strong casting choice for her role, and she did the best that anyone could with the underwhelming Harley Quinn character that was written for her.
I think Joker: Folie à Deux was destined to be a box office failure since Joker (2019) made over $1 billion with a $55 million budget. When it came to making the sequel, the production team simply had more money than they knew what to do with. Co-writer and director Todd Phillips never said that these Joker movies were going to be the Joker origin story or that Joaquin Phoenix’s character was the Joker, but the first movie convinced us that maybe this was the case. Good one Todd Phillips, you tricked basically everyone who sat down and watched this movie. The abrupt, twist-ending of this movie left me frustrated and changing my opinion on the movie every day for a week until I decided to deal with it by writing this review. To sum up, movie-watchers should give Joker: Folie à Deux a shot, and DC fans should stay at home and watch The Dark Knight. And for my final joke: What do you get when it’s your idea to spend a Sunday night with your friends watching this movie?
