Struggling with his dual identity, failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital.
When it was announced that 2019’s Joker was getting a sequel, myself, and many others voiced our displeasure for the film getting an unnecessary sequel. Then when it was announced that it would be a jukebox musical, our ears perked yet still cautious. Then finally the first trailer was released and we all believe that Joker: Folie a Deux might have lightning in the bottle again. Sadly, Folie a Deux does not have lighting in the bottle again as the Joker sadly faceplants in this unnecessary sequel.
On one hand, I respect Joker: Folie a Deux for trying to do something different. It doesn’t go for a conventional sequel. Screenwriters Todd Phillips and Scott Silver really tried something different with this procedural jukebox drama/musical. However, they should have abandoned the musical aspects when they realize they could not write a musical to save their life. When the first musical number broke out, you can feel the audience cringing due to the sheer incompetent musical filmmaking. Every single musical number is woefully flat, uninspired, and worst of all, terrible. Not even the powerful vocals of Lady Gaga could save them. I respect the idea of Arthur, aka, Joker (Joaquin Phoenix), using music as both a comfort and a trigger as he falls back into madness. But they should have hired someone who knew what they were doing with musicals. And what is even more frustrating, if it weren’t for those musical numbers, I believe lighting would have struck twice with Todd Phillips Joker.
What is frustrating about Joker: Folie a Deux is that you can see what director Todd Phillips was going for in this sequel. Buried within the musical we continue with the tragedy of Arthur Fleck. We witness a mentally ill man sadly deemed competent for trial, put into a circus as everyone tears him apart to fit him into their narrative. The media sets him up as a mad terrorist, the DA believes he is a homicidal maniac, his attorney believes he is mentally ill, while his supporters believe he is a martyr standing up to the system. These outside forces begin Arthur’s tragic descent into madness, and it is only accelerated when he meets Harley “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a Joker fangirl who leads to his destruction as she brings the Joker out from hiding. I believe this basic concept paired with themes such as redeeming the mad and the mad on trial, is fascinating. And with a little bit of polishing, Todd Phillips would have had lightning in a bottle again. Sadly, this tragedy is buried by a terrible musical.
Joaquin Phoenix continues his maddening path as the iconic Joker. Despite the material being weaker and his musical performance is not the best, he still gives incredibly strong performances as Arthur/Joker. He finds the perfect balance again between sanity and madness. He will most likely not get another Oscar nomination for his performance, but his performance is easily one of the best of the year. Sadly, I found Lady Gaga as the iconic Harley Quinn to be a mixed bag. Her vocal performance was surprisingly weak, not because of her vocals, but because her performance felt like it belonged to a different film. She sounded like herself, but a bit more deranged as usual. However, when she was not singing, I found her performance to be quite strong. She matched Phoenix freak, and when they were allowed to be freaky I was having fun. While the remaining ensemble, Brendan Gleeson gives a strong performance despite limited screen time, while Harry Lawtey has a promising career ahead as Harvey Dent. However, despite the strong performances, I feel bad for this ensemble as they deserve a better film.
Overall, I am left disappointed with Joker: Folie a Deux. I respect the fact that they took a gamble with the film by making it a musical, rather than a conventional sequel. But really should have hired someone who knew what they were doing because I wish this was a conventional sequel given the film that was presented. It has the foundations to make for a great film, but squanders it in execution. With Joker, he had the final laugh, in Folie a Deux, the audience is laughing at him.
My Rating: C
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