One thing is for certain, director Todd Phillips took some big swings in Joker Folie a Deux and the result is something chaotic, messy, and ultimately unfunny.
Joker Folie a Deux Review
I've never been a big fan of giving villains sympathetic backstories. They always tend to undermine what made the characters so fascinating to begin with. In 2019, Phillips grabbed hold of one of the most iconic DC Comic evildoers and decided to give him an origin story– one that created a version of the character people might root for. The problem with that is Joker's appeal has always been due to his diabolical, psychotic nature. He's 100% evil. Sure maybe he wasn't born that way, but he certainly is a megalomaniac who causes havoc just for the fun of it. And that's probably the worst part of Folie à Deux (aka Joker 2)–it sucks all the fun out of the story, leaving behind an empty husk of what was built in the first film.
Instead of further building out this Joker's story, Phillips throws him in a courtroom where he (and us) are forced to listen and watch as all the events of the first Joker are recounted during Arthur Fleck's trial. It's as exciting as it sounds and by that I mean not very. Like Arthur who eventually dons clown makeup and takes over as his own counsel, this film seems to be trolling its intended audience. First it is absolutely a musical despite anything anyone has tried to say otherwise. Second, Lady Gaga is introduced as Joker's iconic lady of madness only to be underused and pushed aside to also watch the trial with everyone else. Unless she is needed to sing in one of the musical numbers, which happen often to increasingly frustrating results.
Joker: Folie à Deux opens with a Looney Tunes inspired cartoon called “My Shadow and Me,” which is essentially a funnier summary of the previous film. Joker's shadow comes to life, takes the real Joker's suit and proceeds to head to the stage. The host of the show is killed and the real Joker is blamed for it after his shadow conveniently disappears. This seems to point to the fact that there are two people inside Arthur, a duality that is a cornerstone of his court case. Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver essentially pose the question of accountability while pointing a finger at society's grasp on mental disorders. In the end though, it's a question that goes mainly unanswered.
Two years after being locked up in Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum, Arthur (Phoenix) has become a morose skeleton of his former self. (Phoenix looks like a wraith with shoulder blades so pronounced they look like they will pop out of his skin at any moment.) He's set to stand trial for all his crimes with the death penalty being almost a guarantee, that is unless his lawyer (Catherine Keener) can convince the jury Joker and Arthur are two different people. He's pretty much given up on life but things begin to look up when prison guard Jackie (Brendan Gleeson) volunteers him for an inmate musical therapy class. There he meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Gaga), a deranged woman who happens to be a big fan of his work. Her sympathy and love, the one thing he has always wanted, seem to break him out of his misery. As the trial gets underway, Arthur's frayed psyche blurs the line between fantasy and reality until an explosive final act changes everything.
There are some good parts of this film, if you're willing to ride out the bloated runtime of almost 2 hours and 20 minutes. Phoenix is still amazing in this role, Gaga when given the chance really has some fun with Harley Quinn, and some of the musical numbers actually work. The final act has an impressive level of audacity that will leave fans talking about it for better or worse. Some of Phillips' approach to Harley and Joker as a couple work well. When Gaga isn't relegated to singing or as an extra in the courtroom, she gets to show why she is a powerful onscreen presence. She taps into Harley's devious, calculating, and alluring side making it easy to see why Joker would fall for her instantly. Phoenix, as expected, fully melts into the role, making Arthur equally pitiful and terrifying (at least once he is allowed to finally step out in the suit).
They are a volatile pair, fueled by passion and chaos. We see it briefly when they are allowed to trade dialogue. Unfortunately, most of their interactions are reduced to dull cabaret songs. There is one that seems to capture their relationship though, it is a “Sonny & Cher” like TV show where Phillips allows the cracks to show in their tenuous partnership. For comic fans, it's obvious this number alludes to the fact that Harley has oftentimes been seen as a bigger star than Joker. The film would have benefited greatly from exploring this more, giving her a more fleshed out arc. At one point I thought they were going to make her the one who turned Joker all the way evil (instead of the usual other way around) but no. She simply “nopes” out when it's convenient to no one.
If the musical numbers were more whimsical or even occurred while Joker slaughtered random bystanders and prison guards, they at least would have made an impact. Unfortunately, they are hit or miss, mostly miss, cut off at the knees or dragged on too long, either way they don't work. If you have an extensive knowledge of classic ballads, you can predict which song is going to go where thanks to the obvious dialogue setups. Arthur doesn't know what it's like to love somebody? Time to sing the Bee Gee's (you don't know what it's like) “To Love Somebody.”
I may enjoy musicals, but I hit a wall with this film and found myself begging for them to stop singing. The audience I watched the film with equally seemed exhausted by the end and completely over the gimmick. I will say that at times when the two of them are singing together, the way cinematographer Lawrence Sher captures the moment makes it seem equally plausible that they are singing for real and that they are imagining it. If only that magic could have been implemented more than just in a few fleeting moments.
Verdict
Joker: Folie a Deux is chaotic as it tries to be a prison film, a musical, and a compelling courtroom drama. The result is it ends up being a dissatisfying mess. The first Joker gave fans a dark and lucrative dramedy about their favorite deranged clown prince. But this time around, he's just a sad sack who isn't sure what he wants to be. Phoenix and Gaga give great performances but sadly it's not enough to save this tragedy.
Sure there is a deeper commentary about who Joker is and what is expected of him and maybe that was Phillips point all along, but unfortunately this isn't a college psychology research paper it's a major blockbuster. Fans don't want to see this, they want to see the Joker being Joker. Perhaps with a more robust script (and less singing) Phillips could have had the best of both worlds– sticking it to fan expectations while offering something truly interesting in their place. Oh well. The curtain has closed on this franchise and love it or hate it, it's sure to have people talking.
Joker: Folie à Deux premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. Warner Bros. will release it in theaters on Friday, October 4. It is rated R for some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity with a runtime of 2 hours and 18 minutes.
