Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga begin a bad romance in Todd Phillips’ sequel to his 2019 hit. Read our Joker: Folie à Deux review here.
2019’s Joker was a bit of an anomaly. Taking one of the most popular comic book villains and turning him into a traumatised, misunderstood man with a murderous side won Joaquin Phoenix seemingly every award under the sun, including an Oscar. The film proved to be controversial with its approach to violence, but grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, so naturally, a sequel was hurried into production.
And that sequel is now here. Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in cinemas with a lot of expectations. Can it match, or even top the first one? Will it be as controversial? Will as many people see themselves in Arthur and find the film empowering?
After watching the film, the answer to all of the above seems to be… no.
I’m not a massive fan of the 2019 film, but after experiencing Joker: Folie à Deux, I have a new-found respect for it. At least it had a story to it and an effort to explore Arthur, however misguided that exploration might be. Joker: Folie à Deux is unlikely to make you angry or cheering on your seat. In fact, it’ll probably not make you feel anything.
Joker: Folie à Deux finds Arthur imprisoned in Arkham, where he meets Lady Gaga’s Lee. The two have an immediate, wordless bond and they fall head over heels in love with each other. Arthur also has a trial coming up and his lawyer is trying to convince the jury and the public that there’s a distinct difference between Arthur and Joker.
Director Todd Phillips thus wants to make a film about whether Arthur truly is Joker or whether Arthur is still human, still redeemable. Unfortunately, the result is toothless: a bland film that’s trying to be too many things, not really succeeding in any of them.
If you loved the first film, there’s not a whole lot here for you. If anything, Joker: Folie à Deux plays out like a forgotten coda to the first film. It starts out as a twisted, exhilarating love story between Joker and Lee, which is then forced to make room for a dull courtroom drama that mostly discusses the events of the first film. The love story angle is far more interesting than Arthur’s trial, mostly because Lady Gaga proves to be an electric presence on screen, even if the script doesn’t serve her very well.
The odd chemistry between Gaga and Phoenix is enough to fascinate, but their love story feels superficial. Gaga isn’t given much else to do than either sing breathlessly or belt out familiar songs, while Phoenix has less to do, too. There’s almost no trace of his fearless, Oscar-winning performance here; Arthur, like the film around him, has been reduced to a dull mess.
Then there’s the musical aspect.
It was rumoured early on that the sequel would be a musical, which drew a lot of criticism from fans. Joker: Folie à Deux is absolutely a musical, but just not a very good one. Most of the musical sequences feel like Lady Gaga music videos rather than authentic expressions of character. It begs the question, why bother making this a musical when Phillips has no interest in following through? Joker: Folie à Deux seems to continue Hollywood’s recent trend of producing loads of musicals, only to try and bury their musical elements from the audience.
Still, the one thing that lets the film down is just how boring it is. The narrative moves at a snail’s pace and doesn’t amount to much. Joker: Folie à Deux finds its groove in the final 20 minutes, but you have to sit through two hours to get to that point. There’s a really great film to be made with the premise, but the character of Joker as well as Gaga and Phoenix deserved better.
Joker: Folie à Deux is in UK cinemas 4th October.
