‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ falls flat on its face (Review)

Joker: Folie à Deux

After making a billion dollars at the box office, it was almost guaranteed that Warner Brothers and DC Studios would want a sequel, but that was in contrast to director Todd Phillip’s initial answers to the press when prompted. What changed? Studio assistance, Lady Gaga, or a story that he felt needed to be continued?

“Joker: Folie à Deux” begins with a quiet and invisible Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) a.k.a The Joker in Arkham Asylum. He’s introduced to Lee (Lady Gaga) after getting the chance to sing in a choir to help with his rehabilitation, as his court date is coming from the events of the last film. When he falls in love with Lee, he’s forced to look at his two sides, Arthur and Joker, in a battle for his soul in this sequel that both fails to deliver for fans of the original, but may go down as one of the worst comic book sequels in history.

When watching the story unfold, at about the halfway point I had to ask myself, “Does Todd Phillips hate his audience?” If anything, he did not know what to do with a sequel, and it shows. Maybe the lesson to take away from this film is for studios. If a film makes a billion dollars at the box office, studios should consider whether the story was made to be one film as opposed to forcing a sequel. That’s what this film feels like.

It’s not that the actors aren’t giving good performances, they are. The problems have nothing to do with acting or chemistry because it has that — the problem is it has no story. The end is what really divides audiences and for me, I felt offended on behalf of fans of Joker, for fans of Batman, and fans of Lady Gaga because sadly for all three this film does not hit the mark. It almost makes the entire film pointless, and retroactively kinda messes with the first Joker as well.

The technical aspects are beautiful. I loved the set design, costumes, and cinematography. This is a beautiful-looking film. The musical aspects take up a large part of the run-time. The problem is these songs don’t carry the story forward and they take the momentum out of every scene they’re in. Lady Gaga isn’t utilized enough for a musical — you need to use her much more than what was done.

Gaga’s character of Lee is fascinating with her obsession of Arthur and determination to show him that he’s the Joker by promising to “build a mountain” together. Arthur becomes infatuated with Lee, but their relationship dances between real and imaginary throughout the film, and doesn’t make it clear what version you are in. Lady Gaga just doesn’t have much more to do than be a megafan for Joker, and that’s a shame.

This story doesn’t feel fleshed out and streamlined, yet it wants to take big narrative swings and genre-bending choices without properly setting them up. I would commend the film and Todd Phillips for that, and the concepts seemed like such a home run until after you see what “Joker: Folie à Deux” has to offer.

Overall, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a mess. The story wasn’t written for a musical and it stalls every time the needle drops, Lady Gaga is wasted on this role, and the ending feels like it was written like it was a fan film. If you loved the first one, I would honestly avoid this. If you are curious wait for it to come out on streaming, otherwise this is a skip.

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