Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) Review
2/10
Number of watches at time of review: 1
synopsis
A year after going on a killing spree, finishing with a talkshow host on live television, Arthur Fleck awaits trial at Arkham where he meets a woman who will change the course of his life.
spoiler-free review
Though Todd Phillips has proven himself to be at least a decent director, his writing and ideas for Joker: Folie à Deux fall through as sub-par pieces of the blockbuster. To write beloved characters well, one must understand them, and it seems that Todd Phillips has only heard of Joker and Harley in passing and decided he has enough information to write an entire movie about them. The performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga as Joker and Harley, respectively, are good in terms of solid acting, but have the same issues as the writing wherein they don't seem to know the character they're playing. Of course, the thing that most people are intrigued to know about is the musical portion of the movie. A departure from the overly serious tone of the original, there's no way this could work as a musical, right? Sadly, that idea turned out to be correct: the musical numbers come in and out with no rhyme or reason, and are somehow weak vocally despite having Lady Gaga as a performer. All in all, this second part of Arthur Fleck's story was a disappointing piece of nothingness.
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
directed by Todd Phillips
written by Scott Silver and Todd Phillips
characters created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson
Harley Quinn created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
cinematography by Lawrence Sher
music by Hildur Guðnadóttir
spoiler review
In his second installment in the DC universe, Todd Phillips dares to ask "What if the Joker didn't like being the Joker?" The dour tone that Joker: Folie à Deux carries throughout doesn't at all match the hysterical insanity of the character audiences have seen for decades. The only pieces that feel at all in character for the madman are during the animated Looney Tunes-esque sequence in the beginning and the dream-like musical numbers, which have plenty of problems in their own right.
The film begins with the aforementioned animated sequence that shows an alternate version of the first movie, in which Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is tormented and toyed with by his very own shadow. It posits that Arthur was not fully in control of himself during his appearance on the Murray Franklin show, a running theme throughout the movie. And though the scene is unexpected, it feels fitting for a character as cartoonish as the Joker. That mood is instantly shot down, however, when the film cuts to live-action Arthur awaiting his trial in Arkham (which is never actually named an asylum in this movie, it is simply referred to as Arkham).
The audience is shown that in the time since he was arrested, Arthur has become a solemn and miserable man. He barely speaks, and is pushed around by the guards. However one guard, Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), seems to be a bit fond of Arthur. When he sees Arthur form a connection with B-ward inmate Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), he takes initiative to sign Arthur up for the singing class he'd seen Lee in.
Sullivan's attempt at letting Arthur make a friend proves to be a horrible idea when later, Lee decides to set fire to a piano in order to cause enough chaos for her and Arthur to escape. Lee's obsession with Arthur is later revealed to have started when she first heard of his murders, and she even went as far as checking herself into Arkham in order to meet him - though, specifically his Joker persona. Due to this, she is able to check herself back out again, and leaves Arkham in order to set things up for her and Arthur on the assumption that he'll be released after his trial.
This obsession with the Joker is in character for Harley, but the way that she goes about it and their meeting is very much a departure from the preestablished lore of Harley Quinn. It is revealed later in the movie that Lee is a psychiatrist, much like Harleen Quinzel, but that aspect of her character is never used. It could be argued that her knowledge of psychiatrics is how she's able to manipulate Arthur into doing what she wants, but it seems more like the writers wanted to characterize her as a pathological liar rather than a manipulative genius.
The writing in general is just bad, with most of the scenes meaningless strings of dialogue that go nowhere and mean nothing. Every scene could have been cut down half the time and nothing would have been lost, they just go on forever and ever and ever, especially the musical sequences.
For a movie that totes itself as a musical, it doesn't do a very good job at being one. The musical genre as a whole has been criticized since its inception for having songs just come out of nowhere with no real meaning to the plot, and though most musicals have at least some reasoning to why the characters are singing (it's at a moment where emotions are heightened; the characters are actually singing in-universe; the whole story is told through song; etc.), Joker: Folie à Deux seems to have thrown any reasoning out the window entirely. Songs start and end with no reason as to why, and stretch on for ages. The only possible saving grace for the movie would be if each musical sequence was explained away as one of Arthur's fantasies, but no, a couple of the songs are explicitly stated to have happened diagetically within the universe of the film, therefore making it difficult to tell which numbers are non-diagetic.
Another major problem with the songs in the film is the vocal talent. Joaquin Phoenix doesn't seem to be trained in the style at all, and honestly, neither does Lady Gaga. Not to say that she can't sing, she obviously can, her talents are well known. But the vocal style the filmmakers chose for the songs in Folie à Deux doesn't fit her voice at all. She's barely allowed to belt and use her full voice, which is what she's known and loved for. It seems a drastic oversight on the producers' part to dilute her talent in this way.
personal connection
Full transparency here, I wasn't a fan of the original Joker film and found it honestly quite boring. That had already set my expectations low, but this movie was somehow even worse than I had expected.
As someone who adores Harley Quinn as a character (my main knowledge of her is from the 2019 show, the DCEU, and the comics) I was excited when I heard that Lady Gaga would be portraying her. I thought she could bring some fun flair to the character and try a new take, and though she succeeded in the second part, it was in a way that was deeply disappointing. It felt as though no one making the movie actually likes Harley as a character and they just wanted to use her name for publicity while scrapping all parts of the character that make her Harley.
If you're a huge fan of Harley or the Joker, I would not recommend seeing this film. It's a letdown all around, and the only joy I got from it was being able to laugh disbelievingly at its nonsensical pacing with friends.
final thoughts
Overall, the film is a waste of talents across the board, and really has nothing to say. There's no message, no strong overarching themes apart from character-based ones, and the movie really feels like a smack in the face to anyone excited to see another version of Harley Quinn on the big screen.