Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Joker 2: Folie a Deux’ on VOD, a Maudlin Sequel That Doesn’t Let Lady Gaga Save It

By John Serba

One of 2024’s biggest movie-biz headlines is nan monolithic nonaccomplishment of Joker: Folie a Deux (now streaming connected VOD services for illustration Amazon Prime Video). The facts: It’s a movie pinch a $200 cardinal accumulation fund and an estimated break-even constituent of betwixt $375 and $450 million, and it hardly whimpered to $200 cardinal successful summons income worldwide. Critics and fans agreed successful their uncertain respect for it – some groups posted dismal 32% support ratings connected Rotten Tomatoes. And it truthful failed, mightily, to meet nan basest of expectations group by its 2019 predecessor Joker, which grossed $1 cardinal and scored 11 Oscar noms, including a Best Actor triumph for lead Joaquin Phoenix. The sequel brings backmost Phoenix and head Todd Phillips, adding successful Lady Gaga for immoderate megawatt prima powerfulness – but it’s a jukebox philharmonic afloat of aged show tunes, which seems to beryllium a large fat no-no successful comic-book-movie realms. For my nickel, Joker landed successful nan damn-Joaquin’s-really-going-for-it and it-was-good-but-pretty-disturbing-and-I-therefore-never-want-to-see-it-again zones of tempered admiration. But nan sequel? Well, it’s – if you’ll pardon nan look – a joke.

JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The opening spot is nan champion portion of nan movie: An animated faux-Looney Tunes recap of Joker, but it depicts Joker’s protector arsenic nan existent evildoer. This won’t beryllium nan past Looney Tunes reference; Joker-slash-Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) resides successful Arkham Asylum, a situation for nan criminally insane, wherever TV clip much than erstwhile consists of Pepe Le Pew cartoons. That’s what you telephone thematic layering, since we’ll yet get to nan constituent wherever Arthur, for illustration nan (kinda rapey) animation skunk, is obsessively lovesick. But earlier we get to nan mwah-mwah-mwah-madame stuff, we person to get into really Arthur is astir to guidelines proceedings for murdering 5 group arsenic we saw successful Joker, including nan shooting of a talk-show big connected unrecorded nationalist TV. He’s been successful Arkham for a mates years, wherever he’s bullied by situation guards (led by Brendan Gleeson) who unsmooth him up and make him show jokes successful speech for cigarettes. And for illustration successful nan first movie, he conscionable laughs and takes it, isolated from now, he has to return pills each time to support him chill.

One day, he’s being marched past a euphony people erstwhile he catches nan oculus of don’t-call-her-Harley-Quinn, er, I mean, Lee Quinzel (Gaga). She’s a Joker superfan, typical of nan reprobate group of Gotham City civilians who see Arthur’s alter-ego an antiestablishment hero. She connects pinch him via their hatred of their parents; she impresses him erstwhile she says she burned down her parents’ flat building; she really impresses him erstwhile she says she’s seen nan TV movie astir Joker’s sidesplitting spree 20 times. And then, she really really impresses him erstwhile she sets a occurrence to shape their flight – during movie night, and large surprise, it’s a Gene Kelly philharmonic – a doomed enterprise, but hey, astatine slightest they sewage to tally astir nan situation grounds together. Arthur subsequently gets tossed successful solitary confinement, where, for reasons that elude me, Lee is granted a conjugal visit, wherever nan movie blows a large opportunity to person Joaquin Phoenix singing Foreigner’s ‘Feels Like nan First Time.’ 

Speaking of Joaquin Phoenix singing, immoderate of nan songs present are diegetic, and others play retired successful Arthur’s fantasies, truthful allowing nan filmmakers to shape elaborate philharmonic sequences pinch fancy costumes and lighting without really springing nan feline from nan clink. I, for one, deliberation nan movie could’ve utilized much scenes outside of nan clink, which is simply a drab-ass mounting that makes post-apocalyptic films look for illustration propaganda for nan section recreation council. But he has to enactment location since Arthur’s proceedings is nan main plot. His lawyer (Catherine Keener) puts together an insanity defense claiming nan feline has a divided personality, though cipher is buying it (and she astir apt doesn’t either). The proceedings is televised, which not only makes nan ordeal a Media Circus, but it besides allows Arthur, who you’ll surely retrieve likes to dress up for illustration a clown, to Put On A Show. So Arthur-slash-Joker has nan emotion of a woman, and haters and admirers, which is everything an attraction hog needs. But is it what he really wants? 

Photo: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Joker: Folie a Deux is La La Land meets nan median value modular betwixt The Dark Knight and Catwoman, which is not a peculiarly successful formula.

Performance Worth Watching: Phoenix’s activity present is simply a ammunition of his upsetting and unforgettable Joker performance, and cipher gave Gaga – mind you, besides a deserving Oscar winner, for A Star is Born – thing memorable to do. So that leaves america with… frustration. It leaves america pinch frustration. 

Memorable Dialogue: A scientist master witnesser during nan proceedings pinpoints not only A) nan position of nan Joker wrong Arthur’s mind, but B) nan logic Folie a Deux is simply a musical: “In my view, it’s conscionable a performance.”

Sex and Skin: A no-nudity unsexy activity segment that doesn’t past very agelong because Arthur doesn’t past very long.

Photo: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Our Take: Congratulations to Todd Phillips for making a movie that gives america perfectly thing that we want. On 1 hand, eff you correct back, dude, because you didn’t let Lady Gaga to fto rip arsenic nan Joker’s rocket queen, not moreover for a second. On nan other, his defiance of expectations is admirable – but only successful theory, because he needed a clear and defined creator imagination to propulsion it off. On nan surface, Folie a Deux is oddly lifeless, a philharmonic without joy, a courtroom play without overmuch drama, a emotion communicative inspiring shrugs. Beneath that, it’s a profoundly unusual movie that fails to build upon nan provocative affectional constituent of its predecessor (the empathy and sorrow we felt for Arthur arsenic a unfortunate of abuse, which mixed uncomfortably pinch loathing and repulsion erstwhile he committed grotesquely convulsive acts), alternatively diluting nan aforesaid thought until it’s a muddy mess, and an absolute slog. 

The halfway taxable present seems to beryllium love’s capacity to beryllium some medicine and poison: Arthur ne'er knowledgeable it passim his life, which made him a monster, nan Joker, and now that Lee gives him some, it only empowers nan monster. At slightest that’s what you’ll find if you clear nan slop disconnected nan lens, truthful to speak – a slop consisting of go-nowhere psychological situation drama, boilerplate OBJECTION/SUSTAINED courtroom scenes and on-the-nose philharmonic numbers (“If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “‘”(They Long to Be) Close to You”). Speaking of nan latter, Gaga ne'er gets an opportunity to loop 1 retired – not moreover half of one, moreover – which is nan movie-musical balanced of a slugger being sent successful to pinch deed while down a tally successful nan bottommost of nan ninth, and choosing not to time off nan dugout.

I heard an question and reply pinch Phillips successful which he explained that having Gaga singing to her afloat capacity would’ve been “out of character,” truthful he kept her reined in. That’s decidedly a choice, 1 among galore successful nan writing, which is nan biggest rumor here. Phillips and co-scripter Scott Silver’s screenplay dictates nan tempered performances and samey locations via a crippled that offers small opportunities for its stars to cultivate chemistry, and plays retired chiefly successful a grimy situation and a drab courtroom. The all-in-his-head imagination sequences look for illustration nan film’s chance to trim loose, but alternatively they’re forgettable facsimiles of aged TV assortment and talk shows. And nan dream that Gaga and Phoenix would devour nan world pinch immoderate signature Harley-and-Joker mayhem? That’s our fantasy, and it goes unfounded. Folie a Deux is simply a 138-minute travel pinch a miserably quiet payoff. To singing its praises would beryllium a delusion.

Our Call: With apologies: Joker: Folie a Peux. SKIP IT.

John Serba is simply a freelance writer and movie professional based successful Grand Rapids, Michigan.