“Joker: Folie à Deux,” more commonly called Joker 2, hit theaters on Oct. 4, to widespread disappointment and annoyance. Directed by Todd Philips, “Joker: Folie à Deux,” is a direct sequel to the 2019 film “Joker.” The original movie “Joker” startled audiences with its fascinating and disturbing look at a universe that takes a bleak realistic look at what DC’s “Joker” would look like in the real world. Meanwhile “Joker: Folie à Deux,” disrespects all art and social commentary of the first film by giving us the most uninspired judicial thriller ever made.
After the events of the original film, we watch as Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Pheonix, lives his depressing life in Arkham Asylum. He seems noticeably less excited or inspired since the last film, and he seems to have lost the joker persona. Joker 2 poses a potentially interesting question as it asks whether Arthur and the Joker are the same or whether he could be suffering from a form of split personality disorder. This question has pretty high stakes as Arthur’s trial is soon to begin and the insanity plea is his only hope of avoiding execution.
While meeting with his Lawyer Arthur runs across a signing class held for many of the more stable inmates at Arkham. And through the generosity of one of the guards he can join the class. While attending one of the group choir sessions Arthur meets a woman named Harley, played by Lady Gaga, who claims to be inspired by his work as the joker. This pushes the rest of the events of the film forward as Arthur now being inspired by love for Harley and music can become more like his old self again. This is where the movie got very hard for me to sit through, as up until this point the movie seemed slow but still felt like it was going somewhere.
However, the rest of the film proves that it has no interest in being special and continues the same couple of boring plot lines with little to no progression or regression. I will not get into spoiler territory even though I do not recommend anyone watches this, but I would also like to say that the final act of the film is some of the worst conclusions to any plot line I have ever seen. I’d like to also briefly address the numerous musical numbers scattered through the film as they are one of the main issues I have with Joker 2. In a good musical, the songs are used to show turning points, changes in characters, motives revealed, and so on, but in Joker 2 they are used exclusively to give us information we already know. Every single song in this movie is about how Joker and Harley are in love and almost none of the songs are original. So, while well sung they still leave me bored out of my mind as they have no greater meaning.
There are also some baffling stories about the conception of the film in general. According to Todd Philips, the inspiration for the making of the film came to Joaquin in a dream, and from there he contacted Warner Bros to make it happen. There were also no test screenings for the movie, and there was no interference or advice given from the many well-experienced DC writing staff. The result is a film so mediocre and boring that it can’t even be watched for fun.
There is no fun to be had here. One of the best reviews I read stated that the genius of Joker 2 is that it makes the viewer feel like the clown for having wasted their time. I give “Joker: Folie à Deux” a solid 4/10 and I pray you all stay clear.
