Joker: Folie à Deux
Joker 2 was one of my most anticipated movies of 2024. If you told me a year ago it was going to be a better musical than a movie. I would not have believed you. I had super high hopes that this sequel would not skip a beat. And not just cause it's a musical. But because of the way the first one left me in shock. Plus with Joker’s or should I say Authur Fleck’s newfound fame I had high expectations. I wanted to see the impact of what one really bad day could do to Gotham, a city full of corruption and chaos. But unfortunately, that’s not what we got.
Before we get too deep into this review, I did enjoy watching this movie from an artistic standpoint. But the analytical side of my brain has a different story. I think they did a good job of creating an atmosphere of psychosis throughout the film. The sights and sounds of this movie were on point from start to finish. My main issue is with the story and approach to the main characters.
Going into Joker: Folie à Deux I can’t lie. I was expecting to witness the performance of a lifetime. Something of legend almost a kin to the likes of a Heath Ledger. I know that is a lot to ask for. But after watching Joker in 2019 I saw the potential for them to take it there. I thought their initial approach to the character left a lot of room for creativity. To create a deeper/darker version of the character. Giving us more insight into the psyche of The Joker. Rather than focusing more on the theatrics of the persona. But if you ask me the story/writers failed to live up to the hype in this one.
They did an excellent job establishing a baseline at the beginning of the movie. To somewhat set the stage for where this movie was going to take us. To put it bluntly, Arthur Fleck aka Joker is finally going to have his day in court. They spent a lot of time trying to distinguish if Joker was the real Arthur Fleck or a separate personality. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that approach to storytelling one bit. My problem lies within the response. A watered-down Joker.
The Joker that went crazy on the Murray show was nowhere to be found. At least in the real world. I thought that the whole point of the first movie was to showcase the snap. The flip that turned Arthur Fleck into someone else into something else. The Joker. Sure most of that movie we spent time watching Arthur get bullied and pushed around. But when the Joker showed up it was short, it was violent, it was impactful, and it created a moment. This movie was missing that punch that oomph that the first movie had. Sure it was great to look at and listen to but it feels like they betrayed the characters’ identities.
That goes for Harley Quinn too or in this case Lee Quinzel. The change to her backstory was unnecessary and didn’t lend to the story at all. It only caused more confusion in distinguishing her motivations. Lady Gaga’s performance was great. I just think being able to see her descend into madness versus already being crazy is a way more interesting storyline. Instead, they just use her to jumpstart a broken-down Joker. Some might even say that they matched each other’s freak.
But let’s get back to some positives I found in the movie. I love the way they used power dynamics throughout the film. It created tonal shifts and established different hierarchies depending on the situation. Seeing Arthur navigate those different situations and even flipping them in some cases was fire. Even though it didn’t always feel very Joker-like to me it still was dope to see. It establishes the fluidity of the different “Folie à Deux” moments between Arthur & Lee.
For a small moment in the film, it really did feel like it was their world and we were just living in it. Which speaks to the title of the movie. I just wish they leaned all the way into it. Unfortunately, they seemed to consistently trample over plot points time and time again. Just when you think we are making some progress they find a way to send us back to start. I found myself constantly waiting for Joker to get his act together. And that content loop is why this movie has gotten so much negative feedback and even walkouts.
It’s almost like everybody else understood what it meant to be Joker except Arthur. The reason why I say that is because, at the end of the day, Joker needs a Batman. He needs motivation he needs a North Star. In this movie they tried to make the “system” or Gotham City that North Star but it just wasn’t enough. Sure crazy stuff was still happening in his mind but nothing major in reality. Don’t get me wrong they had a couple of moments that went crazy but by that time the damage was already done.
So let’s cut to the chase. Was Joker: Folie à Deux a good movie. I’m going to have to go with no. I think it was a good musical and could possibly win some awards for the music but that’s about it. Joker really went from being a comedian to doing his best Frank Sinatra impression. Plus Lady Gaga is always going to Lady Gaga when it comes to singing. One thing I really appreciated was how they made the music matter. In my opinion, it's something they can hang their hat on for sure. Other than that this movie leaves much to be desired which is why I’m giving it a 6/10 G-Files Score. This movie might go down as one of the most tragic sequels in history. They just missed the mark on this one.
