“Joker: Folie à Deux,” despite its $200 million budget, turned out to be the worst possible fate for its already tortured characters. Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures | Used with permission

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ is a double dose of pure delusion

The ‘Joker’ sequel is a pathetic shadow of its former self

Jillian Ju and Benjamin Zhang • October 8, 2024

The chaotic sequel and musical “Joker: Folie à Deux” was unveiled by Warner Brothers in theaters on Friday, Oct. 4. Its 2019 predecessor, “Joker,” established itself as one of the greatest supervillain movies of all time after an extraordinary performance from star actor Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker. The pressure of reaching perfection again is no joke, reflected by how the team behind the film “met often in Phoenix’s trailer” to “tear the script up and start all over again.” However, director Todd Phillips and Phoenix should’ve just torn up the whole idea altogether — while the original “Joker” swept away 11 Oscar nominations in 2020, “Joker: Folie à Deux” would be lucky to sweep together 11 positive reviews when the end credits roll.

The film continues the story of Arthur Fleck, now known to Gotham City as the Joker, as he faces imprisonment for the murders he committed in the last film. The Joker is back on the big screen, this time to show audiences that madness comes better in pairs. As Fleck navigates his prison life, court appearances and media presence, this film’s interpretation of Harley Quinn, played by celebrity musician Lady Gaga as Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, enables him from the sidelines. This dynamic reflects the French phrase in the title card: “folie à deux,” or “madness of two” in English, an idea of delusion building on itself when two people associate closely — much akin to how Phillips and Phoenix fed into each other’s delusions about their 2019 masterpiece needing a sequel.

Superstar artist Lady Gaga brings a new version of Harley Quinn, an iconic character immortalized by previous portrayals. Unlike other interpretations of the character, this Harley is less giggly, more calculating and more likely to randomly break into song. Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures | Used with permission

Fleck first meets her at a music therapy session, and from there, the two spiral into a destructive but ultimately bland romance. It may be the most mind-numbing portrayal of the villainous couple yet — while the Joker and Harley Quinn have always had a toxic relationship, watching Phoenix and Gaga stare at each other absently for two hours traps audiences in a tragic will-they-won’t-they with the screen.

And they won’t — if the audience is looking for anything that resembles the original, they’re sure to be sorely disappointed. “Joker: Folie à Deux” has stolen and worn its predecessor’s skin, and it’s an ugly scene to behold. Characters from the first movie are paraded in front of the screen in multiple drawn-out court sequences, as if the movie is desperately attempting to make a case for its existence.

The plot of “Joker: Folie à Deux” centers around the “Arthur Fleck Trial,” where Fleck is being convicted for the murder of five people. Lady Gaga’s character, Lee, shows up to the trial every day to make stale eye contact with Fleck. Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures | Used with permission

“Joker: Folie à Deux” represents a character assassination in more ways than one, which is disappointing considering the elegant writing of the original film. Where the 2019 Joker was a violent, victimized but ambiguous antihero, this Joker is more clearly split down the middle than Harvey Dent. The only theme the movie ever commits to is the idea that Fleck and the Joker might be distinct and warring personalities — Fleck is the troubled product of his mother’s abuse, while the Joker is a chaotic coping mechanism. Lee wants Fleck to embrace his Joker side, his lawyer wants him to play up his victim side and the audience wants the movie to be over.

While the majority of the film takes place in a prison, the lethargic pace makes the audience feel like the true prison is the theater itself. Every grungy shot feels oppressive, which speaks to cinematographer Lawrence Sher’s talent, but also makes it increasingly clear that the movie has nothing original left to say. It’s scene after scene of half-hearted references and no-stakes brutality, and not even Lady Gaga can keep up with acting invested.

Music and singing are introduced as new motifs in the series — Fleck apparently expresses his feelings best through song, and it would be a shame not to have a chance for Lady Gaga to show off her vocals. But the music is also where the atmosphere becomes the most clownish, not in the sense that it’s authentic to Fleck’s character, but in that the tone is absurd and the tension is nonexistent.

Song might as well be a foreign language for both of these characters, who, despite their actors’ natural vocal talent, can’t seem to use it to express themselves at all. The creators acknowledged the difficulty of integrating musical numbers into serious conversation, but it doesn’t appear that knowing about the issue helped them address it, as they continue using music to kill off bloated scenes. No one is impressed when Fleck or Lee starts singing during pivotal moments — rather, the more appropriate audience reaction is to wonder why this movie was a musical in the first place.

The movie is filled with strange “style over substance” choices like this, neglecting to consider that a flashy Joker suit will not distract audiences from the fact that the movie is an unplanned and uninspired sequel. While Phillips wanted the film to speak to the way society turns violence and scandal into entertainment, he seems to have forgotten the part of the message where he needed to make the movie entertaining. Like the prison guards in the movie who keep asking Fleck for a joke, the audience begs for a punchline — only to find, as the screen fades to black, that the real joke is the two hours and 18 minutes they just wasted.

RATING: 1/5