Sequels to well-received critically and financially successful films are usually hit or miss. The latest in this category of films, Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” (2024), does not fare well with its previously acclaimed prequel, “Joker” (2019).
“Joker: Folie à Deux” picks up two years after 2019’s “Joker,” where viewers see Arthur Fleck, a.k.a. Joker (Joaquin Phoenix), in custody at Arkham State Hospital awaiting his trial for the six murders he committed.
The main defense of his attorney, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), is that Arthur has dissociative identity disorder and his “Joker” personality is responsible for the crimes. Arthur soon meets with a patient named Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga) during a music therapy session, and they form a bond.
Throughout the film, Arthur and Lee grow closer together and mirror the Joker and Harley dynamic DC Comics fans know and love. However, it is not a fairy tale story for the duo as Arthur anticipates the final verdict of the trial, determining if his true identity is more aligned with being the iconic Joker or the boring Arthur Fleck.
With all of its negative feedback from critics and fans, the main issue with “Joker: Folie à Deux,” like Arthur’s character arc in the film, is a lack of identity. The film tries to be too many things, resulting in a muddled message.
For one, the film is a musical, drastically different from the original. The music numbers incorporated into the film do not fit the scenes before or after them. The audience will be treated to a depressing, serious scene followed by Arthur, Lee or both singing. It just does not work in the context of the film.
The music being played is not entirely bad, but it would have been better utilized if Phillips and the rest of the production crew had gone all-in on the concept of making a musical. As it stands, it comes across as inappropriate and kills the story’s momentum.
The best part of the film is when it focuses on Arthur’s mental state when he has to relive his traumatic experiences as they are being discussed in court by people who know him and his upbringing. As he did in the first film, Phoenix does his best playing Arthur with the material he’s given – which isn’t much for this film.
The best thing the writers created for this character is seeing Arthur struggle with his identity. Otherwise, he is nothing more than an archetype of better-written characters in the vein of Travis Bickle from “Taxi Driver” (1976).
Gaga’s Lee could have been so much more than what the audience got. Like her co-star, Gaga does a tremendous job bringing Harley Quinn to life and doing her spin on the character to make it her own. The problem is her character also feels underdeveloped.
The audience learns who she is and why she is attracted to Joker, but there is nothing more. She has a motive, but the audience never learns why the Joker fulfills her deepest desires. A better avenue the film could have taken was to have the classic Joker and Harley storyline where Harley is a regular, sane person who falls in love with Joker.
The film does do something new; however, it is in a first draft phase and not a final script. There are many cons to the film, but there are still good qualities of filmmaking present.
The film’s supporting roles, like Keener’s Stewart and Brendan Gleeson as Jackie Sullivan, a guard at Arkham Arthur hates, are excellent. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher creates some truly stunning images and scenes that feel right out of the page of a comic book.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” is a sequel that tries to do too much in such little time. Fans of the first film will probably be disappointed watching this feature now playing in theaters.
Rating: 2/5
