Joker: Folie à Deux
scroll down to watch movie
Joker: Folie à Deux movie review
In my original review of "Joker" five years ago, I voiced strong objections to its climax, in which Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, after fully becoming the Joker, shoots late-night talk show host Murray Franklin (played by Robert De Niro) on live television. At the time, I was hesitant to mention what triggered my outrage—the scene’s stark resemblance to the real-life 1987 televised suicide of Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer. The image of such a disturbing act felt too eerily mirrored in the film, turning what should have been a chilling work of fiction into something that bordered on exploitative nihilism. Even as time has passed, I still view this moment as a major misstep, reducing profound human trauma to a twisted form of entertainment.
Now, having seen "Joker: Folie à Deux," the sequel to that polarizing film, I can at least say this much: it’s different. Phillips and his team have opted for a musical format this time, and while the premise might sound absurd on paper, there is an internal logic to the choice. Arthur Fleck is an unhinged character who could very well perceive his life as one big performance, so presenting the film as a musical allows for some level of psychological and narrative incoherence to be forgiven. The film is filled with numbers from The Great American Songbook and classic pop, including “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” and “To Love Somebody,” giving it the feel of a jukebox musical with a deeply twisted core.
While the musical format could be justified given Arthur’s delusions, it also acts as a convenient escape for the filmmakers. It sidesteps the problems of an otherwise incoherent plot. After the murder that ended "Joker," Arthur is now imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, where his path crosses with Lady Gaga’s Lee Quinzel (a character clearly based on Harley Quinn, though she never fully transforms). The romance between the two, alongside Arthur’s upcoming trial, forms the central narrative, but much of it feels tedious and overlong. The movie drags, padded with repetitive scenes and needless musical flourishes that do little to elevate the wafer-thin story. One sequence involving Arthur impersonating a Southern lawyer has potential, but it arrives so late in the film that it’s drained of any entertainment value by that point.
The romance between Arthur and Lee is, unsurprisingly, twisted. Lady Gaga delivers a solid performance, capturing the vulnerability and manic obsession that characterize the Joker-Harley dynamic. Phoenix, on the other hand, starts strong but eventually descends into the kind of overindulgence that mars his previous work as the Joker. His performance grows tiresome, with his much-discussed Joker “dance” reduced to little more than awkward stretching routines. Gaga’s commitment is impressive, but even her work can’t save a film that is weighed down by its own pretensions.
As with its predecessor, "Joker: Folie à Deux" ultimately serves up the same nihilism under a new genre guise. Its thin plot, overly long runtime, and indulgent performances contribute to a sense that the film is less interested in deepening the Joker mythology and more concerned with staging spectacle for its own sake. The Joker's character has always been a reflection of society’s darkest impulses, but when "fan service" is mentioned in reviews, it strikes me as absurd to consider what that could possibly mean. Catering to fans of such a villain feels almost as twisted as glorifying him, bringing to mind the sick irony of the world we inhabit.
In sum, "Joker: Folie à Deux" is more of the same, repackaged as a musical. Its redeeming qualities lie in its performances, with both Gaga and Phoenix demonstrating their immense talent, but even their efforts can’t lift this sequel out of the pit of cynical storytelling. The filmmakers' attempt at creativity doesn’t quite work, leaving the film as an indulgent exercise in excess rather than a bold new chapter in the Joker's story.
_11zon.jpeg)
.webp)
Comments
Post a Comment