Following up the 2019 megahit was always going to be tough. When the sequel to the billion-grossing Joker was announced to have musical numbers, Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, and a budget three times that of the first film, people were skeptical. However, the different approach seemed like it could be a fresh, interesting sequel to a film that was accused of ripping off Martin Scorsese. Little did anyone know how poorly this film would turn out.
Folie à Deux follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) as he is placed on trial for the five murders he committed in the first film, while he falls in love with fellow Arkham patient Lee (Lady Gaga) and her grand plans for their future together. The film was officially announced in 2022, with production costs reportedly reaching $200 million compared to the modest $60 million of the original.
Like the first movie, this is character-driven, and it would not work at all without Phoenix’s immersion into the role. An early scene shows him shirtless and emaciated, emptying a bucket of waste from his cell into the sink. While his physical transformation is impressive, the acting challenge required to play two completely different personas in the same body, the downtrodden Fleck and the narcissistic, nihilistic Joker, is impressive. Similarly, Gaga’s obsessed and manipulative version of Harley Quinn is wonderful to watch, though painfully underused in the actual story. Take her out, and the film’s basic story of Arthur on trial stays the same.
There are laudable attempts at making this film different than the original. The musical elements work in scenes when it’s a shared delusion between Fleck and Quinn, but drag the story to a halt when they’re supposed to be singing in real life. The song numbers have interesting visual design, contrasting with the mundanity of Arkham State Hospital and the courthouse. There’s also some interesting camera angles and shots, but these are few and far between and can’t save the dragging boredom of this film.
The main courtroom drama of this movie simply isn’t interesting, utterly sidelining the much more interesting story of Quinn’s obsession with the Joker. Where that side of the story had an interesting parallel with the fans of the first movie misinterpreting him as a hero, many scenes from the trailers were clearly left on the cutting room floor to trim this already overlong movie. Another disappointment was the character of Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey). In the comics, the character is a “white knight” fighting for justice in the Gotham courts before becoming the villain Two-Face. Here, however, he is bland and uncharacterized. Replacing him with any other character would have no impact on the story.
While the film had potential to be an interesting sequel, it falls flat in nearly every aspect outside of the performances of the two leads. The end of the film leaves very little hope for a sequel, and the massive underperformance at the box office put any remaining hope out of its misery.
Joker: Folie à Deux is in theaters now. It will be released to rent at home on October 29.
