The clown prince of crime is back to the stage for an unexpected encore performance. Joker: Folie a Deux, the sequel to 2019’s Joker, is directed once again by Todd Phillips and stars Joaquin Phoenix returning as Arthur Fleck/Joker and introduces Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. When the film was initially announced as being a musical, many wondered how exactly that would work as such a departure in genre from the original film. Now after all this time, audiences can determine for themselves whether it lives up to Joker’s hype or ends Arthur’s story on a sour note.
It goes without saying that the cinematography is outstanding and may actually outdo its predecessor in that regard. The dark, unsettling shots used for the dramatic segments of the story contrast excellently with the brighter and more upbeat shots that are used for the musical numbers included. While the musical numbers themselves were nothing special musically and amounted to little more than a pointless distraction from the main plot, they still looked stunning on a visual level. These intense and detailed shots do a great job at further elevating the impressive performances given by the two leads. Joaquin Phoenix delivers just as good a performance in this film as he did in the last one, maintaining a perfect balance of being empathetic while being a character who you love to hate. Lady Gaga shines as perhaps the most compelling performance in the film, depicting a unique spin on an iconic character with incredible range and depth, which is only brought down by a lack of character development given to her by the script.
While the film opens with a fairly engaging first act, the story stops to a grinding halt in the second act and turns into a slow, meandering mess of a courtroom drama. This part of the story does nothing for Arthur’s character, re-litigating plot points from the first film, minus the focus on class-conscious social commentary that made the original so compelling. The message of this film seems more fixated on shaming fans of the original for empathizing with Arthur’s struggle, painting them all as the caricature of Joker’s most extremist followers. This all culminates in the film’s ending, which feels like an intentional move to upset the fanbase because of how abrupt and unsatisfying it is.
These themes and story beats ultimately do not work in the film’s favor, but they are a bold direction to take the story, and actually could have worked quite well if executed better. Unfortunately, the film is too distracted by interrupting the plot with random musical numbers every five minutes, that it never allows its story and characters to breathe like the first film did. Ultimately, the film’s greatest flaw was that it was more dedicated to trying to justify its gimmick of being a musical, than it was to telling a satisfying narrative. And based on the current critical and audience reception, this encore performance will not be getting a standing ovation.
