On paper, Joker: Folie à Deux promised to be a memorable expertise, even for many who weren’t essentially a giant fan of Todd Phillips’ 2019 Joker. The primary film discovered a fervent fanbase for its nihilist tackle the Clown Prince of Crime, and received Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for taking part in the depressing Arthur Fleck. And the sequel boasted musical numbers and Girl Gaga as Harley Quinn — demented decisions for a film of this sort, and thus all too apt.
Sadly, whereas this follow-up does ship on the musical numbers, most of which characteristic Girl Gaga giving it her all, Phillips’s sequel proves to be a muddled love story that falls aside because of its incapacity to specific something thematically substantial or unique. There are items of this film which do show to be genuinely participating, however they’re largely pushed by the passionate dedication of the core forged. Phoenix and his H.R. Giger-inspired shoulder blades are again, and this time… he faucet dances! Very like this film dances round its factors.
Folie à Deux opens with a Looney Tunes-style cartoon (full with the official Warner Bros emblem and traditional theme music) that at the beginning means that it’ll be a recap of the primary movie. However no, it’s truly organising the large query hovering over the sequel: Is Arthur affected by a type of dissociative id dysfunction, as manifested by his “Joker” persona? Or is he only a unhappy and abused man, lashing out on the world with violence? There’s lots of speaking round this query, however Folie à Deux by no means digs deep sufficient into the ethical questions offered by that to provide you with something substantial to say.
Folie à Deux does characteristic a bit extra plot momentum than the primary movie, due to the ever-reliable construction of a courtroom drama: Set comparatively near the occasions of Joker, the backbone of the sequel is Arthur’s trial for all that murdering he occurred to do within the first film. Nevertheless, that solely helps the tempo somewhat bit, for the reason that film’s extra concerned with its musical numbers, most of which exist solely in Arthur’s thoughts as he processes his newfound love for that cute blonde psychological affected person in Arkham’s less-secure ward.
The issue finally ends up being that whereas billed as a two-hander, Folie à Deux’s energies are centered way more on Arthur than on “Lee Quinzel,” with a lot of the latter’s display time rooted in Arthur’s fantasies of them collectively. And the moments that allegedly characterize actuality don’t do a lot to assist flesh her out as a personality, even scenes wherein Lee sings about their love.
Whereas Joker was consumed by its grungy Scorsese-esque vibes, the musical nature of Folie à Deux borrows extra from Bob Fosse, albeit clumsily; the playlist leans closely on previous requirements and musicals from previous to 1981, together with songs like “That’s Leisure” from The Band Wagon and (naturally) “The Joker” from The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Odor of the Crowd.
Girl Gaga brings her personal voice and physicality to Lee, a efficiency with lots of recent nuances to it, however regardless of her finest efforts, sadly this tackle Harley Quinn largely falls into cipher territory. The modifications to the character’s backstory give her concurrently extra and fewer company, someway — she falls in love with Joker earlier than she even actually will get to know him, totally dedicating herself to his trigger. However after a sure level, nothing’s demanded of her, past her unfailing help for her man.
Joker: Folie a Deux (Warner Bros.)
The lyrics of Gaga’s two unique songs on the soundtrack, “Folie à Deux” and “Joyful Mistake,” show revealing in regards to the lack of improvement Lee will get: The primary is a track about how Lee is “insane in love” with Joker, and the second is a breakup track about how “I’m in a foul means/ If I might repair the damaged items/ Then I’d have a contented mistake.” The brand new companion album Harlequin does a strong job of representing the character’s full arc throughout the movie — it’s simply not that a lot of an arc, within the context of the movie, past somebody considering she’s in love, after which deciding she’s not.
Folie à Deux is definitely an odd viewing expertise for any longtime fan of Harley Quinn, as a result of each earlier incarnation, going again to Batman: The Animated Sequence, was extra profitable at bringing out Harley’s internal life. Like, right here’s her very first look on TAS, wherein the cartoon Harley shortly reveals herself to be greater than a random woman sidekick. She’s dedicated to Mr. J, positive, but in addition enjoys doing crime for the sheer giddy glee of it.
Sure, critical abuse is embedded in Harley’s traditional origin story, however that solely provides additional pathos to the character, on the events when she was in a position to confront that. Folie à Deux removes the abuse side, which is a putting selection that ought to arguably empower the character extra, however as a substitute Lee’s diminished to the position of shallow superfan, whose dedication to Joker feels extra like a whim than an actual substantial relationship.
Whereas it’s disappointing that Girl Gaga’s iteration can’t rise to the extent of Arleen Sorkin or Margot Robbie or Kaley Cuoco’s performances, not less than there’s consolation in understanding that extra compelling variations of the character nonetheless exist. And in equity to Folie à Deux, it does present some indicators of understanding a feminine point-of-view. Maybe the sharpest scene of the film is the return of Zazie Beetz as Sophie, Arthur’s earlier “dream lady,” who’s referred to as to testify in court docket about what her life has been like because of being publicly related to Joker.
The quick model: Sophie and her daughter have needed to depart town, after being harassed by Joker’s followers and blamed for his actions. She’s frightened for her security. If it was the 12 months 2024, she’d have deleted all her social media accounts ages in the past. The worry in her voice is the worry of each girl who’s been the topic of a violent offended mob over the previous few many years. It’s the closest the film involves speaking an actual level, and exhibiting some actual consciousness.
Ultimately, whereas Phoenix is locked in on the subject of enjoying Arthur, Folie à Deux suffers from the identical lack of depth as its predecessor; a mimicry of smarter and extra substantial movies that not less than contains some enjoyable pockets of favor, earlier than an unsatisfying conclusion. Its worst crime, although, is promising to be memorable — and finally failing.
Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in theaters on Friday, October 4th.
