Joker: Folie à Deux Review

In 2019 Joker blasted onto screens, being the first R-rated film to cross the billion-dollar barrier, earning 11 Oscar nominations and winning two of them. The sequel has now been released and has a lot of expectation placed upon it.

It has been two years since Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) took on his Joker persona and killed five people, including the TV personality Murray Franklin. With his trial imminent the district attorney, Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) seeks to sentence Arthur to the death penalty, whilst Arthur’s lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) plans to convince the jury the disturbed man suffers from a split personality. Whilst in Arkham State Hospital Arthur gets close to Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a patient who’s infatuated with The Joker.

The original film was divisive, having a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a high 8.4 on IMDB. Many people loved it, others hated it. I was in the Love It camp. It is also a film that sparked a moral panic because some media commenters feared another cinema shooting. However, Joker’s biggest cultural impact was turning the West 167^th Street Step Stairs in New York into a tourist attraction.

The reaction to Joker: Folie à Deux has been much more negative. Fans of the first film have called the Joker character in the film an insult. Rolling Stone’s review for Joker:  Folie à Deux was given the provocative title ‘Joker: Folie à Deux Has a Message for Fans: Go F-ck Yourselves.’ I wasn’t that angry like some of these fans since I saw Joker more as a Martin Scorsese-style film that happened to have some comic book dressing. As a character, The Joker has no set origins story and he has been interpreted in many ways. He gives creatives a lot of freedom. Joker: Folie à Deux didn’t feel it was made with reluctance and contempt like The Matrix: Resurrections.

The issue with Joker: Folie à Deux was the reason why it was made: the first film made a lot of money so a sequel needed to be made. Joaquin Phoenix was enticed back with a $20 million pay offer, Lady Gaga was paid $12 million and the director, Todd Phillips probably had a healthy payday and a lot of creative freedom. Joker: Folie à Deux has been reported to have a budget of up to $200 million, although Phillips has disputed this. Yet, Joker: Folie à Deux was a film where the filmmakers didn’t know what to do so threw every idea they had into the production.

Joker: Folie à Deux was a multitude of films. It was a psychological drama and thriller, a courtroom drama, an unusual romance, and a musical. Joker: Folie à Deux did follow up on the events in Joker and the character had to face the consequences, but in Arkham, the Joker has regressed to his Arthur persona. Throughout the film, Arthur was trying to reawaken the Joker so his alter ego could save their lives, yet this does undermine the original since that film showed how a man snapped after years of abuse by society and neglected by the state. The animated opener undercut Joker since it showed Arthur getting taken over by his shadow in a way to absolve Arthur from responsibility.

Joker: Folie à Deux had less bite than its predecessor. The original film tackled issues like the wealth divide and poor access to low-quality mental health services. The sequel broadly follows the similar plot points of the original film, where the Joker persona slowly emerges, leading to the character making a public display whilst Gotham descends into anarchy. The issues about the wealth divide were toned down and the exploration of Arthur’s mental health was done through courtroom testimony. The most interesting idea in the film was about The Joker becoming a folk hero, and Lee suffering from hybristophilia, a sexual attraction to crime. She was like those women who became infatuated with serial killers like Ted Bundy and Jeremy Dehmer.

Harleen “Lee” Quinzel was the prominent new addition to the cast. She was essentially Harley Quinn, The Joker’s sidekick and girlfriend. In other appearances, Harley gets used and abused by The Joker and later interpretations have shown her breaking away from the supervillain. Lady Gaga’s version was portrayed as an obsessive fangirl who did everything she could to get close to The Joker. This version of the character was the person in control, she was able to manipulate Arthur since she gave the sad sack a glimmer of happiness. Lady Gaga did provide a strong performance as this new take on Harley Quinn.

The relationship with Lee allowed Arthur to escape into a world of fantasy, which led to him living his life as a musical. The courtroom scene was terrific as The Joker was allowed to run rampant for a few minutes but other sequences were disappointing. Many took place in a dark void that turned into a grand Broadway set. As a musical Joker: Folie à Deux was a surprisingly low-energy affair, especially due to Phoenix’s rough, melancholic singing voice.

Joker: Folie à Deux was a sequel that was made simply because the first one made a lot of money, and ended up repeating material and ideas that were explored in the first film. Joker should have been left as a one-and-done story.