Joker: Folie à Deux 2024 Movie Review
Todd Phillips is a masterclass director, directing some of the highest grossing films of all times like The Hangover. Joker (2019) was no exception to this, being the highest grossing restricted movie of all time at time of release. I was lucky enough to snag two tickets to a premiere in my area for Joker: Folie a Deux, and I left the theatre more disappointed than I anticipated. All of the ingredients were there to make a good recipe, and somehow, this movie came out of the oven tasteful but insanely dry.
The film follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) after the events of Joker (2019). He now has a devoted fanbase outside of his imprisonment at Arkham Asylum, and has even made friends with fellow guards and prisoners. Upon being upgraded to a minimum watch zone within the penitentiary, he meets Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a superfan who has devoted her life to following Arthur’s mentality. Together, they devise a plan to get them both out of jail where they can eventually live a happy life together, but at the cost of putting the Gotham in danger.
Heres what the movie does right: the direction and cinematography. Being a direction nerd, I was so taken aback by the beauty of some of the shots in this film. Please see this on the biggest screen you can. I saw it in an IMAX theatre and it was so beautiful to behold. Phillips knows exactly what he’s doing with these shots and what they are adding to the story. Also, the performances. Gaga, as always, never fails to surprise me with her acting abilities. Phoenix, reprising his oscar-winning role, hasn’t lost sight of the character at all, and once again wowed me, a similar, slightly less scared, feeling as when i left the theatre to Joker (2019). The production and scenic design were also great as always, but we knew that going in. Especially knowing that this is indeed a musical, they really went for it.
Heres what I perhaps didn’t like as much: 2 main factors. The musicality, and the script. I love a good musical; some of my favourite movies are musicals. In this movie, the music felt so forced and not needed. I got exactly what they were trying to do with the numbers, and some worked (If my friends could see me now, Oh when the saints). But a lot of them just felt like filler in a rather empty movie. Which brings it into the next major point, the script. This movie has no clue what it wants to be. Its mostly a courtroom drama that has an outcome anyone could see coming, and also jumps the shark with less than 10 minutes left in the runtime. Phillips doesn’t trust the audience to have either seen the first one, nor follow any DC lore. Lee Quinzel, obviously an anagram for another very famous DC villain, feels completely underwritten in this movie. We have zero clue who she is and when we see her character for the final time, you still don’t really have a clue who she is. Harvey Kent plays a pretty main role in this film, and anyone knowing batman knows exactly who Harvey Kent is, who he becomes, and what his intentions are. It wasn’t shocking. Nothing surprised me with this movie, which is so sad because the first one left my spine tingling. That was the most unfortunate part once the credits started to roll.
Overall, this movie is indeed watchable, but after coming off of such a high from the first movie, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It’s not bad by any means, in fact, I enjoyed it more than I didn’t. But I really dont think this movie got to the apex it needed to, but it got 70% there. I predict it will get big but not the levels of Joker (2019)
