Joker 2 or Joker Folie A Deux was definitely one of 2024 biggest flop, I remember this was one of the most expected ones alone with Dune Part Two, although I was not expecting a masterpiece like but at least close to its predecessor, but instead we get a confusing mix of courtroom drama and musical numbers that is never quite able to find its rhythm, for me it was a similar experience to Oppenheimer but this time I'm on the same page with everyone else who has watch the movie. The movie goes for a big swing in turning the gritty world of Gotham into a stage for singing and dancing, something very unusual but we have seen Joker doing it although in a less repetitive matter, but it swings and misses. And in this $200 million sequel, Todd Phillips is back as director, taking Joaquin Phoenix with Lady Gaga, and while both actors give it their all, the movie is difficult to justify beyond being an expensive experiment, a failed experiment. Not only that before hand I knew the movie was a flop, I was holding on to it for a moment where I had some time to literally kill and it happen, today, at work.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11315808/
- Platform: Amazon Prime Video
The movie picks up from the Joker been at Arkham Hospital, where he is locked up after his murderous streak in the first movie, Arthur Fleck is kept to himself while he waits to stand trial. The movie begins with an animated sequence that offers a Looney Tunes short rather than the dark psychological thriller we got in 2019. Inside Arkham he spends his days trading cigarettes for laughs with the guards and attending music therapy sessions, where he meets Lee Quinzel played by Lady Gaga.
Arthur gets to trial for the murders he committed, the live TV killing of which is famous, is the main plot, his lawyer Maryanne Stewart attempts to convince the court Arthur wasn't responsible for the killings, basically saying Joker is a separate personality. In the meantime, Lee and Arthur begin their twisted romance during their staying at Arkham, with Lee encouraging Arthur to grow and embrace being the Joker and not attempting to hide it, the final push for the snow ball to start rolling down the hill. It’s all incredibly weird, a bit of a prison romance crossed with a courtroom TV show, with random musical numbers tossed in that are actually more distracting than meaningful.
I really can't say Joaquin Phoenix did bad as Arthur Fleck or nor better than on the first movie, but this time less so than in the first movie, his Arthur is even more skeletal than before almost like he is sick but I guess that would be all that time in Arkham, mostly miserable in prison corridors or singing off tune during the musical numbers. Lady Gaga does what she can with the role of Lee, but her character just doesn’t have enough punch or screen time to make a real impact within the movie so this means all focus is on Arthur and Lee is just for decoration, similar to what happens during the Venom: Let There Be Carnage movie. While there are some solid performances in the supporting cast from Brendan Gleeson as a guard named Jackie and Catherine Keener as Arthur's lawyer, sadly none of them have enough to do and make a real difference, now that it comes to mind it IS EXACTLY the same as on the Carnage movie where Venom was the attraction but Carnage and his girlfriend takes from him.
If you look at what went wrong here, the bad reviews make sense, because musically it's forced and feels out of place, with covers of old tunes that don't really help the story or make you say well at least that's an anthem. Songs include "I've Got the World on a String," "What the World Needs Now Is Love," a few that comes to mind, but Arthur is supposed to be a terrible musician, so they are performed badly intentionally, feels more like an artistic movie rather than a movie to entertain, I think most people were expecting full blown crime and murder like when he kills the guy during the TV show. This could make sense for the character as a dramatic aspect, but doesn’t get more pair of eyes interested to be entertain. The courtroom scenes lack real tension and the back and forth between prison life and trial gets very repetitive very quickly.
After both Napoleon and now this, Phoenix has had a rough year and he is struggling to find roles that live up to the hype of his original Joker performance, or may be its just that he is choosing movies with characters that suit him visually but the script doesn't. But the movie has something to say about toxic fan culture and the danger of putting villains on a pedestal, but it gets all buried under the messy execution. Making this a musical feels more like a hook than a necessary creativity choice, make up your mind because when people come for a musical that is not exactly what they find at the end.
Finally, after all the courtroom drama and musical numbers, Arthur's trial ends with him putting on a performance that's more like his talk show appearance in the first film, only this time without any real punch, any meaningful impact that gets you to the same WTF moment. The movie ending felt very flat, potentially with the door open for a trilogy but if the sequel didn't work as expected it would be another big swing to try to shift this boat, the ending is almost like a "I don't care just make it stop".
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