Movie Review: Joker: Folie à Deux

One would have to think for a bit to come up with a sequel that is as big of a disappointment when compared to its predecessor as Joker: Folie à Deux proves to ultimately be.

In Joker: Folie à Deux, we find Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for crimes he committed as Joker in 2019’s Joker. Amidst the other inmates, who seem to worship him (to a certain degree at least), Arthur befriends a young woman named Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), and the two set about exploring their inner psychopaths together, their relationship deepens. Then, as Arthur’s trial begins, he finds himself struggling more frequently with the duality of his personality and whether or not Joker is the dominant of his two personas – something Harley is all too eager to validate for him.

Director Todd Phillips returns to helm this outing, as does his script-writing partner Scott Silver. The pair do recreate the world and mood of the first film, but the film is unfortunately rather hollow beyond that aspect. The heart of the first film however, is somehow absent and this installment feels overweighed by attempting to accomplish too much – a large portion of it acts as a musical – and that keeps it from following through on pretty much everything it attempts.

Apart from a sort of “gotcha” ending, the whole endeavor is a substantial letdown when compared to the first film that doesn’t explore anything new with regards to the character and in fact feels as though it was cobbled together by a team being forced to do so.

As Arthur Fleck, Phoenix does as expected. But, again, he is saddled with pushing a overwrought narrative through so many bends and twists that even he seems befuddled by the result. Lady Gag’s portrayal of Harley Quinn is equally as dynamic as the work done by Phoenix but it quickly becomes apparent that she was cast to add a musical aspect to the film that it perhaps didn’t need in the first place, or at least not in such an overwhelming manner as is ultimately utilized.

Supporting characters like Brendan Gleeson’s prison guard or Catherine Keener’s defense attorney, are treated better than the main characters in the respect that they’re allowed to be more interesting than both Joker and Harley – which is not something that proves beneficial to the overall film.

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

The film retains the look of the first installment, courtesy of Lawrence Sher’s cinematography as well as mark Friedberg’s production design. But, the disjointed approach to the narrative that bounces between jailhouse drama, a psycho-drama, a love story, and a crime film, never quite nails the landing and the whole film suffers for it as a result.

Although it showed promise and sports some decent performances from some talented actors, Joker: Folie à Deux is ultimately a folly unto itself, in the respect that it thought perhaps it could equal or surpass its predecessor and instead draws attention to how much better it was instead.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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