The original 2019 Joker film was a cultural zeitgeist, a dark and gritty attempt at showing the origins of DC Comics’ most iconic villain and possibly one of the biggest villains in comic books. The film was made on a small budget and got so popular it raked in over a billion dollars at the box office.
A sequel to Todd Phillips’ original Joker film was confirmed 3 years later and saw endless speculation with how Joaquin Phoenix as the titular villain could continue his story. Red flags arose when it was learned the sequel was a musical of sorts and might not be what fans wanted nor expected.
How can you continue one of the most successful comic book films of all time? Is it even possible to produce a direct sequel that fans of the original film and/or the comics would enjoy? Strap yourselves in because we have a lot to unpack here – find out in our Joker: Folie à Deux review!
Joker: Folie à Deux
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Domain Entertainment, Joint Effort
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Todd Phillips
Release Date: October 4th, 2024
Since this is a very spoiler-heavy discussion, I will discuss the film without spoilers for the majority of this review and will put the direct spoiler discussions at the end with a clear [SPOILER WARNING] tag.
Right from the beginning Joker: Folie à Deux jolts the audience with a classic Warner Bros., Looney Tunes-styled animated intro with the Joker titled “Me and My Shadow.” This is important because it foreshadows the entire rest of the film and its key plot points, something eagle-eyed viewers will notice.
The animated intro literally has the real Joker fighting with the shadow of the Joker, the larger-than-life persona that created a cultural phenomenon both in the film and in real life. Both the Joker and his shadow sing a cover to “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and eventually reunite.
From then on we’re treated to the direct follow-up to the events of the original film, where Arthur Fleck, the Joker, has been incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. It’s quickly revealed that Fleck is awaiting a psychiatric eval, after which he will likely be put on trial for the murders he committed.
As mentioned Joker: Folie à Deux is a musical in the oddest sense – sprinkled throughout the film are musical bits that range from Phoenix singing on-set to full blown fantasy-like musical sets. Phoenix and Lady Gaga sing well but what’s more confusing is that all the songs are covers of popular songs.
The entire film is set in and around Arkham Asylum or for a short time later, the courthouse in downtown Gotham City. This is not a big blockbuster supervillain film to match its much bigger budget – it’s another introspective look at the psychosis that would produce someone like the Joker.
Fans expecting to see the Joker: Folie à Deux open up to introduce heroes that challenge the titular villain will be disappointed. Lady Gaga is introduced as “Lee”, a new take on classic villain Harley Quinn, who also serves as Joker’s love interest. The cast play their parts well but this is a film still stuck in a small scope.
So how do the musical bits even make sense in a comic book film, let alone one focused on a supervillain? They don’t, to be honest, as they mostly happen in Arthur’s head and are a reflection of his descent into madness. As the film progresses Arthur stops taking his meds and slowly goes crazy again.
Once the psychiatric eval is done and Arthur is cleared to go to trial, things pick up and the film shifts to focus on the zeitgeist created by his persona as the Joker. Nihilists surround the courthouse, reporters demand interviews, and most importantly – Lee is down bad for the Joker.
Both Phoenix as Fleck and Gaga as Lee are great and have chemistry on screen but outside the sporadic musical bits, they are separated for large portions of the film. The iconic Joker laugh is also notably absent for most of the film, more odd choices that ultimately drag the experience down.
It’s worth talking about Gaga as Harley Quinn, or in this instance “Harleen Quinzel”, because the entire film revolves around her romance with Fleck. Since we’re dealing with an unreliable narrator with Fleck, scenes with Lee likely happened all in his head. Not much actually happens in the plot and overall pacing feels boring.
Things happen throughout the film that are done in a way to humiliate Fleck as Joker, so much so that I believe director Todd Phillips revealed his hatred for fans of the original. This film is a giant middle finger to fans that enjoyed the first Joker film “in the wrong way.”
Looking back at the original 2019 film, it came out during the last parts of Donald Trump’s presidency. Regardless of your politics, a large part of Americans currently feel disenfranchised and the original film spoke to them. It showed an “undesirable” man abandoned by society that tried lashing out, albeit in a violent way.
Instead of resonating with the accurate portrayal of big government failing the most vulnerable, most fans relished Arthur Fleck’s descent into madness. They wanted more of it and possibly, maybe, even seeing him get revenge on the society that abandoned him. This sequel film is a retaliation to all of that.
[SPOILER WARNING] So let’s talk about the things making the rounds about Joker: Folie à Deux and if they are true or accurate. Yes, at one point Phoenix does kiss another man though it’s done briefly in a joking manner.
This joke seems to be done at the expense of fans, the fans Todd seemingly hates for enjoying the first film in the wrong way. It’s this approach to the sequel that permeates throughout the film and explains why Joker 2 such a jarring, disjointed approach to a follow-up.
All of what Lee tells the Joker is revealed at one point to be all lies, everything about her is a lie so that she can get close to him. Lee is infatuated with the persona of Joker, not Arthur Fleck as a person, and this is revealed later in the film as another way to humiliate Fleck.
Lee abandons Fleck but not until he himself abandons his persona as Joker, a staggering admission that only comes after Fleck is gang raped in Arkham Asylum by the prison guards. Fleck’s slow descent back into madness is nearly complete but he suddenly abandons everything after that scene.
The film toys with fans wanting more of the Joker’s chaos with scenes of Fleck fully embracing Joker, causing madness and chaos, only to reveal it’s all in his head. This is compounded by the narrative pivots that all culminate in Fleck escaping, Lee abandoning him for good, and Fleck getting re-arrested by police.
Fleck is back in Arkham Asylum at the end, waiting to be put on death row, when he is confronted by a nameless inmate who tells him a joke and then proceeds to stab Fleck to death. The nameless inmate then carves a Glasgow Smile into his own mouth while Fleck slowly dies.
It’s this final scene with Fleck singing out yet another imaginary musical piece with Lee that is the aggregated hatred for fans of the original, in full force. It’s bizarre and conclusively ends his story as it wouldn’t make sense to pursue new spinoffs with a “New Joker”, or some kind of Dark Knight connection. [END SPOILERS]
Overall, Joker: Folie à Deux is the product of a director who not only wants to make whatever they want but doesn’t listen to fans of their work. I think Todd got lucky with the original Joker as a runaway success and Warner Bros. said he could do whatever he wanted for its sequel, and it shows.
Reports that Phillips and Warner Bros. declined to hold any test screenings for Joker: Folie à Deux are evident in how completely removed the sequel is from the first film. Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t what fans of Joker wanted, it goes a step further by running its course in a gut-wrenching rebuke.
Joker: Folie à Deux was reviewed in theaters by Niche Gamer. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here.
