DC Films’ Joker: Folie à Deux Review

It’s been literally 5 years since we got a grounded take on an iconic villain, Joker with The Hangover & Old School director Todd Phillips directing and writing with his partner Scott Sliver and when it came out, it was hyped up and ultimately looked upon favorably among many people with only a minor size of detractors. It also was a money success too, being the first R rated film in a long time to make a billion in sales, with plenty to share among not just Warner Brothers and their inhouse production houses, Brons Creatives and Joint Effort too.  So, the idea for a sequel was put on the table with dollar signs as the main catalyst, despite being viewed among the filmmakers and audiences as a one-off film. Thus, the creative shift to a musical drama, signing on Lady Gaga as an iconic character as well, and a major budget increase has spawned a follow-up/conclusion to the first film with DC Films’ Joker: Folie à Deux, with the same creative team behind the camera and in front. Does the film match the same compelling heights of its predecessor, or does it somehow fumble the execution and crafts a confusing mess that is not only weird, but boring? Let’s get right into it and catch up with Arthur after a long time away.

The story picks up about 2 years after Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) became The Joker and killed a talk show host by the name of Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro), as well as instigated violent riots, murdered 3 Wall Street kids, killed his mother, and brutally murdered an associate that gave him the gun, Randall (Glenn Fleshler).  He has finally suppressed that persona and is working hard to keep it that way, despite an impending trial and the illegal treatment of prisoners housed at Arkham Hospital lead by a guard Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson). However, during one of his transfers, he comes across a mysterious female patient known as Lee (Lady Gaga) whose curiosity for him grows into an obsession to know more about Joker in a therapy singing session.  As the trial of the century comes closer to happening, Arthur’s life becomes more revealed, his persona explored, and he fully becomes comfortable in the character as his love grows for his Harley Quinn through song and dance.  However, it all comes to a boiling point, as he is confronted with the consequences of his actions and eventually must come to terms with his dual identity.

To give some context before going into my thoughts on the narrative, it was confirmed via interviews with Phoenix and Phillips that this was originally going to be a Broadway Musical as an idea to recreate the first film in that medium. Knowing this detail, provides some understanding as to the limited locations and the self-contained character study drama we got for this one. Alright, first off, it is supposedly a musical with interludes set between two types of story scenarios, a prison drama and courtroom drama as well as the basis for the style of a musical film being inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s One From The Heart. While it does go further into Arthur’s motivations from the climax of the first film, it also ends up being oddly repetitive and at times a clip show of the first film, with previous characters coming back during the trial. It all builds up to a subversive spin on the idea of the character that ends up being the most divisive element that renders the entire narrative drive moot by that point.

So, it was a big swing from Phillips and Sliver (Phoenix was an uncredited Co-Writer), and the verdict, is a big old miss that leaves audiences confused with the overall point of this follow-up. The film fails to commit to being a proper musical with the choreography and design of the interludes, feeling like the setups are there but frustratingly never going further with them. The closet we get to a proper number is “There’s Always A Joker In The Pack” where it comes close to being an actual set piece that is vibrant, violent, and fits with the Joker character. The times where Lady Gaga can sing properly like “We’ll Build A Mountain”, she is able to showcase her reliability to be both a strong singer and convey her emotions solidly in her performance.  However, there is a major reason it fails as a musical proper and it has to do with the ways in which the music was incorporated to transition each scene.

It's not enough that it’s non-committal to its narrative music style, but it places them in odd ways that actively pauses the story in its place and weirdly repeats itself.  The songs are mainly used to convey the emotional states of Arthur Fleck and Lee, with most of them going to Arthur where he mostly sings his emotional state to the audience, only for that to be a moment contained in his mind.  This leads to a frustrating feeling of inconsistence as to what the film is trying to be throughout, as this intercuts the other problematic narrative element in the film, and they fail to go grander with the musical interludes.  The songs themselves are also a collection of songs from the early times of the 1940’s to literally 1980’s songs that no doubt contributed to the massive budget to the film undoubtedly.  As a musical, it fails to entertain and even keep audiences engaged with the film, literally unable to say anything new about this character and fails to advance the main components of the film by stalling it to convey what the characters are feeling in that moment with little substance gained.

Which leads us to the second half of this film, the courtroom trial that serves to recap and ultimately explore the consequences of Arthur’s actions on that fateful night when the Joker sent Gotham City into utter chaos.  This leads to a superfluous reference in the character of Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) being the prosecuting District Attorney in the case seeking the death penalty, with Arthur represented by a public servant lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) trying to separate the crime to his split personality. This is where the story kind of moves forward but comes to a halt as it happens to repeat the same thematic conflict and beats as the first film, with certain moments becoming clip show moments flashing back to the first film and featuring at least 2 characters previously with the climatic confrontation with Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill) being the only scene that feels like it moves the story forward as well as exceptionally performed to take Arthur to task about his use of  “Joker” to kill and destroy everything in his path.  It does end with an obvious bang, but it happens so suddenly, that we learn through an obvious exposition line about it being a car bomb and done by people (who become a meta commentary on fans of the first film) that are willing to adopt the Joker as their excuse to burn the city down.  As a courtroom drama, it runs in circles over stuff we already knew and ends ups retreading familiar ground, leading to where the film becomes contentious and problematic in general.

During the prison setting, we see Arthur going about his business and opening himself up as the Joker, to the point where a lockdown happens, and he insults the guards on national television. This leads to a moment that will live in infamy, Arthur not only gets beaten by the guards but implied to be sexually assaulted as well. It feels like an obligation to mention this as for many years, we had normalized that story device towards female characters in media that it’s very hypocritical and moronic to make that the motivation for his change back into Arthur permanently. Despite the underlying issue with that creative choice, it just gets worser with how the film wraps it up with Arthur going to Harley Quinn to be with her, only to reject him as she sees him as the loser nobody he is, no longer her “Joker” and walks out on him as he is sent back to Arkham. This leads to the most controversial ending that instills the notion that Joker is an idea or mantle, not a fully bodied character by making two ham-fisted references (monologue from Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke and the infamous Glaslow Smile scars) and Arthur’s demise by a random inmate that makes the entire film feel pointless. So yeah, narratively, it’s a broken mess that oddly feels like it was reworked from a Broadway play and into a film that feels at odds with what it wants to be and repeats itself to a fault, going in circles as a prison/courtroom drama and fantasy musical that really says nothing meaningful regarding Arthur Fleck and his influence on the Joker Persona.

Now that we’ve ripped the band-aid off the major failings of the film, we can finally get to the elements that are solid throughout the film by covering the cast for the film. Starting with the man himself, Joaquin Phoenix once again as Arthur Fleck as well as “Joker”.  Once again, he provides a sterling performance that truly feels compelling and riveting to watch unfold.  While he is at the mercy of the script this time around, he still puts in the same committed effort as he did before, even during the moments of singing. With his formal training from his time as Johnny Cash in the bio pic Walk The Line, he applies that to his moments of singing and it is okay to hear for the most part.  Despite the shortcomings with the script/direction, he continues to provide a truly realized performance within this character and dealing with the duality conflict that makes it a memorable one for him.

The newest addition is of course, Lee Quinzel played by none other than Lady Gaga. She does retain most of the fangirl energy of the character, while instilling the manipulative elements that have become more synonymous with her modern interpretations. When she can perform and act with her co-star with the time allotted, she is very solid especially when the film allows her to sing the songs in this film instead of minimizing it for the musical interludes that happen often.  This is no fault of her that the story direction disappointingly underutilizes her immensely and only brought her in for well, her singing abilities when she has proven to be able to balance that out in previous films like the romance music drama remake A Star Is Born. Despite that narrative problem with her character, she does enough with her time to make her take on the iconic character work within this world.

The rest of the cast is a mix of bit players from notable actors to ones that kind of standout starting with the institutional characters. First off, the Arkham guard Jackie Sullivan played by Brendan Gleeson is surprisingly great being the unpredictably charming yet dangerous caretaker for Arthur.  You also have this notable fanboy inmate for Arthur Ricky Meline (Jacob Lofland) that shares a few solid moments of humanity but otherwise, one that’s memorable in the few scenes he had. While the other actors like Catherine Keener and Harry Lawtey are suitable fine in their respective roles, it seems most of the attention regarding the cast is squarely once again on Phoenix and this time around, it feels too much of a retread of the issues that were prevalent in the first film.  Overall, the entire cast is solid in general but lead by a reliably great lead performance and a secondary one from Gaga that makes the most of her time but feels shortchanged by the direction and choices made within the script.

We’ve finally got to the last sections of the review, being the technical elements where we will feel the most contention as for the most part it is on point and questionably handled this time around.  We’ll start with the cinematography and art direction first, with the same DP Lawrence Sher and the design team lead by Jared Patrick Gerbig.  The screening seen in this review was the IMAX 70MM film print and it is hard to deny that it looks gorgeous as well as natural in its earthy tones with the use of the Arriflex IMAX approved cameras that brings out the vibrancy in the dark, gritty atmosphere of this world.  This also houses a ton of impressive shots that even go on for a single take that is worth mentioning. The sets designs regarding the Courthouse and Arkham State Hospital all look fantastic too as it has this unique combination of grounded reality with a stylized decadent design befitting the dilapidated setting of Gotham (being a combination of both New York/Jersey and Los Angeles).  A major gripe this time is that the film is so focused on its narrative, it kind of loses the character of Gotham that was ever so present in the original film, meaning it feels too much like any other metropolis as well as being set in only 2 major locations, with 2 more for specific scenes. From an art direction and shot composition, it is a magnificent film to watch as well as see unfold with the decadent settings and the dreamlike scenarios (despite those looking like a Broadway stage for those set pieces).

In this section, we look at the editing of the film regarding pacing and structure where the film’s issues from the screenplay are very much present here. There is a lot of down time between each transition scene to the conversations between characters that either feel like they drag the film or just spell out what the characters are going through.  The inclusion of the musical moments feels like they come out of nowhere and go into a sort of song speak that just exposits what the character is feeling but influences little in advancing the story further. This is exacerbated by the larger music numbers mentioned in the courthouse and before the verdict that feel like they are closer to what Phillips wanted the musical elements to be but ultimately end before they get enjoyable. For a two hour and 18-minute film, the film feels strangely longer from the padding buffer of the musical elements and repetitive nature of the narrative exploring the fallout from the first film’s chaos.

Lastly, it’s time to look at the sound design and score/soundtrack for the film, as that should be the bread and butter for a film that relies on singing as well as the soundtrack to drive it forward. Starting with how the music comes across, which is a bit raspy and at times off key intentionally as the characters are technically not meant to sound like professional singers.  It works within the context of the film and it sounds good and evenly steady in the soundscape with each of the elements working in tandem with each other.  The score is once again helmed by composer Hildur Guðnadóttir and she maintains the musical motifs from the first film, that unfortunately is a footnote due in part to how much of it gets pushed aside for the jukebox soundtrack that drives the music within the film.  Most of the soundtrack are a good chunk of familiar songs from the 1960’s like "Get Happy", "For Once in My Life", and "What the World Needs Now Is Love" that are either in the moment or part of a larger number performed on camera by Phoenix and Gaga.  There are a couple of 1970’s songs that play at different points in the film that represent the time period where the film takes place around the 1980’s.  Simply put, it does sound balanced, intriguingly crafted in how they reinterpret familiar songs, and while great to hear Hildur Guðnadóttir score again, doesn’t feel as prevalent or memorable as it did in the original film.

Taking the noise out of the equation with the final thoughts, DC Films’ Joker: Folie à Deux takes a different direction to set itself apart from the original film’s conventional narrative and goes further into answering the questions that were left ambiguously unanswered.  After seeing the film, it was probably better if those questions remained unanswered as the film spends a ton of needless time rehashing the first story’s thematic conflict and focuses in on the consequences of Arthur’s violent actions that only had one notable payoff but otherwise felt like treading over familiar ground with no payoff to it.  As a courtroom drama, it’s very pedantic and dull while the musical elements are not even fully realized by only half-heartedly committing to them in the setup and somehow ending them just as they begin, killing the momentum of the story as a result. Despite the incredible performances and exceptional camera work, it is all for naught with the mean spirited, spiteful story at play here and a shocking contempt for what came before.  Literally, looking backwards and telling the viewers how they viewed the first film incorrectly and subversively must see it in a different light even if it alienates everyone in the process.

Score: ⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

DC Films’ Joker: Folie à Deux is a bafflingly ambitious sequel that seems to go out of its way to recontextualize the first film and subversively deconstruct the idea of “Joker” as a character and persona that will rub comic book fans the wrong way and somehow, fails to be engaging as a courtroom drama or Musical film.  The incredible performances are still there, and the film is a gorgeously crafted film on a technical level in camera and art direction. However, it is all for naught with a story that is stunningly spiteful and retreads too many familiar thematic/character beats that end up feeling superfluous as a continuation to the first film. With the kicker being how deflating and unsatisfying the end point of this story is, completely collapsing from within.  What makes it frustrating narratively, is how much it ends up going in circles covering the same beats regarding Arthur by resetting him back to his meek persona and having the characters literally look at the first film again but in a different lens.  This is a film that seems clearly to be ashamed of itself and decided to make sure no one cares by the end of this one, and well, mission accomplished in rendering both films' narratives pointless.