Joker: Folie à Deux can barely hold a tune

Despite its deficiency of a Batman, the public’s exhaustion with comic publication movies, and a communicative that often felt overly imitative of Martin Scorsese’s work, Todd Phillips’ 2019 Joker was a certified deed whose box bureau success (and two Oscar wins) each but ensured that determination would beryllium a sequel. Folie à Deux, Phillips’ caller philharmonic Joker follow-up, feels similar it knows precisely however acceptable radical were to bargain into the archetypal film’s acheronian powerfulness fantasy. Folie à Deux remembers the mode theatergoers could spot Joker’s Arthur Fleck arsenic a disaffected unfortunate of the strategy driven to execution by a profoundly breached society. 

But alternatively than trying to find much meaning successful the Joker’s madness, Folie à Deux brings the metaphorical location lights up to instrumentality a overmuch much negatively captious look astatine its cardinal anti-villain and the civilization of leader worship. It’s a coagulated capable transportation that could person made for an absorbing comic series. But arsenic a movie, Folie à Deux is an off-key messiness that hardly manages to explicit its fistful of bully ideas.

Joker: Folie à Deux continues the communicative of failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), the astir infamous inmate successful Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum. After 2 years of being locked up and systematically abused by Arkham’s squad of guards led by Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), Arthur has go an unsmiling, adjacent much gaunt ammunition of his erstwhile self. Though radical yet privation to perceive Arthur archer jokes, it’s hard for him to ace omniscient knowing that territory lawyer Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) volition beryllium pushing for the decease punishment astatine his upcoming trial. But arsenic overmuch arsenic Arthur mightiness privation to dwell connected his destiny successful quiescent solitude, the Joker’s personage makes it intolerable for him to ever person a infinitesimal of peace.

After Joker and its framing of Arthur arsenic a murderous people hero, Folie à Deux feels similar Phillips stepping backmost to contiguous him arsenic a antheral grappling with what it truly means to person fixed commencement to a burgeoning question built connected ideas helium doesn’t needfully embody. Everyone saw Arthur, successful clown makeup, sprout a precocious nighttime speech amusement big connected nationalist tv — a cardinal infinitesimal from Joker cleverly recounted successful Folie à Deux’s opening animated abbreviated acceptable to “Me and My Shadow.” 

For galore people, that changeable solidified the Joker arsenic a conception who spoke to their ain frustrations with the precise aforesaid benignant of systems that failed Arthur. To Arthur’s lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), playing up the Joker arsenic a abstracted identity feels similar 1 of the fewer ways they mightiness beryllium capable to triumph their case. But Folie à Deux uses Arthur’s catatonic slump to stress what his way to stardom truly was: a sidesplitting spree that landed him successful jailhouse and good connected his mode to being executed by the state.

Though Gotham stories are ever primed for whimsical crippled twists, there’s a matter-of-fact prime to Folie à Deux that is apt going to travel arsenic a disappointment to fans expecting theatrical bombast. The movie precise overmuch is simply a courtroom play astir a suspect who seems poised to suffer a proceedings that seems stacked against him. But you tin consciousness Phillips trying to jazz things up and necktie unneurotic Folie à Deux’s escaped threads astir fame being a monstrous improvement arsenic it introduces its mentation of Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga).

After years of DC trying to germinate the Harley Quinn marque beyond her roots arsenic the Joker’s girlfriend, Folie à Deux takes her backmost to astir of the basics. Here, she’s conscionable different inmate astatine Arkham alternatively than a psychiatrist moving for the city, but she inactive brings colour and — much importantly — euphony into Arthur’s life. On its face, casting Lady Gaga to sing Hollywood standards arsenic 1 of the astir iconic and subversive characters DC has ever churched retired was a superb decision. But Gaga’s Lee is mostly relegated to the periphery of Folie à Deux’s communicative successful a mode that makes it consciousness similar Phillips doesn’t truly cognize what to bash with her extracurricular of letting her upstage Phoenix’s Joker successful a fig of philharmonic phantasy sequences.

There are immoderate things that enactment wonderfully astir Folie à Deux’s instrumentality connected Harley and Joker arsenic a couple, similar its galore allusions to the mode that her prima has often eclipsed his successful the expansive strategy of DC Comics IP. During their escapes from world — 1 of which is styled similar a benignant of assortment hr — Arthur’s fearfulness that Lee mightiness beryllium much successful emotion with the thought of the Joker than him manifests arsenic stealing the amusement arsenic fans applaud. The clowns’ fantasies assistance Folie à Deux amended exemplify Arthur’s insecurity but besides his anticipation that Lee mightiness beryllium the archetypal idiosyncratic to truly recognize him. But the movie spends truthful small clip truly gathering Lee into a factual beingness that you ne'er get a coagulated consciousness of what she’s getting retired of their relationship.

If Folie à Deux’s philharmonic numbers were truly enjoyable, that mightiness not beryllium truthful overmuch of an issue, but for the astir part, they’re truthful lacking successful whimsy oregon immoderate consciousness of amusive that it’s hard to ever get swept up successful them. They’re besides implicit astir arsenic soon arsenic they’ve begun. Then, the movie drops you close backmost into Arthur’s bleak world from which determination ne'er look to beryllium immoderate viable routes of escape. 

If Joker was a acheronian comedy, past Folie à Deux is its dreary, tragic duplicate with a frown stuck connected its face. It’s a sour enactment for this franchise to extremity on but a large reminder that, eventually, each comedians bomb.