The new release of Joker Folie a Deux used a new approach for the long-loved
DC comic character. Joaquin Phoenix and Stefani Germanotta, most popularly known as Lady Gaga, shared the main screen as the infamous pair Joker and Harley Quinn. Unlike the 2019 edition of Joker that was full of dark, thrilling, psychological twists, Folie a Deux is a musical. Warner Bros. Studios first screened this film exclusively at the Venice International Film Festival back in September, then later released in the U.S October 4th. .
Opening week wasn’t too hot. The movie racked in $40 million in first-week ticket sales, a huge disappointed compared to its prequel that brought in $97 million its first week.
With such huge success, it may be hard for some to fathom how they could flop so bad in a follow up movie. It’s common for a new addition in movie and television series to flop after new writers, or production changes fail to carry the plot, story line or character development audiences crave. However, the same writers from the first Joker film Todd Phillips, and Scott Silver also created Folie a Deux. So where’s the problem you may ask? Majority of fans have placed blame on Lady Gaga.
There was a unanimous groan of disappointment online when it was announced that Lady Gaga would hold a starring role in the new Joker movie. She’s respected as a songwriter and performer in the music industry, and many Joker fans have been very open with their opinion that she should’ve stayed in her lane. The “Poker Face” singer plays Harley Quinn, Joker’s long time sidekick and lover. In the traditional comic and early films, Harley has been portrayed as a woman who is obsessed with Joker, willing to do any and everything it takes to keep him happy. In Folie a Deux, Lady Gaga’s role as Harley was more of a respectful fan of Joker who put herself in the asylum to get close to him. Completely different energy. Joke is struggling to fight his own demons while using Quinn’s femininity and admiration as relief in times of despair. He’s in a constant battle of dealing with the guilt of past crimes, urges to commit violent acts, and figuring out if he is truly dealing with a split personality or is really just a terrible person at heart.
The movie started with a cartoon from when Joker was simply a Batman villain in the 60’s. Once the introduction is over, they did a great job of setting the initial tone with familiar color scheme and camera angles very similar to the classic visuals audiences fell in love with in the 2019 edition. The plot lost it’s touch fairly quickly after the start. This would be a good spot to give a spoiler alert but in all honestly, the movie was so bad that it can’t be ruined by spoilers. This review could actually be taken as a plea to not watch it at all. It’s funny how so many people, including myself, was surprised to see “musical” under the title before watching the movie. How did we miss that? Moving on, it didn’t take long to realize that having the “Paparazzi” singer as a star did not add value to the movie. Most of the songs were a cappella. It was easy to tell that they had artistic intention, it just didn’t play out well. For example, there’s a scene where Harley Quinn visits Joker in jail. In a stereotypical jail-visit movie scene, they’re sitting directly in front of one another with a clear wall between them as they speak through the telephone. Mid-conversation, Quinn burst out singing the slowest, saddest song you can imagine – with no music playing, making the 5 minute song feel like 10 minutes of suffering. On one hand, I can see how the raw vocals in this intimate scene should have created an emotional pull for the audience. There were just too many corny scenes that had already happened to take it serious.
Folie a Deux’s plot is heavily centered on the last story. Joker is on trial for the crimes we saw take place in the 2019 film. His lawyer, played by Catherine Keener, is working tirelessly to defend him in a the multi-murder trial. She hopes that by proving his possible schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, that he could get mercy in the eyes of the court. Joker ultimately fires her and represents himself. Even questions witnesses on the stand who are allies of his previous victims. Sounds like a great opportunity for writers to continue the psychological thrill of the first film right? Wrong. Instead of the plot thickening, it only went downhill. Some of the most unrealistic moments that made me look away into the distance include Joker wearing his suit and infamous face paint in prison. Harley Quinn walking into the prison to visit Joker. Adding frost to the lame cake, Joker asks her, “how’d you get in here?” in which she responds, “the guard let me in”. What? Spoiler alert. Things went even further into the world of never-would-of-happened is when Joker confesses in court to killing his own mother. Quinn is disappointed by this news and tells him she’s pregnant and plans to leave him. Even the end of the movie was a highly unlikely scenario of the court house being blown up and Joker just walks out into a chaotic crowd full of random people who also have their faces painted like him. The famous stairwell that Joker danced on in the prequel were seen multiple times, but felt tainted by both Quinn’s character, and the bizarre sequence of unlikely events.
As a huge fan of the last Joker movie, Folie a Deux was extremely disappointing. There were plenty of opportunities for the script to take big jumps into the type of excitement and depth Joker fans expect but the film was completely anti-climactic. The camerawork was amazing, I give the directors their flowers for their beautiful cinematic work. The main actor, Joaquin Phoenix did an amazing job. He played his role exceptionally well, always bringing intensity and seemingly genuine emotions to the screen. It definitely helps to have seen the first Joker before watching this one since some of the court scenes heavily piggyback off the last movie. The songs are mid, the vocals are mid, the plot was scattered. I’d give the movie a 2 out of 10.
