Joker: Folie à Deux Was Undoubtedly A Disaster, But One Thing Everyone Is Hating I Actually Loved
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Alright… where do I even start this?
Joker: Folie à Deux was one of those films I was really looking forward to on the 2024 movie schedule. While I didn't know if having a sequel to a movie like Joker would work after watching it back in 2019 (jeez, was it really five years ago?), I always like to give things at least a shot. When I found out that Lady Gaga had signed on for the film to play Harley Quinn (or rather Harleen Quinzel), I was definitely on board.
And then, after years of hype, Joker: Folie à Deux arrived and underperformed... badly. It didn't hit the box office predictions that were slated earlier on, and the more people saw the film, the more they began to rip on it. And yeah, I wasn't a massive fan of it either, and I wasn't even the target audience. I can only imagine what people who were huge fans of the first movie thought of this film.
However, there is one aspect of this movie that everyone hates, and I actually really enjoy it. I'm here to stand by it no matter what, so let's get into it. There will be SPOILERS for Joker: Folie à Deux from this point forward.
As A Fan Of The Original Film, The Second Joker Was A Disaster
So let's deal with the wrong first, because yes, Joker: Folie à Deux was, for lack of a better word, a disaster. The film doesn't deserve the low Rotten Tomatoes score that it has right now, with just as low an Audience score. There have been far worse films out there that are far more deserving of a lower score.
But yeah, Joker: Folie à Deux was better suited to have, like, a 45% or something like that because it really wasn't much better than what the critics gave it. This film had a lot going for it at first, and it just slowly started to tank, scene by scene. It was a decline that was almost like a car crash – it's terrible, but you can't look away, thinking of all the reasons as to how we got here.
The inclusion of Arkham Asylum as a main plot point is great. There are so many characters you could talk about. Bringing back some interesting story decisions from the first film to further expand on them is cool, but I'm always down for that. Adding in a well-known character like Harley Quinn and getting Lady Gaga to play her – fantastic.
But every time we were given something that had potential, it just… fell into nothing. Arkham felt almost like a background set rather than anything else, with nothing expanded on those guards, the prisoners or anything else. Sophie, Puddles and so many more were in the movie for all of five minutes, and then we never saw them again, even though they were big parts of the first film. Harley was underused, and Gaga felt almost like an afterthought.
There were so many instances that made me overall disappointed. The longer the court case went on, the more I was depressed. This film could have expanded on the ideas of the first, and it just left them behind.
Even If It Was A Mess, Joaquin Phoenix And Lady Gaga Still Gave Great Performances
Even if the movie itself was just… something else, I'll still give my flowers to Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. The rent was due, and they delivered.
Do I think Phoenix was as good as his Academy Award-winning performance in the first film? No, and we won't reach that kind of Joker portrayal again for a long time. But he did give an outstanding performance that indeed sat with me. Joaquin Phoenix's best films have grown and evolved, but the first Joker will remain on that list. As for this one? The story is just not there, but the acting was still great. He never phones it in.
It's the same deal with Lady Gaga. We all know that she can act, as we've seen in several major movies and TV shows now. There's so much out there to watch if you like Lady Gaga, and this movie is undoubtedly a decent addition that shows off her acting capability. And while her character was grossly underused in this, it's going to be good for her career to show her range.
And I Actually Enjoyed The Musical Aspect
I don't care what any of you say, I liked the musical aspect.
And no, I don't just like it because I enjoy musicals. Sure, I'll openly say I love to see the best modern musicals out there, or I can quote the entire script from the 2021 West Side Story cast. I am that person. But I was like you – when I first heard this would be a musical, I was a little less than enthused and didn't know if it would work well with the subject matter.
But honestly, it did. You can say what you want about the musical choices, but it fits with the narrative of the story as much as we harp on it. Arthur isn't singing at first, but the moment he meets Lee, the moment he begins to feed into this delusion of The Joker again, that's when the music starts.
It's really all in his head. Every song he sings is dedicated to their relationship, and it's the same with her. The longer their relationship goes on, and the more they feed into this Joker persona, the bigger the musical numbers get, some simply singing to each other to full-scale Broadway-style hallucinations in their mind.
The Inclusion Of Him Stopping His Music Towards The End Was A Great Decision Too
There's also been plenty of talk about the Joker 2 ending, and I'm not the biggest fan of it either. But the one thing I agree with is the way they stop the musical aspect.
The moment that Arthur decides to take responsibility for the people he killed, it wasn't Joker who did that; the music in his brain stops. There are no more happy moments, nothing that fits in with this crazy man called The Joker. Then that's carried over at the bombing and then when he sees Lee again.
Lee only wanted him for the Joker fantasy, for the delusion of the man who killed bullies and stood up for the mentally incapable of society. She didn't want Arthur. She never wanted Arthur. And while she continues to sing, he pleads with her to stop, saying he doesn't want to sing anymore, but she keeps going.
It's the perfect way to signal that she never truly wanted to be with him – she just wanted the symbol he could be, and he never was that. Not really.
That Being Said, I'm Glad There Probably Won't Be Anymore Joker Movies After This
Now, knowing what I do, if I had the chance to go back in time and stop Todd Philips from making this a musical, would I?
Eh, I really don't know.
Look, as I said before, I was a big fan of the original film, but I am, yet again, not the target audience (which has pretty much rejected the film), and I have never been. I'm the type of person who likes all movies and will give most a shot, and while I liked the musical aspect, there were many other things in this film I did not enjoy.
Now think of the actual target audience, who predominantly do not like musicals and were waiting for a strong continuation of the story that we all know and love. Yeah, I'd be pretty annoyed, too, and this is an excellent way to leave the Joker; or at least this version of the Joker.
Heck, is Arthur even The Joker after that ending? I don't know. His strange Southern accent can die with him. Either way, I think I'm glad that we most likely will not be getting any more Joker movies after this because this was just… something else. Maybe James Gunn will have a better version for the DC Universe (one that's not Jared Leto, please).
What are your thoughts about the musical aspect of Joker: Folie à Deux? All I know is that Gaga's voice was perfect – and I needed to hear more to get me through those two hours, dang it.