Joker: Folie á Deux (2024) Movie Review
Synopsis:
Institutionalized at Arkham, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) awaits trial for his crimes as the Joker. While at Arkham, he meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga). Arthur becomes fixated on Lee, discovering his musical side in the process.
Review:
Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019) became the first R-rated film to hit a billion dollars.
Along with great visuals and Joaquin’s performance, most fans found satisfaction. Almost five years later, Joker: Folie á Deux (2024) followed.
As expected, this sequel contains the same great visuals as the first. Fans will also appreciate Joaquin Phoenix's capable performance.
Where this sequel stumbles is with its narrative structure and musical numbers. It also has a distinct lack of progression for most of its central characters.
Take how the film depicts Joaquin’s Arthur as an example.
In the previous film, Arthur had a character arc. His slow descent into madness led to him embracing his Joker persona.
This film reverts him to Arthur again. As a result, this makes his development in the first film meaningless.
Taking this into account, fans of the first film may wonder why this sequel even exists. Contributing to this film’s uneven narrative is the inclusion of musical numbers.
While they impress from a technical standpoint, they have little substance underneath. Most of them lack thematic relevance to the scene in question.
All in all, they halt the plot (of what little there is) to a standstill. Their implementation was a clear excuse to have Lady Gaga sing.
Outside of singing out-of-place musical numbers, Gaga has little to do. Though she shows occasional promise, her lack of screen time hampers her potential.
One of the more prominent side characters in this film is an Arkham guard, Jackie (Brendan Gleeson). Whilst his character is generic in concept, Brendan does his best with what he has.
A returning character is Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond from the first film.
Her one purpose in this film is for a court hearing. Aside from this, the actress doesn’t have any other scenes.
Returning to compose the score for this film is the Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir.
Some fans may find disappointment in that the composer’s work is less prominent in this sequel. Still, certain ones will appreciate its presence.
This film is also accompanied by many licensed tracks throughout. Though there are some good choices, they lack the impact of the first Joker.
Conclusion:
To conclude, Joker: Folie á Deux (2024) is a disappointing, almost pointless film. It takes several steps backward, without even considering a step forward.
Arthur Fleck is a prime example of this problem. Todd Phillips decides to undo his entire arc from the first film.
As a result, viewers are left with an empty, hollow excuse for a character.
This film’s narrative also suffers as a result of this. Furthermore, the out-of-place musical numbers drag the film down to a screeching halt.
Lady Gaga happens to be in many of these, which is no surprise. Outside of the musical numbers, Gaga has very little time to showcase her acting.
One praise for these musical numbers is how they are shot. Alongside this film’s other visuals, they can impress.
Despite that, these sequences fail to develop the story in a meaningful way. This is also applicable to the film’s side characters.
Brendan Gleeson gives a good performance, despite his generic character as the Arkham guard, Jackie. Zazie Beetz’s Sophie Dumond also has very little to do.
One final positive is some of the film’s music choices and original score. Though not as well implemented as the first film, they serve each scene well enough.
All in all, Joker: Folie á Deux (2024) may be one of the most cynical sequels in recent memory.
Its focus on character regression over progression is a major fault. It's suggested that fans of the first Joker film steer clear of this miserable joke.
Sam’s Action Reaction score:
Characters - 4.5/10
Story - 4/10
Pacing - 5/10
Visuals - 8/10
Soundtrack - 7/10
Overall score: 5.7 out of 10
