Warning: This article contains mention of murder and spoilers for the 2019 prequel film “Joker”.
The film “Joker”, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker, both wowed and terrified audiences upon its release in 2019. The film earned several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, which was awarded to Phoenix. The film was a hit amongst viewers, including both long-time DC Comic fans and a new fanbase entirely.
Following the “rise” of Joker, the first film takes us through a snapshot in Aurther’s life. We see his severe struggle with mental illness, which declines after his state issued therapy center shuts down, how horrifically he’s treated by others — all of the things going wrong in his life and childhood that finally caused him to snap.
At the end of “Joker”, we see Fleck/Joker pictured as a sort of hero to the people in the city of Gotham. They surround him wearing clown masks similar to the clown makeup he sports throughout the film.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” picks up after “Joker” ends. We see Arthur in jail, and like always, the blue/green hues give us a melancholy feel from the start. As the beginning scenes progress, we discover that Arthur is preparing to start his trial for the five murders he committed during “Joker” — including the murder of a beloved television host, which he committed on live television.
While facing time in prison, he meets Lee Quinzel/ Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), a patient at the connected psychiatric hospital. The two immediately connect and form a relationship that carries them throughout the rest of the film.
Like in “Joker”, Phoenix’s performance in “Joker: Folie à Deux” is award-worthy. His ability to believably portray a manic, severely mentally ill man is both incredible and terrifying, which makes watching his performances even better.
But more importantly, it allows the viewer to sympathize with Arthur throughout the films. While he is no doubt guilty of the crimes he has committed, the viewer may find themselves rooting for Arthur to get the help he desperately needs and deserves.
As for Gaga’s performance, there isn’t much to be impressed by. However, I don’t think this is to any fault of her own. When you pair a less-seasoned actor next to someone as phenomenal as Phoenix, they’re bound to fall into the shadows.
While her performance wasn’t bad by any means, it didn’t compare to the spectacle that Phoenix puts on for the cameras. His acting is so uncomfortably realistic that it leaves no room for doubts, and Gaga just couldn’t keep up.
The thing that every viewer needs to know going into “Joker: Folie à Deux”, is that it’s a musical. A jukebox musical specifically, which means the film uses pre-existing songs in its soundtrack rather than writing new music for the score like traditional musicals do.
The soundtrack features interpretations of songs like “Get Happy”, “For Once in my Life” and “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, all performed by Gaga and Phoenix.
Every viewer needs to be aware of this element because the movie isn’t well marketed as a musical, and several social media users have expressed that they were disappointed to discover “Joker: Folie à Deux” was a musical after they had already purchased their tickets.
The decision to turn “Joker: Folie à Deux” into a musical is a mystery, because it doesn’t at all make sense with the character, storyline or style of the film. Perhaps if they would have made Joker’s dream to be a singer, rather than a comedian, then the choice to turn the sequel into a musical would have made sense. But as it stands, this creative direction doesn’t work.
It almost seems as if the film’s director thought, “We have Lady Gaga on the cast? We should make this a musical so she can sing!” And sing she does.
You can’t argue that Gaga’s vocal performance in “Joker: Folie à Deux” is impressive, but just like Phoenix out-acts her, Gaga out-sings him. It creates an imbalance between these two actors and ruins their chemistry, because instead of complementing each other, one is always shining brighter than their co-star.
When news outlets first broke that this film was going to be a musical, I was one of seemingly few fans excited to see how they would bring this concept to life. As a musical lover, I knew there was potential for “Joker: Folie à Deux” to be a hit.
Unfortunately, the subject matter in “Joker: Folie à Deux” is just too heavy to be transformed into a musical. Throughout the film, there were several hard-hitting moments that were interrupted by musical numbers that felt severely out of place.
Worst of all, it ruined the presence of tension developed in every scene. One moment, you’d be on the edge of your seat — the next, you’d be rolling your eyes and sinking back into your chair for another song.
What was perhaps detrimental to the movie, was the songs chosen to be on the soundtrack. Very few of them were recognizable — at least for a younger audience — and Phoenix’s lack of enunciation for his lyrics made it very difficult to understand what exactly was being sung.
All in all, turning “Joker: Folie à Deux” into a musical was a mistake — and both critics and viewers everywhere agree. The film currently holds a 33% critic score and 30% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, as of Oct. 6, 2024. However, those ratings seem a little too harsh.
It’s true, the musical elements of the film were bad, but that’s the only part where “Joker: Folie à Deux” truly fell flat. In many ways, this sequel is just as stunning as “Joker”.
One aspect of the film that stood out above all else was the camera work. There were some truly stunning shots in this film that made my jaw drop. And paired with the spectacular lighting — it was a beautiful film to watch and the camera work flawlessly moved the story along.
Not to mention, the plot was very interesting as well. It would have seemed like a true sequel if it wasn’t for the musical numbers, which just made it a clunky “step-sister” extension of “Joker”.
If you’re a fan of the original 2019 “Joker” and can overlook the unnecessary songs, then “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a good time and worth the watch. But if you’re a musical-hater — skip “Joker: Folie à Deux” and save yourself two hours.
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I am not really the type to watch musicals (despite loving Grease and Sweeney Todd), but I was open to see the potential this film had. All the points of the article were on point of how it felt being in the theater watching this — well at least for my boyfriend, I fell asleep after the fourth song.