Joker: Folie a Deux

Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener
Directed by Todd Phillips

2019's "Joker" was a revolutionary vision for the iconic Batman villain, a role played so perfectly by Joaquin Phoenix that it earned him the Oscar for the performance, one of the only times in Oscar history that the same character has won an Oscar more than once (Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker in "The Dark Knight" also earned an Oscar win). The film was grounded in reality, making Arthur Fleck into the Joker due to society's influence on him and how he was always looked down upon and seen as lesser because of it. It was a deep, dark character study that blended reality and fantasy in ways where you didn't know what was real and what wasn't. The conclusion had me literally on the edge of my seat, not sure where things were going, but knowing it wasn't going to be good - in a good way. The film was perfection, a one-off tale that didn't have a need for a sequel.

Then it was nominated for eleven Oscars, and earned over a billion dollars worldwide, so Todd Phillips sold his soul and decided to make a sequel that wasn't necessary at all, even bringing Phoenix back to the project (the first time he ever did a sequel in his career). While I loved the original "Joker," I was apprehensive about this one for a few reasons, one being the fact that it didn't need to exist in the first place. Then finding out it was a musical was something that really made me feel off about it, because why? It didn't really serve a purpose for it to be a musical, except adding Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. While I was still anticipating it, I knew it had a high bar to climb to make me appreciate it - and while it's not fair, it was how I felt. Ultimately, not only did it not prove its need to exist, the entire story was jumbled, rushed, and a literal and metaphorical mess - and that's putting it nicely.

After committing numerous murders (including one on live television), Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) was sent to Arkham State Hospital to await his trail, where his lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), planned to plead his case as him suffering from dissociative identity disorder, switching from Fleck to Joker to protect himself from years of childhood abuse. While in prison he meets fellow patient Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), and the two begin a relationship, with Lee admiring Arthur's Joker persona. As the trial continues, Arthur has visions of spending time with Lee on the outside, and begins to wonder if he'll actually be able to get out of Arkham and start a new life.

So I'll start off with what I liked about the movie. Joaquin Phoenix does an admirable job as he balances Arthur and Joker in the story, even if he's not given nearly as much as he was given in the first. Here, most of the film is spent in his mind where he interacts with Lee with musical numbers that are blatantly fake, unlike the first film where you didn't know what was real or imagined. His performance is nowhere near as good as it was in the first, but overall it's admirable with what he was given.

Lady Gaga does a decent job as well as a new version of Harley Quinn, once again stripped of the cartoonish version that we've come to know and love, and instead giving her a more grounded, realistic performance. She's not a total psycho, but she does have a psycho side that seems organic and natural, even if we don't fully know why she's the way she is. Her obsession over Joker is palpable, and we needed more time with her to fully understand her character.

To me, the ending was a strong point of the movie - but maybe it's because I was glad it was finally over. For a film that's a little over two hours, it felt like I was sitting through a marathon. A lot of people hated the ending, but I appreciated it for what it was, as Todd Phillips went to the extreme and I could value the risk he took with the ending, considering he played it absolutely safe for the runtime up to that point.

Now for what I didn't like, and I'll try to condense it and not make it a term paper. The original "Joker" was a deep character study on how society drives a man to insanity, seeing how it affects his life and changes it for the worst. Arthur was a man no one knew existed, who blended into the background and was mistreated and abused by people all his life, including his own mother. You could understand why he would snap, and it was like a powder keg waiting to explode, which happens in the film's final moments. It makes for a fascinating story that traversed the line of mental illness and society in perfect ways.

Not so much for the sequel, which sees Arthur in mostly a vegetative state for the first part of the film due to his abuse by the Arkham prison guards and the medication he takes. It takes awhile for him to return to Joker, and to that point it's rather dull.

His relationship with Lee is supposed to be insane and intense, but there was little chemistry between Phoenix and Gaga, but considering where the film goes, it could've been purposeful. Yet Arthur gets what he always wanted - someone to love him and get where he's coming from - but it all feels hollow and forced.

There was a lot of discussion about the film being a musical, which turned off a lot of people, leading Phillips to try to backtrack and say it's not really a musical - thereby once again selling his soul for the sake of bringing more people to the cinema. Either you go all in with musicals or all out, and here he seemed to settle for the middle ground, which pleased no one. Ultimately it's more a jukebox musical, with people singing classic songs like "For Once in My Life," "Bewitched," and "That's Entertainment" like you sing songs you listen to in the car. It's not having the entire cast get up and do a choreographed dance (which would've, in an odd way, make sense), but rather just characters singing the songs. Even in Arthur's mindspace it's more a concert than musical.

The movie drags on at a snail's pace, focusing on the trial that doesn't really get good until near the end, when Arthur's Joker persona comes full force. Even then, it's contrived and being pulled in two different directions at once, leaving the character feeling hollow and void of anything reminiscent of the original. Joker is no longer free, and the film is confined to either his prison or the courtroom with no room to breathe, and more importantly no room to grow. It gets stale early on and doesn't stop, until it mercifully ends.

Unlike the first film there was no sense of dread or anticipation, as Joker was relegated to those two locations throughout the movie, and even with a wannabe explosive beginning of the third act, even Joker doesn't seem to care anymore - and neither do we. The legacy of Phoenix's Joker is now forever tarnished with this unnecessary, boring, lifeless sequel that proves some people will completely sell out in favor of more money, offering a sequel no one asked for and, ultimately, one that wasn't necessary.

The Score: C-