Joker: Folie à Deux was highly anticipated by fans after the release of the first Joker movie, which had made over a whopping one billion dollars worldwide in 2019. In June 2022, the sequel’s production was announced by the director, Todd Phillips, revealing that it would include musical scenes featuring Lady Gaga, who would be playing Harley Quinn. There was quite a hype train that followed this announcement as fans anxiously awaited the movie’s release. However, following opening night, the Joker sequel was greatly criticized and only received less than half the box office success of its predecessor.
Although fans were excited for Joker: Folie à Deux, many were skeptical about the film being a musical. Phillips had found that the musical concept was risky and ‘dangerous’ but would give the film a unique spin. “Todd took a very big swing with this whole concept and with the script, giving the sequel to Joker this audacity and complexity,” said Gaga in an interview with Variety. “There’s music, there’s dance, it’s a drama, it’s also a courtroom drama, it’s a comedy, it’s happy, it’s sad. It’s a testament to [Todd] as a director, that he would rather be creative than just tell a traditional story of love.” Phillips struggled referring to the movie as a musical due to its lack of traditional musical numbers and most of the music containing dialogue. It seems that the feedback of fans after the sequel’s release on October 4, 2024, mostly depends on their taste. Creating a sort of psychotic tango out of a psychological thriller love story certainly adds a unique twist to traditional DC films, but it is another thing if that musical spin is not done in a way that inspires the audience.
Joker’s sequel was generally not well-received, as Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film at 33 percent with an audience score of 32 percent. However, there have been a variety of reviews since its release, some referring to it as a mess, while others say that it is a strange masterpiece. Both sides hold some truth – the film was not horrible, but numerous fans have stated that they missed a huge opportunity with the musical aspect. Personally, I believe that Joker: Folie à Deux was a hit or miss depending on its viewer, but overall, it held up its end of the bargain as a psychological thriller.
Spoilers ahead: the first Joker movie was certainly a more enjoyable watch, and although the sequel was less thrilling, it felt more disturbing and confusing. The love story depicted in the movie between the Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) and Lee Quinn (Lady Gaga) was not as it seemed. Initially, the connection between the two characters felt real, but it turned out that Lee Quinn was just a Joker fangirl that checked herself into Arkham State Hospital to be with him. She quickly lost interest after Arthur Fleck took accountability for the murders he committed and gave up his fantasy of being the Joker. Additionally, the musical portion of the film was underwhelming. Gaga and Phoenix did have some outstanding performances throughout the movie, but many of the scenes felt awkward and misplaced. At the end of the film, after Fleck rejects his alter-ego, Joker, he is brutally stabbed by another inmate in Arkham State Hospital. As the camera pans toward his face, you can see the inmate carving a smile on himself in the background, ultimately revealing that he will become the ‘real’ Joker, played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. This twist was also argued over amongst fans, as some anticipated Phoenix’s Joker to become the clown prince that would go up against Batman, but that fate was never meant for this character.
Wholly, the film was a bit of a mess, but for a great reason. The first film was setting Arthur Fleck up as a character, as we watch him slowly lose his sanity. Joker: Folie à Deux was simply depicting the psychotic chaos that was going on inside his mind as his situation got worse. The sequel retained the first film’s dark and dreary aesthetic, while heightening the confusion. It goes without saying that the film had its problems, but in a way it was brilliantly executed.
