Movie review: ‘Joker: Folie à Deux,’ everything but a story to tell
“Joker: Folie à Deux” is a beautifully crafted film led by great performances, yet somehow the story has no substance with nothing new to say.
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‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ is narratively bland but visually brilliant
While “Joker: Folie à Deux” is technically brilliant, it seems the only reason it was made was to “make another Joker movie.” Don’t get me wrong, going into “Joker: Folie à Deux” was bittersweet, as the 2019 “Joker” was the first film I got to review for Attractions. Despite having some reservations about what a sequel might look like for the movie I enjoyed back in 2019, I was still somewhat excited. Walking out of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” I couldn’t help but be puzzled by how a movie with such promise ended up being as bland as it was.
It would be wrong of me to talk so negatively about a film that has some aspects I enjoy. For one, the looks. “Joker: Folie à Deux” cinematographer Lawerence Sher doesn’t waste any opportunity to make you “Ooh” and “Ahh” over the visuals. Between the single lighting shots in a prison cell or an over-the-top musical set, just about every shot in this film gives me reason to believe it’ll be nominated for cinematography at the Oscars this year.
I’d also like to mention that the majority of the performances are great. Joaquin Phoenix reminds us why he won the Oscar for this role four years ago, and while she’s greatly underutilized Lady Gaga steals nearly every scene as “Lee Quinzel.” That’s honestly what bothered me the most: Gaga is wasted. It felt like the filmmakers shoehorned her in just to say, “Look at us, we put Harley in the movie,” and her character is not the only popular Batman character to make an appearance just for the sake of saying their name.
Dreamy musical or courthouse drama?
“Joker: Folie à Deux” seemingly was made purely as a cash grab. The film can’t decide if it wants to be this “dreamy” musical that looks under the hood of childhood trauma or a grueling courthouse drama that acts as a prolonged epilogue to “Joker.” The music doesn’t add any context or substance to the story, and after the second or third song, I was sick of the music, which is wild because I grew up on musicals.
The third act of “Joker: Folie à Deux” makes you question everything you watched up until that point — and not in a clever twist kind of way, more like a “we have no idea what we’re doing with this movie” type of way.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” has everything but a story to tell and will ultimately leave fans questioning whether they even liked the first film. My hope is DC Studios never touches this version of the character again.
SCORE: 2.5/5
“Joker: Folie à Deux” is rated R and is in theaters Oct. 4, 2024! There is no post-credit scene.
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