It’s taken me a solid good day to figure out what to say. Reacting to others film reviews, hearing what my mates have to say, ratings, grades, the whole nine yards. 
And quite frankly I’ve came back from that tirade and honestly, I still have no clue what to say about Joker: Folie A Deux. 

Let’s start off with the positives. The performances. Joaquin Phoenix returns to the clown in dynamic fashion and it feels as if you’ve never left the damn house of Arthur Fleck. Lady Gaga is exceptionally audacious in Joker 2, playing a new twist on the madness induced therapist Harley Quinn, putting a fresh face on the character and looking good while doing it. The side characters were also exceptional as seriously one of the most underrated parts of this film has to be Brendan Gleeson as a corrupt Arkham officer, just cannae beat the Irish, can’t you? The musical pieces I will get onto but the production design is once again brilliant here, really integrating both the gritty and dark shots of Gotham with the colourful insight of the sweet side of Arthur Fleck’s musical mitochondria. The first half hour is slow but I was certainly on board, it’s a slow burner I guess you could say but for the most part it worked. The score I cannot say more about it, just like its predecessor, it was brilliant. And the cinematography and costume design is also exceptional, if Todd Phillips was to have another round at the Oscars next year it certainly should be for its visual components without a doubt. Oh yes, and despite I might get a lot of hate for it, but I actually love that animation at the start of the film. Thought it was one of those Disney shorts they always do but I was actually surprised by how much I liked it, me and my mate were a bit confused but it was a nice little cheesy opening act that told me how whimsical the film was, or would, going to be. 

Now, let’s get onto the negatives. Now, I’d like to clarify, my opinion on how a Joker film should be could be very different to your opinion, so a little warning, brace yourself. Even so, this is a positive review so keep your hat on. First off, if you are a deep fan of the first film, or even not a fan of the first film, then there’s a good chance you might not like the sequel. It has three main genres or components to its story: prison thriller, court drama and musical. With all these components, it makes the film a massive slog to get through. Of course, it has some memorable moments courtesy of Phoenix and Gaga- but unfortunately the slow burner was indefinitely slow and burned the same way a piece of toast burns when it’s overcooked in the toaster. About the musical sequences, I liked them, but my god it felt lazy. Like, they put a whole lot of effort into those sequences, but it just felt like they incorporated them into the plot line, slowing the film down and throwing a fine narrative into the bin. The underuse of Gaga makes it feel like they had more musical numbers but realised the incels will not like that so they just cut a bunch of sequences out of the film. Anything redeemable from the first film seems to get washed away here, there’s barely any characterisation or strengthening of characters backgrounds in these films, and it just makes stupid decisions from beginning to end. Speaking of end, from the explosion scene, that was one of the most underwhelming last 20 minutes from a comic book movie I’ve seen in a long time, can’t be the worst because obviously that goes to Madame Web. It doesn’t matter if Phillips wanted it this way or it’s supposed to have an underlying message that we’re just refusing to accept, no movie gives us the best 2 hours of our lives and 5 years later amongst all the anticipation gives us that as the crescendo to this duology- fucking give over man.
In the end, the story feels like it doesn’t want to be a Joker movie, and while I do kind of respect the way it goes through and how it’s a brutal and provocative ending and message that really gives one of the sucker punches that many comic book movies have given before us, it seriously hindered my relationship with the first film as it just ended up feeling like they’re burning every single bridge they made with the first film, and every single enemy while they’re at it, all to try and dismember the brilliant arc made in the first film because that is what life is like. I just couldn’t get on board. The underuse of Lady Gaga and even Steve Coogan who I love combined with the possible overuse of Harvey Dent made the most stomach churning experience that would make even the biggest Judge Judy fans wince. 

Overall, Joker:Folie A Deux is certainly a movie with a cast released in 2024. I don’t actually mind the film, despite it’s hindered my relationship with Fleck and the first film, I do think there’s a possible universe I could sit down and watch this again. However, it’s aggressive anti-crowd pleaser energy and overuse of pretentious realism within character development makes it a difficult watch when you realise you’re watching a Joker movie. In summary, Todd Phillip’s Tour de Force sequel never really takes flight as it culminates in a middling experimentation that makes you learn the same stuff from before but also makes you question why you did it in the first place, as now you’ve just lost 200 million from making the damn thing. 

Oh Brendan, why didn’t you tell me the dog was catholic?