“What do you get when you cross a mentally-ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash!? I’ll tell you what you get: You get what you fucking deserve!”. So said wannabe comedian Arthur ‘Joker’ Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) before ending his crime spree by gunning down a popular late night TV show host live on air.
In return, Arthur got what he deserved for killing 5 (actually it was 6 but shhh) people and was locked up in Arkham Asylum. Awaiting trial, the loner shuts down further amidst abuse from prison orderlies like Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson). Arthur‘s lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) attempts to get him an insanity plea but in all honesty, what is the point when he has nothing more to live for? That is, until the day when Arthur meets the yin to his yang, the Bonnie to his Clyde, and the fuel to his fire in fellow mental patient, Lee ‘Harley’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga).
Instantly smitten by someone who actually cares about him for once in his adult life, Arthur has a new pep in his step and a song (MANY songs) in his heart. As his trial for his crimes builds the Joker persona boils to the surface once more. Together, Joker and Harley Quinn engage in their shared insane fantasy of a future together which seems impossible. But what a beautiful, musical roller-coaster their toxic love affair could be…
Director Todd Phillips‘ daring stand-alone anarchic comic book movie Joker (2019), released to much controversy. Much of the mainstream media seemed afraid the film would inspire real world violence, while many comic book fans seemed perplexed by it being a low budget adult oriented character piece from the director of The Hangover trilogy rather than an all-out action film. Yet, the film led to no such violence and instead went on to be one of the most highly praised and successful comic book films ever made, grossing over a billion dollars and with Joaquin Phoenix earning himself an Academy Award for Best Actor in the process.
A sequel, while unplanned, seemed inevitable and now the anti-hero of the disenfranchised Arthur Fleck returns. Joker (2019) was an homage to Martin Scorsese’s gritty earlier films being an undeniable cross between Taxi Driver’ (1976) & The King of Comedy (1982). So where does Todd Phillips take us this time? In a move as unconventional as his previous outing, he presents us a romantic musical wrapped up in a courtroom drama which is both as imaginative and perplexing as it sounds.
Phillips directed another unplanned sequel with The Hangover Part II (2011) which gave fans more of what they previously enjoyed to a fault. With Joker: Folie à Deux, he instead follows Arthur‘s decent into madness to it’s obvious next steps; incarceration, a trial and groupies. But this doesn’t allow for much in the way of fresh story and characters, as much of the film’s runtime is dedicated to recounting Arthur‘s crimes in court and numerous lengthy musical sequences.
The subjects of mental illness, shared delusions and co-dependency are explored, giving the characters a very human touch which is quite alien for the bulk of the comic book super hero/villain film genre. There are no action sequences to speak of, but there’s not a lot of excitement or intrigue either. With so many other films based around Batman’s arch nemesis already produced or in production, Joker: Folie à Deux is another very different take on the character. One which might not only put off casual comic book fans but also fans of Joker (2019).
Stylistically Joker: Folie à Deux is a masterpiece with spectacular costume design by Arianne Phillip and production design by Mark Friedberg. The 70s-80s inspired aesthetics come alive as they did in the previous film, even with this movie feeling smaller in scale. The film’s reported 200 million dollar budget (against 55 million of its predecessor) had me expecting a dramatically larger production. Unfortunately, we see almost nothing of Gotham City or it’s people this time around, with the audience being locked away in courtrooms and jail cells for most of the time, just like Arthur himself.
Where the film comes alive is in its energetic and fantastical musical and dance numbers. These start off subdued but slowly grow in their lavishness and complexity, reflecting the relationship between Joker and Harley. As a jukebox musical, there is creative use of licensed music which helps display the growing mania of our two ‘heroes’ as they try to escape the real world.
Lady Gaga is of course incredible, delivering her all in these music scenes. But as she has proven more over the last few years, she is quite a gifted actress as well. Her Harley steals the show from Arthur with some of the craziest eyes I’ve ever seen and is fundamentally a different performance to Margot Robbie’s take on the character. The downside Is that she, like everything outside of Arthur‘s confinements, seems underused and the romantic story suffers as a result.
What do you get when you make an unplanned sequel which reinvents itself and goes in a completely different direction than what fans may want? You get a movie which is refreshing in its boldness to chart its own path, but not one that is particularly entertaining.
The performances and stylishly look of Joker: Folie à Deux is marvellous yet still feels weighed down by its pacing and thin plot. It takes ‘The Joker’ as a villain along a daring new path but somewhere along the way, it appears it was forgotten that this is still a comic book movie. Suffice to say, this film likely won’t leave the audience wanting to dress up as its version of Joker or Harley Quinn for Halloween but perhaps that was the goal all along.