I was never a big fan of the first Joker film. At the same time, it has a compelling story and a fantastic performance by Joaquin Phoenix. The sequel comes across a wild-haired idea to capitalize on the previous success of other comic-book-inspired movies, while attempting a darker, more exciting approach to a villain’s backstory. My biggest complaint is that the Joker film felt so removed from adapting a comic book story. While I can appreciate its attempt to do something different, it never feels truly connected to the lore of Batman and the Joker. And this is also the case with this sequel.
Joker Part Two comes across as even further removed from the world of Batman. There is no acknowledgment of Bruce Wayne/Batman. While that character is dealing with the recent murder of his parents, there is no recognition of his place in this world. The movie is pretty much lost within the mind of Arthur Fleck/Joker, as he copes with his current situation as an inmate of Arkham Asylum, awaiting his trial.
Heavily medicated and attempting to get through each day, Arthur feels further lost within the chaos of his mind, and so far removed from reality. This situation worsens when he becomes enamored with Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), an inmate who loves singing and music. As Arthur gets to know “Lee” better, he loses his grasp of reality, making coping with his upcoming trial more challenging.
As I wrote that synopsis, I realized that this film’s premise is intriguing. This movie could have been a fascinating and gripping examination of the power of the mind and its tendency to escape the horrors of reality through song and dance. However, the lack of character development and the terrible way the story is handled totally derail the potential of what could have been. This film needs to advance the journey of its protagonist further, and gets way too lost in his mind.
To make matters worse, the character Harley Quinn needs better development, wasting Lady Gaga’s talents. Writer/director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver do not fully grasp what they wanted to accomplish with this film. It is a total mess of a movie that comes across as chaotic as its protagonist. The movie looks gorgeous and has some admirable musical numbers, but in the end, I still don’t know what this whole affair is about.
Phoenix performs well as Fleck/Joker, but more is needed to save this cluttered, poorly realized-movie. Gaga performs solidly, but as I previously stated, her talents as both a compelling actor and a tremendous singer could be utilized better. On top of things, this movie feels disconnected from the lore of Batman and his arch-nemesis, the Joker.
I cannot recommend Joker: Folie à Deux because it is even more lost in its main character’s insanity. The movie comes across as if the Joker himself wrote and directed it. While this may be an interesting choice, it does not make for good cinema.