Joker: Folie à Deux never justifies its existence, nor it escapes the feeling that everybody involved is back to cash on the first film success. Five years after writer director Todd Phillips tapped into the character’s notoriety to offer a gritty critique of society’s ills—earning both financial success and critical acclaim, including a surprising Best Director Oscar nomination—he returns to the Joker universe. This time, instead of drawing inspiration from Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, Phillips borrows from his own Joker and Chicago.
Set two years after Arthur Fleck’s homicidal rampage, the film follows him in Arkham State Hospital as his lawyer tries to prove that dissociative identity disorder led to his crimes. Meanwhile, Arthur forms a complex bond with fellow patient Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, a relationship that allows him to express himself in new ways.
This sequel divides into three distinct and disconnected parts: drawn-out tribunal scenes focused on Arthur’s supposed identity disorder, rehashes of events from the first film via testimony from returning characters, and the evolution of Arthur’s relationship with Harleen, presented as a musical. Any of the disparate threads could have been removed without affecting the other, indicating that Phillips and his team struggled to find a fresh direction for the story. Instead of expanding the world of the first Joker, the film repeats and waters down its original themes, with each narrative arc starting with potential but always retracting, leaving the whole experience aimless.
Joaquin Phoenix remains fully committed to his portrayal of the Joker, once again delivering a physically impressive performance as he is thrown against walls or carried across the floor. However, there’s nothing new in his character’s development. Scenes like his interactions with a therapist or his courtroom exchanges lack the intensity of the first film and feel like watered-down echoes. The film even brings back minor characters like Gary the dwarf, treating them with an unearned sense of importance (with dramatic entrances!) as they recount their experiences from the first film, as though the audience needed a reminder of what they’ve already seen.
The much-promoted romance between Joker and Harleen Quinzel, played by Lady Gaga, is presented as a musical but takes up far less screen time than expected. The marketing for this aspect is extremely misleading as many of the scenes shown in the trailers do not appear in the film. Gaga, instead of crafting a new character as she did in A Star Is Born or House of Gucci, often feels like Lady Gaga playing dress-up as Harley Quinn, with each of her appearances heralded by another joyless musical number. Unfortunately, these numbers add little to the story. Classic songs that one would listen in American Idol in the 60’s and 70’s week are employed, offering clichéd declarations of love that lack any real connection to Joker or Harley’s dark, twisted personas. The musical moments feel timid, employing a Chicago-like framing device that makes them products of imagination rather than integral to the plot. These sequences could be removed entirely without affecting the film, and in fact, cutting Gaga’s character altogether wouldn’t change much either.
The score, like the first film’s, is grating and far less impactful this time around, fading into the background as an afterthought. Despite the film’s reportedly large budget (almost 200 million dollars!), the production feels small and uninspired, with minimal extras and a noticeable lack of grandeur. The film could easily have been condensed into a five-minute epilogue to the first Joker, sparing us from 140 minutes of meandering and ultimately pointless storytelling.