Joker: Folie à Deux

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Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) goes on trial for the multiple murders he has committed prior to ending up in prison. Arkham State Hospital guard Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson) becomes his watcher and vouches for his good track record inside, taking him to Ward B from time to time where they witness a group session that utilizes music as therapy. There Arthur locks eyes with Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a patient who instantly develops an obsession with him and goes on to encourage him to unleash the Joker. His legal team led by Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) is preparing an insanity plea, looking at the possibility of using a split personality diagnosis as his get-out-of-jail-free card. However, upstart prosecutor Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) is hell bent on pursuing a guilty conviction for Fleck, revealing in a TV interview that he wants nothing less than the death penalty for him. As the trial begins, a group of Joker sympathizers come up with a drastic plan to rescue their idol.

The announcement of a Joker sequel, a musical with Lady Gaga in it, set the internet ablaze a few years ago. Since then, the anticipation for the film has been a mix of those who hate musicals and those who are willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. When Joker: Folie à Deux finally premiered at the Venice Film Festival, which also served as the launching pad of its prequel to Oscar and box office glory, that anticipation suddenly evaporated; Lady Gaga was suddenly campaigning in Supporting instead of Lead; and we never heard about this sequel again until it premiered today. Now I know why. Curious? Go watch it to find out. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.

Had they turned this into a full-blown musical and committed to the song and dance numbers, I would’ve been entertained. However, this is a boring court drama, my dudes. The musical detours are all happening inside their heads and are mostly disjointed and forgettable. Heck, they did not even come up with a catchy playlist to turn this into an enjoyable jukebox musical. Harvey Dent in his pre-Two-face persona is introduced but is not given enough material to leave a mark, despite the last scene we see him in practically serving as an origin story.

Lady Gaga has been cosplaying as Harley Quinn for much of her career. Somehow. Her popstar persona seems to have been one long audition for this particular role. Part of the excitement and/or hate directed at her casting is the knowledge that she actually has what it takes to match or even surpass Margot Robbie’s definitive portrayal which gave the audience the Harley that they wanted despite the questionable box office and critical reception of the three films she’s been in. So why give Gaga a Harley Quinn so subdued and boring and not even take advantage of the musical talents she could offer by giving her mediocre set pieces?

Perhaps the answer to that question is because they were angling for a Harley Quinn fashioned as Oscar bait. Dark. Edgy. Cray cray but redeemable. Pretty much how Phoenix did it to win an Oscar for his rendition of the Joker in the first movie. If that’s what they were aiming for, then maybe they should have focused more on Harley and given her a credible backstory; and, us, the audience, a gory and entertaining beautiful mess that could’ve been her descent to madness. Unfortunately that wasn’t what we got. I won’t put the blame on Gaga, though. She seems like she’d been just as shortchanged as we have been.

Unlike the first film which balanced a character and plot driven approach, Joker: Folie à Deux does not offer much in terms of action or plot development. It focuses again on Arthur’s psychology, of which we’ve already had enough in the first film. Had they really wanted to explore this angle even more, a TV series would have been a more appropriate medium since they seem eager to dive even deeper into the character anyway. As for the musical aspect, Broadway would’ve been the right community to embrace this material with no questions asked. There’s always room for jukebox musicals there. Doesn’t Gaga want a Tony nom?

Staying put to finish this movie was a struggle. I was already just tinkering with my phone as we reached the second half. It’s a good thing there was neither mid nor post credits scene, not that the storyline necessitated any. The ending makes it clear that they are cutting this narrative right here and now. Perhaps they had an inkling that this wasn’t going to end well. The ending serves as a definitive period to a 138-minute long sentence. The breakout sequence right before that would’ve been a more fitting conclusion, even though it would’ve turned this and the prequel into a dragging origin story. I guess this is just the better way out.