• Release year: 2024
• Director: Todd Phillips.
• Producers: Joseph Garner, Todd Phillips, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff.
• Screenplay by: Scott Silver and Todd Phillips.
• Cinematography by: Lawrence Sher.
• Music by: Hildur Guðnadóttir.

Shotgun Commentary: a lower, simpler, mediocre version of the first instalment.

Review

For anyone expecting a second masterpiece like Joker (2019) was, this piece will be a huge disappointment. It does bring some innovation to the narrative by adding musical numbers. Thus becoming a sort of bleak, male-version of Chicago (2002). Only none of the characters are specially engaging and only two people actually sing.

Great start, 0 stamina

Joker: Folie à Deux has a strong beginning. A Looney-Tunes style opening full of bright colours and twisted humour setting the pace and tone of the feature. Only it doesn’t. In fact, it only serves to highlight how dense and lifeless the rest of the film is, always trying to get somewhere and failing. The whole viewing experience is like waiting for the DVD sign to hit the corner of your TV set perfectly, a long string of disappointments one right after the other. Only in this case, the sign never actually hits the corner. Even after almost two hours and a half of footage.

The story itself is the Joker’s (Joaquin Phoenix) trial. An affair that could have been solved in half an hour were it not full of inserts that go nowhere and musical numbers with doubtful relevance. The idea of turning the Joker sequel into a musical is quite inspired. It could have worked wonderfully had the songs actually brought additional information into the storyline.

Regrettably, most of them fail to do so. Much like it happens with the prosaic material, the first songs are wonderful and bring insight into the Joker’s state of mind and intentions, but soon they become about as valuable as a parrot who repeats over and over the last conversation it heard.

The light in the tunnel

The best aspect of the movie is, by far, the visuals. The departments of cinematography, staging, wardrobe and hairstyle were creating a breathtaking showstopper that is completely wasted with the doodle that is the script. The cinematography follows the same style as the first instalment, only adding a twist with the use of colours.

Props, lights and clothes become colourful against a space where the black to grey gradient rules to reflect Arthur’s feelings and thoughts. His mood determines which, and how many pieces become colourful, as well as how bright those colours are. This playfulness is paramount in maintaining your interest after you realise that nothing has happened for half an hour, and probably nothing will for another half.

Joker and the breadcrumbs

As for the performances, everyone is pretty spot on. However, this doesn’t mean that the characters are good or even mildly interesting. Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, goes through one of the most boring character developments in the history of cinema by slowly and carefully regressing into the dullest version of himself. Songs and tap-dancing aside, this is the depiction of the Joker everyone was dreading before the 2019 film came out. One that says absolutely nothing and turns the villain into a useless buffoon instead of the brilliant and deranged mastermind he is supposed to be.

Among the mediocrity of his character there is, luckily, a fascinating character that seems to leech off of him quietly. An inmate played by Theodore Martello. He is shown multiple times throughout the feature, watching closely Joker’s appearances on TV and behaviour in Arkham. A prisoner with a pretty deranged laugh that hints at a next-gen Joker that will be fascinating to discover. This theory is further fuelled if one takes into consideration Bruce Wayne’s (Dante Pereira-Olson) age in Joker, and Harvey Dent’s (Harry Lawtey) insanely young portrayal in this sequel.

Barely supporting

The main supporting character of the film, other than Brendan Gleeson’s same grumpy-authority role he’s been playing his whole career, is Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga). Despite this role being anything but demanding, Gaga achieves what is surely one of the hardest feats she’s had to confront as an actress: pretending to not know how to sing. This fully separates the artists from the character and brings originality into the work. “Gonna Build a Mountain” number aside, neither Joker nor Lee are singers, so the off-key singing is a really nice detail that brings a lot of quality into the final product. Aside from this, the presence of Quinzel in the story is pitiful. Other than establishing her as a pathological liar with cool makeup and a diamond dress that reminds of a low-key version of Harley’s Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, 2016), she brings little to nothing to the plate.

All in all, Joker: Folie à Deux is an average musical with an extremely simple story that unravels at a glacial pace. The visual aspect of the film is just as majestic as it was in the first instalment. Sadly, the character creation and development are not even close to matching it.

Thanks to Warner Bros for big screen access! Joker: Folie à Deux will be released the 4th of October in UK and US.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Don’t worship celebrities, they are never who you think.
• Rich, bored people are the most tedious beings on planet Earth.
• Beautiful cinematography will only get you so far.