Joker: Folie à Deux
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (which is French for “madness of two”) is a movie that was made for a 1 in 10 or maybe even a 1 in 50 audience. I happen to be that 1.
Now before we proceed, let me get something out of the way; I completely understand the criticisms of this film and I completely understand that it's not at all what the majority of the fanbase ever would have wanted. Is this a good “Joker” movie? Not really. Is this a good “DC” movie? No. But is this a good sequel to the character set up in the first movie, Arthur Fleck? And an inventive, well crafted movie? I think so.
“Joker: FAD” is a love letter to the movies of the 1930s, 40s and 50s where it was entirely commonplace to have gigantic musical show tunes appear as a way to move the story along. Watching this reminded me of so many Marx Brothers films I loved as a kid (and still do). But if you've never really seen a musical aside from say, “Wizard of Oz”, and you were a die-hard fan of the first gritty, “Joker” film, then yeah, I can see how this would be jarring and even disappointing. I am totally alright with people not liking the movie. They went for something so out of left field that I'm not entirely sure how they thought this would have mass appeal, especially to the comic book movie audience (who have been especially outspoken and hard to please over the years). But to say it's a “bad” movie is completely unfair, I think.
The movie is brilliantly shot. The cinematography looks great and the contrast from the dark, dungeonous Arkham to the brightly lit late night stage recreations work really well for me. It's very plain to see that this contrast was their plan from the beginning and even if it's a little obvious I think it works great because it's so skilfully executed.
The songs are pretty good and are all covers by Joker and Harley. It works fine, although having Lady Gaga on board would have been a good chance for some originals, but whatever. Joaquin Phoenix sings (and quite a bit actually), and although I won't be bumping any of his covers on Spotify anytime soon, he does a respectable job for someone I never would have considered to have any sort of a singing voice.
Lady Gaga is used in some varying degrees of success. She has good moments, but there are a few that leave you scratching your head plot wise. I actually liked the take they have on her revealed by the end, which I won't go into it for spoilers sake. It's an original angle on the character and it worked well enough for me, just don't expect the Margot Robbie style of Harley Quinn we got in “The Suicide Squad”, because the two couldn't be more different.
And also, let me just throw out there that a lot of people who have never picked up a comic in their life seem to have some really strong opinions about what the “Joker” should be. The Joker of the comics and cartoons would and absolutely has had “late night talk show” fantasies and escapist daydreams, so I don't see anything in this premise that is outright offensive.
In the end, I feel like this is an interesting sequel for Arthur Fleck's weirdo interpretation we got set up in the first movie. And I actually feel like this movie is MORE classically like the Joker character than the first film ever was in a lot of ways. But I do feel like this movie would be receiving a lot of praise if it just had nothing to do with DC and The Joker at all, which I also felt about the first film (even though that one was praised by critics and fans alike).
Headlines are talking about how this movie is worse than “Morbius” at the box office and fans are running with it like this is actually a worse movie. Look...I was one of the few idiots that actually went to see “Morbius” at the theatre and I can tell you these aren't even in the same stratosphere of comparison. “Joker: FAD” is a significantly better film, but it's definitely not what the fans wanted, and I can respect that people will hate on it for that. But as a film in and of itself I hope it can get a little fan base and a bit of respect in the years to come, because there is a lot of good here. I probably enjoyed this film in a lot of ways more than the first even.
But let me make this abundantly clear because even though I felt the trailers and advertising already made this completely known, people were still acting shocked to find this out when they went to see it: THIS. IS. A. MUSICAL. Like…all the way through. If you don't like musicals, you won't like this. End of story.
I do, and I did.
7.5/10
