By Shane Mead | Reporter
Director Todd Phillips killed it with his 2019 film “Joker.” After watching trailers for months of his newly-released “Joker: Folie à Deux,” I was anticipating that he’d once again knock it out of the park.
I was wrong.
I typically am a sucker for musicals — “La La Land” and “Moulin Rouge!” being some of my favorites. However, both of those films provided both a compelling narrative and emotional interest — aspects that were absent from this sequel.
Even casting Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in this musical could not save face for this lacking film.
As “Joker” is a standalone film, my viewing of “Joker: Folie à Deux” begs the question: was a sequel necessary?
*Beware! Spoilers ahead.*
The rebellious, defiant Joker we knew from the first film vanished in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” as we watched the character conform to the justice system and ultimately denounce his Joker persona. This was a knife in the heart to those who hold the original Joker character so dear.
While the film struggled to keep me invested up until Joker’s trial for murders he had previously committed, I finally locked in when Joker fired his lawyer and showed up to court the next day in his full outfit and makeup. Unfortunately, Joker shortly after announcing, “There is no Joker,” to Gotham City had me slouching in my seat once again with a lack of interest.
To make matters worse, our beloved Joker character was terminated in this film when some random inmate — who had no role whatsoever in the film until the final scene — stabbed the epic villain in prison. Awesome. I am always left bitter when important characters are killed off by randoms.
The abundance of musical numbers throughout the film caused me to start rolling my eyes whenever Joaquin Phoenix or Lady Gaga began to sing. Don’t get me wrong, some of these numbers were great, but their frequency proved overbearing.
The cinematography, on the other hand, was outstanding. “Joker: Folie à Deux” was a beautiful film to watch. Though, is that not expected at this point? It’s always a pleasure to be treated with an aesthetically pleasing film, but in this day and age, I cannot recall a recent film that was an eyesore.
Quite a few scenes in this movie captivated me. The aesthetics, score and aura of these scenes had my full attention, but they were sparse. Phillips’s inability to string scenes together made for lackluster storytelling.
I do have to give Phillips his credit for taking a risk by opting to create a musical. I just wish it had worked.
