When Joaquin Phoenix danced down the stairs and into our lives as the abused, misunderstood and mistreated Arthur Fleck-turned-Joker, most DC fans, and some non-DC ones, welcomed his interpretation with open arms. Todd Phillips’s Joker gave us a perfectly plausible origin story for one of the most iconic comic book villains in 2019. It left fans ready to embrace a new Joker for the first time since Heath Ledger donned the paint. Unfortunately, Phillips’s sequel fails to deliver on the count, caught as it still is in the making of the man.
Joker: Folie a Deux starts with, and spends most of its time with, Fleck incarcerated at the Arkham Asylum. This Fleck has none of the flamboyance of the Joker of the first film. Here he is an emaciated man bullied by guards and inmates alike. His need for adulation is, however, still intense and a chance encounter with Lady Gaga’s Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel at music therapy class in Arkham rekindles his need to be recognised.
As his case goes to trial, his lawyer Marianne Stewart (Catherine Keener) wants to make a plea for insanity and prove that he is mentally unfit to stand trial, while Gotham City DA, Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtie), claims that Fleck’s Joker is an act and not his split personality. What follows is a courtroom scene in which Fleck remerges from his timidity and becomes the flamboyant performer once again but with not much positive outcome.
What felt new and daring in the first film feels repetitive here, whether it is the psychological trajectory of a character or Joaquin Phoenix’s acting. The only thing Phoenix does differently this time is breaking into song every other minute, belting out popular tunes with Lady Gaga’s Lee, either in the asylum or in imaginary situations.
Unlike Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Lady Gaga’s version exudes a calm that is very disconcerting, especially to those who know what Harley is capable of. Unfortunately there is not much to do for Gaga other than singing beautifully. At one point towards the end of the film, Fleck asks Lee to stop singing and talk to him and boy does that sentiment resonate. The songs feel even more annoying because unlike other musicals these songs never move the story forward. They could be taken out and it wouldn’t make a difference.
In fact, throughout the film the story doesn’t move forward at all. The most frustrating part of Joker: Folie a Deux is that even after two films we do not get to see the Joker being the Joker — king of crime and chilling villain. Where are the crime sprees, the maniacal quality? The Arthur Fleck we see in this film does not feel capable of turning into the Joker we have loved growing up. We also know that just like a hero is as good as his villain, the villain is also not complete without a glimpse of the hero he is or will be up against. Where is the caped crusader in all of this?
After the excitement the first film generated, despite the glorification and justification of mindless violence, Joker: Folie a Deux fails to follow through, both in terms of chills and thrills, and that is a letdown we weren’t expecting.
