The first reactions to the anticipated sequel Joker: Folie à Deux paint the film as a mixed bag of familiar tricks and refreshing genuis.
The moment many of you have been waiting for is finally here! The first reviews and reactions for Joker: Folie à Deux are soft-shoeing their way online, and the consensus is perhaps not what you’d expect. Joker: Folie à Deux premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a packed house of eager cinephiles excited to witness the potentially mad genius of Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his billion-dollar-grossing film starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian turned agent of anarchy in a city on the verge of a criminal uprising.
Today’s Joker: Folie à Deux reactions are divisive AF, with some calling it a “masterpiece” while others say it’s a “fascinatingly lifeless” sequel that wastes the talent of all involved. Woof. You can only know for sure if you see the film yourself when it opens in theaters on October 4, 2024. Let’s reach into Joker: Folie à Deux’s mixed bag of tricks and find out if the film will have you floating on air or feeling like you’ve sniffed your last acid flower.
In Owen Gleiberman’s review for Variety, he says Joker: Folie à Deux is a “cracked jukebox musical” with an audacious concept. Still, the execution takes a step back from the danger of Joker. I should note that reviews for the film are chock full of spoilers, so readers beware and whatnot.
IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich is harsher on the film than most, saying Joker: Folie à Deux is “boring, flat, and a criminal waste of Lady Gaga.” Adding, Phillips’ Joker sequel feels “bad on purpose.” In his review, Ehrlich writes, “At a time when everything is consumed as entertainment, no matter how tragic, Phillips has created a corporate pop spectacle that all but demands to be seen as something else. Here is a movie that perversely denies audiences everything they’ve been conditioned to want from it; gently at first, and then later with the unmistakable hostility of a knife to the gut. And that, more than anything else, is why “Folie à Deux” adopts the form of a classic musical: Because no other genre makes it so easy to appreciate all the fun you’re not having.”
In contrast, Alex Harrison of ScreenRant thinks Joker: Folie à Deux is an improved sequel engineered to antagonize Joker fans. Harrison confirms the movie “is most certainly a musical” despite the filmmakers’ claims that it’s not.” To lighten the mood, Harrison writes, “Joker: Folie à Deux has more coherent things to say about fan culture than it or its predecessor does about mental illness, which, for me, makes it the superior of the two. It also helps that it’s far less derivative. But it’s still plagued by the same have-its-cake-and-eat-it-too mentality.”
Thankfully for Joker fans, some are singing the film’s praises. Take reviewer Scott Menzel’s thoughts, for example. In a tweet that’s sure to get plenty of attention, Menzel calls Joker: Folie à Deux a “masterpiece,” saying the sequel is a “bold, daring and mesmerizing masterpiece. Joaquin Phoenix continues to amaze as Arthur Fleck, while Lady Gaga delivers the best performance of her career thus far as Harley Quinn. Todd Phillips has truly upped the ante in almost every way with this sequel, including the musical elements, which are brilliantly executed. Joker: Folie à Deux is the film of the year and will spark a lot of conversation and debate going into award season.” You can catch Menzel’s full review for We Live Entertainment here.
With a score that’s sure to anger fans, IGN gave the film a 5 out of 10, saying the movie “wastes its potential as a movie musical, a courtroom drama, and a sequel that has anything meaningful to say about or add to the first Joker.”
Finally, The Hollywood Reporter says Joker: Folie à Deux feels “narratively a little thin and at times dull… This sequel is built on more of a conceit than a solid story foundation.” THR‘s review by David Rooney continues, “Even more than its predecessor, Joker: Folie à Deux reduces the archvillain to a hollowed-out product of childhood trauma and mental illness. Which means there’s little we didn’t learn last time.”
These early reactions are bound to stir up a hornet’s nest among Todd Phillips’ Joker fans, who will be waiting with bated breath for reviewers to weigh in. The lesson here is that seeing the movie and making your own opinion is best. No one can tell you how you feel about the film except you. Hell, perhaps some will discover an untapped love for musicals!