Joker 2 review: High on its own supply

Joker: Folie à Deux (Joker 2) isn’t much of a sequel. Rather than progressing Arthur Fleck’s turn as the iconic Clown Prince of Crime, this follow-up of sorts is more of an interstitial, a series of more intimate scenes that do little to advance any characters taking center stage. While fun in spurts, its musical pivot is more of a detriment, leaving this half-baked idea entirely skippable.

2019’s Joker is an all-time great. Todd Phillips utterly nailed Gotham’s depraved, nigh-unsalvageable atmosphere while Joaquin Phoenix turned in another career highlight with one of the most profound takes on the legendary DC villain ever brought to the screen.

As a self-contained story, it’s an absolute treat. After all, that’s how it was designed, as an individual tale. Creative forces had no plans to serialize the adaptation, but given its box office success, Warner Bros. all but forced a second outing.

Now we’re here with this forced follow-up, and it’s all too evident they should have listened to the creators. Across another 138 minutes of screen time, Arthur Fleck’s arc fails to evolve in any meaningful way, and Lady Gaga’s involvement as Harley Quinn is ultimately forgettable. It’s a confused, tedious experience that, beyond a few standout performances, is void of any true value.

Somehow, a $200 million budget was provided for a screenplay that comes across like fan fiction, as though a viewer of the first movie was given the keys to the kingdom and their very first ideas were set in stone. It’s too cute by half, lacking in any of the values that made the original shine and put simply, it’s not worth your time.

Fanfiction at a glacial pace

Set two years after the explosive conclusion of the first Joker, Folie à Deux picks up with Arthur Fleck nearing his all-important trial. Exhibiting good behavior for much of his time in chains, it looks as though the shaken character may have turned a new leaf thanks to the daily routine.

Quickly pulled back down the rabbit hole, ‘Lee’ (Lady Gaga) makes it her mission to bring the real Joker back out of his shell. What starts with a humble duet in a mental facility hallway blossoms into a vibrant spectacle selling out stage shows and airing on TV around the nation. At least, that’s how it feels to the deeply troubled Fleck.

A lot of Joker 2 is a balancing act, attempting to confuse viewers with what’s real versus being part of the villain’s ever-so-twisted imagination. Unfortunately, it’s mostly spelled out clear as day, unlike how the first flick delicately handled similar illusions.

Given its more intimate focus on Joker and Harley’s relationship amidst the former’s heavily publicized court hearing, the sequel is effectively a ‘bottle episode.’ Much like Breaking Bad’s contentious ‘Fly’ episode, the narrative is all but on pause save for a few moments near the beginning and end.

It’s filler throughout with lengthy musical performances interrupting any semblance of rhythm. Anytime dialogue is ramping up and we’re on the verge of ‘getting what we deserve’ again, it all cuts away to bring us a rendition of whatever nostalgic track the crew can think of next. In the back half of the movie I genuinely rolled my eyes a few times when the cast broke out into song for the umpteenth time.

Naturally, performances help carry this longwinded follow-up, with Phoenix absolutely on form yet again. Lady Gaga does well with the little she’s given, too. Though the standout for my money is a bit of a minor spoiler, so I won’t name them directly. Several characters from the first film make a brief return in Joker 2, and one of them is without question the highlight of the entire sequel.

Taken as a whole, it strangely feels like an assortment of deleted scenes that didn’t quite make the cut for the first film – and for good reason. It’s not to say that everything here is wasteful, however, there are still some aspects worthy of praise, but for the most part, you’re really not missing much if you treat the first film like a standalone tale and forget Folie à Deux was ever created.

Life is a comedy

Tonally all over the place, when Folie à Deux isn’t wallowing in depravity or blinding with its glitz, the film can actually be quite funny. Joker, still out of his mind, is at his best when toying with not only those around him but the audience too. Phoenix embraces this side of the character better than ever.

Be it awkwardly staring down the barrel of a camera to check if he’s in frame or hilariously mouthing curses in response to some gripes of various witnesses, physical humor is a much-needed delight in the sequel. Given how dark the overall subject nature is, some of the more nuanced jokes land while others are a bit too on the nose – a poetic blend given Fleck’s own comedic shortcomings.

Joker 2’s worst crime, however, is getting lost in its own grandeur. The best comparison I can make is the third season of Hannibal, or a more recent example, Season 3 Episode 1 of The Bear. With the first outing overwhelmed by critical praise and commercial success, its creators got lost in the high of it all somewhere along the way.

Doubling down on its artsy profile, the film prioritizes style over substance to the point it all but forgets it has to be a film. Losing its appeal to a true enjoyer of the first flick is a testament to how outlandish things get.

In a sense, it’s as though creatives couldn’t figure out one clear plan to push the character forward, so rather than locking in a vision, they took a scattergun approach and dialed up the theatrics.

Joker 2 score: 2/5

There’s a line in the movie where Harley claims to have watched a direct-to-TV film on Joker “20 times.” In reality, Harley may as well have made this movie herself. A superfan getting the pen and having no pushback on any of their ideas feels accurate to what we’ve ended up with here.

While Phoenix’s first take on the Joker will continue to stand tall as one of the best renditions of the icon we’ve ever seen regardless of medium, this interstitial chapter is a bitter pill to swallow and will largely be forgotten in short order.