Everyone knows that the worst thing you can do to a joke is explain it. And yet, that’s exactly what Joker Folie a Deux does. Over its two-hour-plus runtime, Todd Phillips’ anti-superhero sequel meticulously recounts and relitigates the events of Joker as he puts Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) on trial, literally, for the murders he committed in the original. Watching characters from a movie that came out five years ago describe the events of that movie while sitting in a government building turns out to be about as much fun as it sounds.
Joker Folie a Deux (or Joker 2, as we’ll all likely wind up calling it) does have redeeming qualities. Phoenix is still a great actor, and his portrayal of Arthur is as haunting and complicated as ever. Lady Gaga is a clever addition as Phillips’ take on Harley Quinn. Some of those musical numbers are kind of great. And an explosive final act gives the movie an unexpected shot in the arm.
But despite all that, it’s difficult not to view Joker 2 as a failure. By swapping the Scorsese-inspired streets of ‘70s New York for a courtroom drama, Folie a Deux not only fails on its own terms, but it manages to expose the hidden flaw at the center of Joker in the process: Arthur Fleck was never an interesting character in the first place.
Joker 2 begins with a surprising treat. The movie opens on Warner Bros’ classic cartoon logo as Looney Tunes music plays. The title card promises Joker in a cartoon called “My Shadow and Me,” which, like so much else in Folie a Deux, is basically a summary of the previous film. In the short, Joker arrives as a guest on a celebrity talk show where adoring fans wait outside. But while he’s in his dressing room, Joker’s shadow comes to life, stuffing him in a dresser and stealing his suit. The shadow, also wearing Joker’s trademark makeup, walks through the studio hallway, incapacitating several bystanders along the way before he jumps on stage and begins to sing.
Finally, the real Joker breaks free and joins his shadow on stage — just in time for the cops to show up. The shadow conveniently disappears and the cops beat up Joker before hauling him off to jail.
These few minutes are easily the best part of the movie, but they also reveal the problem at the core of Phillips and Phoenix’s Joker saga. The cartoon suggests there are two people living inside one body: the evil Joker and the good Arthur Fleck. That’s what Arthur’s court case hinges on after he killed all those people in Joker, and it’s a question that Phillips seemingly wants to grapple with. But in the end, it’s not a question with an interesting answer — or one that even makes sense to ask.
The allure of the Joker as a character has always been that he’s so purely himself, and so purely evil. By attempting to give the villain an origin story — and, by extension, a version of the character we might be able to root for — Phillips has instead created a dud with no redeeming qualities. We’re all here for the Joker, after all. So if Arthur Fleck isn’t the Joker, then what is he good for?
With its animated appetizer complete, Joker 2 opens in Arkham Asylum where Arthur is awaiting trial. His lawyer (a beleaguered Catherine Keener) thinks he can get off on insanity by arguing that Joker is an independent being inside his head created by childhood trauma. His jailer (Brendan Gleeson, charming and smiley) treats him surprisingly well, trading jokes for cigarettes and getting Arthur into a music class. (Despite the fact that Arkham is clearly designed from the exterior to look like New York’s infamous Riker’s Island, Joker 2 has embarrassingly little to say about the carceral system.)
It’s in this music class that Arthur meets Lee Quinzel, a fellow inmate with a flair for arson. They fall in love and Lee pressures Arthur to fire his lawyer and represent himself in court, which, of course, he does, leading to lots of lines from the judge about how he better not make a circus of this courtroom. (Which he does, of course.)
I won’t spoil how the trial turns out, but I do need to say something about Phoenix’s bizarre lawyer voice. As he prepares to cross-examine his first witness, Arthur’s voice changes from its usual, crackly falsetto to a wild impression of Foghorn Leghorn (yes, seriously). Phoenix seems to be channeling a stereotypical Southern lawyer, but he somehow splits the difference and winds up sounding like Mark Hamill’s version of the Joker instead.
OK, so let’s talk about the music. Joker 2 is definitely a musical, despite what Todd Phillips may tell you. Sometimes one character will break into song and dance. Sometimes the entire room joins in. Sometimes the camera cuts to a technicolor set where Joker and Lee sing and dance for a live studio audience. All in all, the results are mixed.
Joker 2’s musical moments work best when they feel grounded in real life. When Arthur first learns he’ll be facing the death penalty in court, he breaks into a song and dance number in the middle of jail that’s captivating to watch. In similar moments, Arthur starts singing abruptly during a TV interview, and Lee sings to him during prison visiting hours. In the scenes, their shared insanity creates a unique type of suspension of disbelief. You’re not sure if they’re really singing or imagining it, and either option seems equally possible.
When Joker 2 goes for its bigger musical numbers, however, they fall flat. At several climactic moments in the movie, the camera cuts to a stylized set where Arthur and Lee can sing and dance together. While there’s some entertainment value, these scenes mostly feel like filler. Phillips’ main goal here seems to be to convey the characters’ emotions, but those are never particularly difficult to decode in the first place.
After the credits roll (don’t worry, there are no post-credits here), anyone who sticks around will be treated to a cover of Daniel Johnson’s “True Love Will Find You in the End” performed by Phoenix. It’s a haunting rendition of a song already known for its eerie, childlike lyrics and melody. In another version of Joker 2, it might have felt like a perfect send-off, capturing the sweetness of Arthur Fleck hidden beneath the layers of his own corruption.
But after watching Joker Folie a Deux, I’m no longer interested in Arthur Fleck’s character. And without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that I have a sneaking suspicion that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix are done with him too.
