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<\/a><\/div>\nJoker Folie \u00e0 Deux<\/i> positions itself as a musical; a seemingly leftfield switch after the Oscar-nominated first film that drew so much from Martin Scorsese it might have been a parody of Taxi Driver<\/i>. Yet the man with no original ideas is back \u2013 Todd Phillips instead lifts liberally from sources like The Shawshank Redemption<\/i> and the filmography of Jacques Demy to tell the story of Joker post the death of talk show host Murray Franklin, something that the whole world saw televised. Since then, there has been a tv movie made about Joker\u2019s crimes in Gotham \u2013 and he\u2019s on course for the trial of the century \u2013 something that was the original plan for The Dark Knight Rises<\/i> had Heath Ledger not sadly passed; more of the Joker \u2013 a courtroom drama, yes, but also a musical with Lady Gaga, because why not? And a love story too \u2013 the film tackles so many threads it can\u2019t really tie them all together.\n<\/p>\n
The dual identity of Fleck\/Joker is explored in a way that came together at the end of the first film as we bring the characters from the previous movie back on stage and on trial to examine how their lives were affected by Fleck\u2019s descent into madness. Zazie Beetz\u2019 Sophie Dummond tells the story of Fleck\u2019s mind, the lies he was told by his mother, that slowly became his whole personality in a way that she didn\u2019t expect. The courtroom knows that he only killed five people \u2013 they don\u2019t know that they killed his mother, too. Returning to play Gary Puddles is Leigh Gill \u2013 who delivers a harrowing performance as someone who is hunted in fear, who can barely set outside without being afraid. Both Sophie and Puddles have had their lives changed forever \u2013 and are put under the spotlight by Harry Lawtey\u2019s charismatic, ruthless Harvey Dent \u2013 who wants the death penalty for Fleck.\n<\/p>\n
The gothic cinematography that haunts Gotham and Arkham Asylum is captured from the very essence of the first film. It looks seedy, unhospitable, unwelcoming \u2013 the common run theme of good Batman comics is that they make the city feel like a character in its own right \u2013 but that\u2019s something that Folie \u00e0 Deux<\/i> struggles with. The city feels like it\u2019s on the verge of a tipping point but with the action in the courtroom or Arkham for much of the film; it never feels lived in or alive. The running theme of the fans is that Folie \u00e0 Deux<\/i> cast aside the legacy of the first film and betrayed it. That would imply that the first film had any legacy to stand on whatsoever, a cheap copycat \u2013 much like this rushed, hackneyed drama.\n<\/p>\n
Much has been made of the \u2018subversion\u2019 of the twist where Lady Gaga\u2019s Harley Quinn \u2013 or her Lee \u2013 is the dominant figure in the Harley\/Joker relationship, but there\u2019s no drama here at all. Music is used as a tool for the characters to show who has the upper hand at what particular point and a way for the Joker and Lee to express their relationship, but nothing quite lands here \u2013 it can\u2019t fully commit either way. It\u2019s half-heartedly a musical because it also has to be a courtroom drama. It can\u2019t be a courtroom drama because it has to spend time on developing the Joker\/Lee and their relationship. It can\u2019t be a romance movie because it needs to be a movie about the Joker. And it can\u2019t be a movie about the Joker because it needs to be a courtroom movie. And so on and so forth \u2013 the circle repeats itself. There is one too many examples of too much and not enough of anything \u2013 the best part of this movie is the agency that Lady Gaga\u2019s Harley Quinn has, but Lee isn\u2019t in this movie as much as you would hope. For a movie marketed around a Joker movie with Gaga, at least give her more of a prominent role.\n<\/p>\n
Joaquin Phoenix too, feels like he\u2019s a misguided, weak character here. He\u2019s not a bad actor and that has been proven time and time again but he can\u2019t make anything about Fleck convincingly believable; in fact this might just be his worst performance to date. The performance comes as odd while everyone around him is half-assed, barely caring \u2013 tonally disjointed from the rest of the film. Phoenix is awkward and out of key, and everything at the ending just feels incredibly fake. It feels like a copout. It feels like Todd Phillips is trying to have his cake and eat it too \u2013 connect to too many dots in the DC canon for a movie that\u2019s supposedly above comic book nonsense when its ending felt like the most comic book nonsense thing to possibly do.\n<\/p>\n
Much has been labelled Folie \u00e0 Deux<\/i> as a movie that is purposely trying to destroy its own ambitions, deliberately tank the film in the same way that The Matrix Resurrections<\/i> was supposedly, trying to do \u2013 so that WB would never get the creators to make another movie for them again. Yet that would imply Phillips is some kind of creative mastermind and not a hack \u2013 and this movie wishes it was anywhere near as half as clever, brave, bold, daring or as brilliant as The Matrix Resurrections<\/i>.
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