Let's Unpack JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX | Movie Review/Discussion

My SPOILER filled thoughts on Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips sequel to the controversial 2019 film Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. What are your thoughts on Joker 2?

TIME CODES
INTRO - 00:00
HARLEY QUINN - 1:19
TRIAL - 3:02
ENDING - 4:25
OVERALL THOUGHTS/RATING - 6:30

#moviereview #Movies #2024movies #whattowatch #movierecommendation #movie #film #joker #thejoker #joker2 #jokerfolieàdeux #joaquinphoenix #joaquinphoenixjoker #ladygaga #harleyquinn #toddphillips #dc #dceu #batman #harveydent #comicbook #comicbooks #comicbookmovies

[toontalks]

I guess you could say the jokes on us...

[JJLomasEntertainment]

I really liked Harley in this. Her character is actually a scumbag and manipulates Arthur. Kindve a reverse of how Joker usually treats Harley in the comics. I get why people dont like this film. But i thought it was pretty good. No masterpiece for sure but i liked it. Its more of an Arthur movie than a Joker movie to be fair . So it makes sense people were let down

[J_Tag]

This movie would have been so good if Todd Phillips copied some more Scorsese movies

[martin]

SPOILERS



I think the closest this film got to an emotional focal point (for me) was the testimony of Gary Puddles. It’s such a damning indictment on the Joker persona and Arthur’s total obliviousness of how his actions have made other people worse off. So much the Joker character is a manifestation of the downtrodden and response to being dismissed, yet Gary, a little person, probably has it worse than Arthur because of his physical appearance and even his accent, which Arthur makes fun of casually. “I’ve never felt so small. You made me feel so powerless, ” which was both heartbreaking and fascinating, that someone more marginalized is suffering because of Arthur’s embrace of this persona.

I truly think Phillips has some disdain for the fandom of the first film and their elevation of this dangerous character, and he wanted to reject them by making a film so unappealing and non-pandering to their sensibilities that I kind of admire the boldness, but the film is so fragmented and directionless that the boldness feels wasted. It’s rooted in an aimlessness (the musical numbers, the trial interrogation of his psyche, the love story) that it all feels inconsequential. I do love the craftsmanship on display and the performances of Phoenix, Gaga (for what little character), Gleeson, and especially the actor that played Gary (Leigh Gill) that I can’t hate it because I was never attached to the joker character and I’m kind of having second-hand glee from people that are despising this and feeling this film betrayed the Joker they loved that reduces him to a pathetic, miserable, punching-bag of a loser. It doesn’t deserve credit for not fulfilling its potential but I can see the intent and appreciate the chutzpah, in a way.

2.5/5 for me.

[flubberigewurm]

This video made more sense than the movie did

[whatisdelicious]

You mention how there was the fear that there'd be an outbreak of violence. But it's important to note that there *wasn't* an outbreak of violence. That's why to me the moral panic that grips the entire central message of this movie fell so flat. There wasn't a need for it so it just feels like moralizing and lecturing. Your point about how the whole thing is a means to an end is spot on. Great review.

[djstarsign]

When Todd Philips made Joker and it felt like a mashup of King of Comedy, Taxi Driver, and Network, it hooked me in because I love films from The New Hollywood (a period which ended in 1981 after the Heaven’s Gate fiasco). Major Hollywood studios moved away from director-driven visions in favor or buttoned up stories that took less risks, relied on a tried and true formula, and took the art out of films made for a general population. Even Martin Scorsese spent a big chunk of the 80s coming out of movie jail.

So I was really excited to see that this Joker sequel felt indebted to two other film directors of The New Hollywood era: Bob Fosse and Sidney Lumet. For anyone who has seen All That Jazz and loved it for its adult, subversive musical numbers and that incredibly powerful ending, this Joker sequel was a refreshing take on a movie about a misunderstood and severely broken shell of a man who gained notoriety for snapping and committing murders. The first film was a commentary of victimhood.

We empathized with the character of Fleck because of his condition, his circumstances, and the way he fell through the cracks of an unfair society. He was not to be celebrated for becoming a murderer, he never had a stroke of evil genius lurking within him. This wasn’t a Walter White situation where he was really Heisenberg all along and pretending to be a normal guy for the majority of his life.

The title alone suggested that the first move was not about The Joker. So the film breaking into musical segments reveal the broken interiority of someone who is seeking escapism when his reality is a miserable life. And when a filmmaker has the courage to break out of the average hyper-violence associated with the comic book film genre and examines the heart of one man’s darkened reality, it feels like a director who truly is channeling New Hollywood filmmaking instead of making a mash up of several iconic films.

We live in such an unjust society but we remain in denial because confronting the truth of a world where some people may never escape the unending misery of their lives is too difficult for us to accept. So we embrace escapism to shield us from the harsh reality some less fortunate experience. And we hate being reminded of that reality because it makes us uncomfortable with our own complacency.

Had this movie followed a more expected storyline where the supervillain meets his twin flame and they decide to wreak havoc together and intensify their appetite for chaos and destruction, I doubt that musical numbers would be so divisive. I’m sure there would still be those who griped about it but when you factor in a downbeat ending, the broken character at its center and not a superficial archetype of rebellion, it can create discomfort in some. I applaud the director for pulling off his vision in an age where we rarely see examples of subversive cinema attached to such a mass marketed, insanely popular project. Good on him and everyone involved for having the courage to make a film that captures what the great New Hollywood directors would have done. 🎉👍👏👏👏👏

[GeorgeOfGeorge]

My favorite celeb letterboxd reviewer tbh

[NoPrblms]

I actually rather enjoyed Joker 2, and I’m not a fan of comic book movies. I came into it with very low expectations, due to the negative reviews, but actually found it to be quite entertaining. Gaga and Phoenix are excellent performers, regardless of the material. The thing about the Joker movies (and really any mainstream blockbuster, like Barbie) is that if you
expect movies to espouse Perfect Politics, then you’re probably going to have a bad time. Hell, most classic Clint Eastwood movies are basically vigilante Cop Porn. Terrible politics. But wildly entertaining nonetheless. If you go into Joker 2 expecting it to be politically perfect, you’re gonna have a bad time. But if you like court room dramas, and good performers, and some creative song & dance numbers, then you’ll probably enjoy it. I did.

[AnthonyAPerez]

I wish I loved this movie so much more. Great review, Sydney!

[georgeomahony]

I’m a little more hesitant about dressing up as Joker for Halloween now 😅

[gdemase]

This was not the Ha Ha Land I expected

[georgeomahony]

Finally got around to watching Joker 2 and went straight to this video. While I agree with a lot that you say in this great review, I had a lot of fun with this film! Maybe it was just my bias towards seeing a Joker film in a theatre but this film takes so many swings and luckily, most of them worked for me. 3/5 from myself

[alexleonce]

Safe to say we know why WB didn't test screen the film to audiences...

This just made me want to rewatch The Matrix franchise as a whole. Lana Wachowski did the whole 'fuck you for misunderstanding my work' better, lol.

[marcomugarra]

Movie just had no stakes or tension. Don’t think it’s as bad as people are saying but it’s not super great.

[suikofreak]

There were around 25 people in the theater tonight. Seven of them walked out before it was over. I didn't think it was that bad. But disappointing compared to the first one.

[CuJoProductions]

I found the movie to be very dull and hollow. It was shot well, the acting was alright, but the story was a mess. I also didn't get much out of the musical numbers, the singing was good, but the placement of the sequences felt a bit jarring to me. I found myself rolling my eyes more and more after a while. So yeah, I would say the average movie goer should skip this one.

Sidenote: I actually thought the guy that killed Arthur at the end was Victor Zsasz

[MissA_]

Sometimes it feels like writers and directors get a chance to make movies in a certain IP but dont respect the fans or the lore of it and end up making a movie they want that doesnt make sense for the character or world and it seems like thats what happened here.

[diego-echegoyen]

Hii I just subscribed, great video I’ve watched joker 2019 really liked it, sometime I’m gonna see the new one hopefully it’s good!

[TonyB]

This is the closest take I've seen so far to my own personal view of the film, though I think Phillips was reacting more to critics of the first movie (who feared it would glorify Arthur and serve as a rallying cry for incels) than fans.

I've never seen any actual evidence that fans DID see Arthur as a righteous or aspirational figure, but Phillips was triggered enough by the perception that he might be catering toward that type of sentiment that he was driven to make a whole movie disproving that thesis.