Five years after the release of the arguably infamous “Joker” movie, Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” hit theaters across the country on Oct. 4.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix, who holds several awards under his belt for his prior performance, reprises his role as the titular character. Triple-threat pop star Lady Gaga portrays Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel – more commonly known as Joker’s iconic lover Harley Quinn. Over the course of the movie, their Bonnie and Clyde-style whirlwind romance plays out in an unexpected form from this dark and gruesome franchise: a musical.
“Joker,” released Oct. 4, 2019, follows Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian living in Gotham City who is afflicted with delusions and painful bouts of uncontrollable laughter. Living with mental illness, he is constantly at the mercy of judgment and physical abuse from strangers until he becomes a figurehead of anarchy in Gotham City. The movie concludes with Fleck in his fully realized Joker form, basking in the carnage-induced applause he waited his whole life for.
The film became controversial for several reasons. In 2012, at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, a mass shooting occurred at a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” Both Warner Bros. Pictures films contain similar levels of thematic violence. With Joker taking it a step further, he embodies the archetype of one who may wish to enact violent revenge against society. With this in mind, the Los Angeles Police Department and the United States Army took extra precautions at “Joker” screenings, remaining on high alert for anyone who may take inspiration from Joker’s violent tendencies or seek to replicate the tragic circumstances of the Aurora shooting.
“In America, there’s a mass shooting or attempted act of violence by a guy like Arthur practically every other week,” Stephanie Zacharek wrote in a review for Time Magazine. “And yet we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Arthur, the troubled lamb; he just hasn’t had enough love.”
“Folie à Deux” picks up two years after the events of the first movie, with a seemingly mellowed-out Fleck going through the motions of his life while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital. It takes the form of a courtroom drama, with Fleck grappling and reconciling with his identity as himself and as the Joker while on trial for his murderspree.
Scenes where he and Quinzel lock eyes are bathed in hopeful yellows, a stark contrast against the melancholic greens and grays that dominate the franchise. Like two angsty moths to a flame, the lovers gravitate towards each other and join forces in musical union. While watching their dream sequences, it is easy to forget that “Joker: Folie à Deux” is playing on the screen, and not a reboot of “La La Land.” This whiplash-inducing tonal juxtaposition toes a line between camp and tasteless, contrasted against the self-important and gritty tone of the original film. Considering how the original film is associated with discourse around “incel” culture, Joker’s apparent romantic success comes as a surprise.
Unsurprisingly, the movie has not been well-received by audiences. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it sits at a critic rating of 33% and an audience rating of 32%. Recently endowed with a “D” on CinemaScore, the sequel is now rated dead last in the realm of comic book movies by crowd opinion.
While the general consensus online seems to be that the movie is bad, two different interpretations of it have emerged. The more critical faction of viewers see the sequel as two hours and 18 minutes of plotholes, aimlessness and wasted potential — a musical middle finger and stain on the legacy of the Joker. However, some laud the sequel as something closer to a masterpiece.
Fans of the film implore audiences to dig deeper into the psychology of Fleck, as well as the real-world circumstances of the reception of the first movie. They argue that the film’s director Todd Phillips is aware of its fanbase. Similar to other movies containing male-dominated fanbases like “Fight Club” and “The Matrix,” some viewers take the movie at face value, unaware of its satirical layers and critiques.
The first movie frames the Joker as a social outcast who finally snaps and claims his “deserved” retaliation against society. The sequel fractures this image through its depiction of eerily familiar fanatics who will only accept him as the clown prince of crime rather than the mentally fractured Fleck – the man behind the makeup.
“It’s precisely in subverting these expectations that Joker 2 achieves its most profound impact, asking us to examine not just what we want from our art, but why we want it,” Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic Stephanie Malone wrote in her Morbidly Beautiful review. “In doing so, it elevates itself beyond mere entertainment to become a thoughtful commentary on the relationship between art, artist, and audience in our contemporary culture.”
By operating as a continuation of the first movie’s character study and by subverting expectations of Joker fans, the director holds a mirror up to audiences and asks the hard questions: How much sympathy should be extended to men like Fleck? How conditional is society’s support of its personal heroes?
Tessa Kang is an Arts & Entertainment intern for the fall 2024 quarter. She can be reached at tokang@uci.edu.
Edited by Lillian Dunn and Bianca Marroquin
