Since its very first screening at the beginning of September at the Venice Film Festival, opinions surrounding Joker Folie à Deux have divided critics, and I would even say that the feedback is more negative than positive. It’s also complicated to move on after the cinematic shock that was the first film in 2019. A film which dared to be the perfect counter to the superhero films which have been invading cinemas for over 20 years and which the MCU has codified with a formula ultra popular. Five years later, a billion dollars generated at the box office and a film elevated to the rank of masterpiece, even to the point of romanticizing incels or mass killers, a movement which has also been taken up by the Netflix series Dahmer, we must admit that it can become problematic… Criticisms that Todd Phillips, the director, took very seriously, to the point of making it one of the main themes of this Folie à Deux sequel. Because yes, this film is also aimed at you, at us, all these spectators hungry for violence, and reminds us that it is not good to glorify antiheroes, especially when they are deeply ill. And to thwart his own audience, Todd Philipps will do the opposite, injecting love into this sequel, but also songs. That’s what we call audacity, with a capital A.
Before getting to the heart of the matter, to explain to you why I loved this Joker 2 and why I understand that we can also hate it, I wanted to clarify that I am not a big fan of musical comedies, I I’m even allergic in fact. I have a lot of trouble with all these films where suddenly everyone starts dancing, singing, doing choreography, it bores me and worse, it deeply bothers me. Besides, when Disney stopped putting songs in these animated films for a while, I appreciated the approach, even if I must admit that it goes better in a cartoon than in a live action film. real. So why didn’t the musical side of Joker Folie à Deux bother me too much? Quite simply because I agree with what Todd Philipps and Lady Gaga said in their interviews, the film is not a musical in the strict sense of the term. Yes, Arthur Fleck and Lady Gaga start singing and dancing in the film, but unlike the classic and assumed musicals, these are only moments of fantasy from the sick mind of Joaquin Phoenix’s character. It is also explained quite quickly in the film that these sequences are purely imagination and in no way what happens in the unfolding of the story.
NO, IT’S NOT A MUSICAL
Another element that makes me appreciate these sung passages is undoubtedly the choice of songs. We are not talking about original creations specially written for the film, but covers of well-known songs. Get Happy by Judy Garland, When The Saints Go Marching In, What The World Needs Now Is Love by Jackie DeShannon, there is even a cover of Ne me leave pas by Jacques Brel, with even the chorus sung in French by Joaquin Phoenix, I won’t hide from you that these songs worked wonderfully on me, especially since Joaquin Phonix and Lady Gaga sing each song themselves, there is no cheating. As much as Lady Gaga, there is no doubt, but Joaquin, he had already shone in Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash biopic where he already sang himself, in Joker 2, he brings his dancer’s touch with his such a special way of moving his hips, a slightly disjointed side that we had already seen in the first Joker of 2019. We are really in for a magnificent performance, perhaps even more die-hard than the first film.
So yes, this side of retro songs which hark back to the great days of Fred Astaire, Blues, Jazz and Gospel, it worked perfectly with me and I do not share the opinion of certain journalists who say that it happens like a hair on the soup, that it never fits into the story, quite the opposite, precisely, each song that starts refers to an emotional shock of Arthur Fleck, whether it is bad moments that he remembers or a dream awake, each song is dictated by an emotion and that’s why I found it beautiful. Joker Folie à Deux is a film which has audacity, which catches everyone on the wrong foot as I have already said, whereas it could very well have rested on its laurels and outright given what the public wanted, that is to say to give us a sequel which goes further in the violence, in the iconization of Batman’s greatest antagonist, by even linking his story to the arc of the DCU, or at least that of the Pattinson and Matt Reeves’ Batman, something many fans were hoping for, but no, that was never Todd Philipps’ intention, and that’s also why everyone is going to hate this sequel. And that’s why I find the film interesting, because it breaks the codes, the expectations too, like the first episode 5 years ago somewhere, which was in no way part of a superhero film with the usual codes and standards. Did you want more action? You will have a trial film, also about the prison world, all sprinkled with ditties, but with a message that is still as strong.
LOVE & BETRAYAL
The first film was a film about illness, the discomfort of a man rejected by a society which judges before even knowing, his slow descent into violence. In Joker 2, we will continue to explore this avenue, however with the arrival of a second character, that of Harley Quinn, who will allow him to experience love and try to bring out his true personality in him. Except that this time, there will be a more obvious moral at the end of the film, something that was visibly missing for Todd Philipps, who therefore readjusted his speech. Harley Quinn, the Joker’s true groupie, is also mocked in the film, a bit like all these women fascinated by the great criminals of our society. There is no need to return to the case of Nordhal Lelandais who became a father while he is incarcerated for his despicable crime. Reality is sometimes much more sordid than the films we watch… You have understood, Joker Folie à Deux is a scathing criticism of the cult of personality, of the split personality as well as Arthur’s lawyer Flack, wonderfully played by Catherine Keener whom I personally reviewed since Sicario 2 and who deserves a comeback in Hollywood like Toni Colette elsewhere. So regarding Harley Quinn, I hear the criticism of the character, that she is ultimately under-exploited in the film. I understand the disappointment, but his role nevertheless remains major in the construction and especially the deconstruction of Arthur Fleck. It is she who will give him confidence, but it is also she who will cause his downfall and that is also why I find the relationship between the two interesting. She is both his medicine, but also his poison…
Concerning the technique of the film, we find the same artistic coherence as the first Joker. The atmosphere is still as cold, bordering on icy, especially when we add the very murky universe of the prison universe of Arkham Asylum, but precisely, all of this contributes to this permanent uneasiness which is victim Arthur Fleck. There will, however, be some brighter, more colorful passages, during the precisely sung passages, these suspended moments where Arthur Fleck tries to escape his miserable life. The direction by Todd Philipps is mastered, certainly sober and without frills, but I found it elegant. Some will say that he tends to look for the best plan, and personally I find that it works very well. Like that, in my head, I remember the aerial shot with the colorful umbrellas that we saw in the trailers and which refer to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg by Jacques Demy, but I also remember Arthur lighting his cigarette in his cell, plunged into darkness, just like this passage where he is thrown into the cell and the only source of light hits his face in distress, because he has just been assaulted, even raped by the prison guards. Arkham Asylum. Yes, certain themes are not pleasant to see or hear, and Joaquin Phoenix’s incredible performance deserves to be given a second Oscar because he is so inhabited by the character.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE JOKER OF 2019
The only real big criticism I have about the film is that it doesn’t really manage to extricate itself from the shadow of its predecessor, too powerful to give it room to breathe. And it is also a sequel which never ceases to return to the first, whether in certain flashbacks, or in its scenes where we find places which were already iconized in the first film. The scene on the stairs in the Bronx was not worth redoing, just like certain musical themes which also recur. Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life, certain compositions by the Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir which are also included in this sequel, there are too many references to the first episode and that’s what it lacks. Todd Philipps therefore does his self-criticism in this daring sequel, but which will not please everyone. But as you know, when a work is so divisive, it’s better to form your own opinion.
OUR RATING: 8/10
