Joker: Folie a Deux: An Ambitious, but Excessive Sequel (Blu-ray)
The Film:
When Todd Phillips' "Joker" came out in 2019, it hardly seems possibly that anyone could've predicted the wild success it would have. Despite having rather poor reviews, the film would go on to gross over a billion dollars, and as if that wasn't enough, it would also garner a remarkable 11 Oscar nominations, winning two for Best Actor and Best Original Score. Obviously a sequel was ordered pretty quickly, and though it took five years to deliver it, "Joker: Folie a Deux" finally arrived to continue the story of the infamous titular character. Could the long-awaited sequel possibly find the same grand success as its predecessor, or was this simply a case of pushing their luck a little too far?
As the film opens, we find Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) incarcerated at Arkham Hospital while awaiting trial for the crimes he committed in the first film. During his stay, he meets Harleen Quinzel (aka "Lee") (Lady Gaga), a fellow inmate who claims to have grown up in the same neighborhood and burned down her parents' apartment building. The two quickly hit it off and fall in love, with Lee expressing her admiration for what Arthur has done. The two even try to escape together, which gets Arthur thrown into solitary confinement, where Lee has to tell him that she's getting released, though she'll still attend his trial. When the big day finally arrives, the defense attempts to argue that the Joker persona was responsible for the crimes, while the prosecution tries to cut through the claims of insanity, beginning a showdown that will ultimately determine Arthur's fate.
Looking back at the original "Joker" for a brief moment, it's perhaps fair to say that it was treated a little harshly by many critics. It was hardly a bad film, though not exactly a great one either. In this critic's opinion, it was simply decent, featuring an intriguing origin story that's driven by a strong, Oscar-winning performance from Joaquin Phoenix. However, something about it caught on like wildfire in the industry, leading to a slew of awards and nominations from just about ever major group in the business, and when paired with its incredible box office performance, it quickly set a bar that would make it quite a difficult act to follow, though that clearly didn't stop Phillips from giving it a shot.
Turning to "Joker: Folie a Deux," it's certainly a rather ambitious attempt to keep Arthur Fleck's story going. It's a film that wants to be a love story, a story about rejecting societal norms, a dream-like musical, and a courtroom drama all rolled into one bizarre mish-mash of a narrative, which perhaps begins to explain why it doesn't work very well. It wants to be so many different things, spreading its attention in so many directions, that it ends up not doing any of them justice.
The themes of the previous film get drowned out in a love story that goes nowhere, taking up pretty much all of the first half of the film, and giving it such a dreary pacing that it's hard to register a pulse through much of this section. Meanwhile, the random musical interludes, which are interspersed throughout the film, add absolutely nothing to it (though, in fairness, they do look very nice, but it merely makes you wish that they had some kind of relevance to this unusual, stitched-together narrative).
When it comes to the courtroom drama, there are moments when it comes alive, primarily when Arthur's old friend Gary is being questioned on the stand, but for the most part it too has trouble keeping up a sufficient level of engagement as it goes on and on, while at the same time trying to add dramatic developments to the sluggish love story that was already dragging it down in the first place. This is, of course, mixed with additional musical numbers that do nothing more than drag out the proceedings even more.
When all is said and done at the end of these 138 minutes, you may catch glimpses of the ambitious vision that Phillips had for this eagerly-awaited sequel, but it also becomes quite clear that he went a little overboard with his approach and tried to do far too much with it, causing it to become a curious mess that doesn't really get any of its pieces right. At the end of the original film, you certainly get the sense that there's more to tell of Arthur Fleck and his new-found Joker persona, but sadly "Joker: Folie a Deux" doesn't deliver on that potential, ultimately leaving the viewer bored, unsatisfied, and disappointed that more couldn't be done with the intriguing material.
Video/Audio:
"Joker: Folie a Deux" comes to Blu-ray in a variable 2.2:1 & 1.9:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The film is rather dark throughout much of its 138-minute runtime, but the picture always remains perfectly sharp & clear. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a fantastic job in both departments for the film's debut physical home release.
Special Features:
Everything Must Go (44 Minutes)
The Character of Music (8 Minutes)
Crafted with Class (7 Minutes)
Colors of Madness (6 Minutes)
Live! with Joker (5 Minutes)
The Blu-ray comes with an excellent selection of special features, totaling about 70 minutes, the majority of which consists of a fascinating four-part behind-the-scenes featurette that explores the making of the film, while the other four delve into other aspects, including the music and sets. Definitely plenty of material here for fans to enjoy.
Conclusion:
Todd Phillips clearly had a very ambitious vision for "Joker: Folie a Deux" in which he wanted to merge a love story, a musical, a courtroom drama, and more, but unfortunately the result is a rather bizarre, sluggish mess in which the film's attention is spread in so many directions that it ends up doing none of them justice, ultimately resulting in a film that fails to capitalize on its potential.
Score: 2.5/5
Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.
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