HOLLYWOOD—When Todd Phillips released his 2019 film, “Joker” it was something to be studied. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in cinema. I remember watching this movie in the theater and being unnerved. There was a nervousness about the film as if it would spawn people to react in strange ways. I remember one guy in the theater just giving off the oddest vibes as the movie unfolded.
The acting was near perfection for Joaquin Phoenix who earned a Best Actor Oscar for his riveting work (and it was well deserved). Director Todd Phillips picked up a Best Director and Best Picture nomination as well. The viewer was watching the mental breakdown of a character and how society treats them as a result. With that said, it was a perfect movie, but Hollywood being Hollywood, when a movie makes a lot of money the assumption is a sequel must made.
Cue the violin for “Joker: Folie a Deux” because it is a mixed bag of cinema that I am still trying to wrap my mind around. I am trying to place myself into the mind of director Todd Phillips and truly examine the end goal of this sequel. Was it to tackle a larger issue about mental health? Was it to examine how some people are heavily influence by the behavior and actions of others who they deem ‘heroes’ in their eyes. Is it to take a look at how the legal system at times can allow some of the most heinous criminals to get away with crimes because of the ability to plead insanity?
I had a ton of questions after watching the movie that I think most spectators would warrant. What was the end goal? That was the biggest question I had far more questions after the movie’s ending and I still cannot give you an answer. The narrative is pretty straight forward as it follows Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) as he is preparing for trial while being secured at Arkham State Hospital.
Fleck is the most integral and important person of the movie because while it feels a ton of layers of the character that made him so riveting from the previous film are stripped down here, Phoenix still brings meat to the performance that is intriguing. I seriously don’t understand the introduction of Lady Gaga as Harleen ‘Lee” Quinzel, a patient at Arkham, who catches Arthur’s eye and they have this sort of infatuation with one another that is mesmerizing, but also annoying to witness at the same time. All is not as it appears with Lee which Arthur discovers as the movie unfolds. Now the musical aspect. I kept hearing so much about how the movie is a musical, and I would almost argue against it.
Yes, there are some musical numbers, but they feel more like a ‘scene’ played out in Arthur’s head. I didn’t get “musical” watching these numbers, I got there are some scenes where people sing a bit and dance a bit, but it didn’t feel like an over-the-top extravaganza as you tend to see with so many musicals from the past and present. It didn’t bother me, to be honest, I was able to eliminate the musical moments from the narrative and just focus on that element.
There is violence, but it feels slightly tame in this sequel compared to the previous movie, but I will argue Phillips continues to leave that notion up in the air on whether what the audience is seeing is all real or just a figment of Arthur’s imagination. Is this what Arthur wants us to see or what he thinks we shall see. I dare even say this, but “Joker: Folie a Deux” is a film that deserves more than one watch to fully examine what is unfolding and its overall message. I didn’t hate the movie, but I didn’t love it either, it falls right in the middle where I would say, see the movie at your own risk.
