Movie Review: Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) *No Spoilers*

Movie Review: Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) No Spoilers

It was with good reasons I didn't see the Joker (2019) sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, in cinemas.

While I did like the first film, I've never rewatched it, and have no desire to see it again any time soon. It was a little too graphically violent and generally a depressing story overall for me.

Add to that, every single review I read for the sequel effectively panned the film, with the common theme being "...this movie is a big middle finger to DC fans."

Subscribing to HBO Max, for season 2 of Peacemaker, gave me access to the Joker sequel. Time to see if this movie was really as bad a everyone said it was.

Joker: Folie à Deux centers around Arthur Fleck's (a.k.a. The Joker) (Joaquin Phoenix) trial for the murders he committed in the first film, along with his growing relationship with a fellow, female inmate at Arkham Hospital, Lee (Lady GaGa).

While I can definitely see why DC fans thought this movie was a complete misfiring train wreck of a film, I'm going to have to admit, I kind of like it.

It's definitely not what comic book movie fans were looking for in a Joker movie. They were, no doubt, at least expecting something more along the lines of the first - as was I, to be honest. But then we all heard the sequel was going to be more of a musical, with Lady Gaga cast as Harley Quinn, and who knew what it would be? Still, the trailers did have some promising moments and imagery.

People were hoping, maybe, Joker would expand into a wider DC universe. It has the serious, gritty drama, and deep, thought provoking plots that many DC fans have gravitated toward since the Nolan Batman Trilogy. They may have even hoped to see this Joker go up against Batman some day - even though Bruce Wayne's Dark Knight story has barely even begun in this universe.

That aside, if you take this movie, and the first, for what it is, a completely different take on the Joker, not connected to anything other than these two films, then you may just appreciate the sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, a little bit more as a piece of 'art cinema'.

It's not anything DC fans were looking for, but it is an interesting character study of a mentally ambiguous man (is he crazy or is he not?), and the singing and dance sequences bring color, and are a substitute for action set pieces that you'd usually find in a comic book film.

Since Arthur's crimes are mostly described in the sequel, you don't actually need to have seen the first film. However the first film is the better of the two, in terms of a more complete story with interesting characters.

It's also easier to miss when Arthur is hallucinating in the first film, which can help you be a little more empathetic toward Arthur despite his actions later on.

Lady Gaga is somewhat wasted in this film. Where fans thought we were going to get an interesting and new take on Harley Quinn, in the end she's barely a version of the character.

As the Joker's love interest, and song and dance partner, Gaga is great. She just doesn't get much to hold onto that makes her anything much more than Lee Quinzel. Where people were interested to see another film featuring Phoenix's Joker, I don't think anyone is clamoring to see more of Gaga's Harley. Despite some strong stills and images of Harley in the marketing, she doesn't really stand out in the film itself, she's more... just Lee.

Like the film, Lee just kind of fades away in the third act. Which I found was the film's biggest problem (after being a total misstep with the fan base). I didn't find the film boring at all. In fact it held my attention all the way through, but it goes nowhere.

It hints at a possible path forward for Joker, should anyone be crazy enough to continue this corner of, what is now, a DC Elseworlds story, but why would you? (If you haven't seen the film that question will make more sense once you know how it ends).

As an art piece, and perhaps if you view it through the lens of being a filmed version of the stage musical director Todd Philips initially envisioned it to be, it's a compelling piece of cinema. You may just enjoy it.

As a DC Comic book movie, it's awful. Maybe with a better through line, that delivered a better purpose and a compelling payoff, it would have worked - and even been thought of as genius. But it doesn't. Worse still, nobody is even interested in this version of Joker anymore.

Such a shame, since the first movie delivered so much promise.

Comments

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

James Gunn's Social Media Monkeys Joke Was a Highlight of His Superman Movie For Me

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls. The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...

The Worst Book I Have Ever Read - Gulp: Travels Around the Gut by Mary Roach

TET and Mary Roach's Book, Gulp . I 'm the kind of person who only reads one physical book at a time. For context I consider a 'book' to be anything over 100 pages of mostly text. Basically your typical work of fiction novel or factual biography. It's not that I can't read more than one book at a time, I just choose not to because I don't set a lot of time aside for reading. Maybe 30 minutes a day when I'm on a good run with a really engaging text. Little did I know that Mary Roach's Gulp: Travels Around the Gut *, a book of 317 pages (minus the Acknowledgments and Bibliography) would become a bottle neck for my reading for the next three and a half years. As such, I'm calling it the worst book I have ever read. Despite how long it took me to read, it is not a bad book in the slightest, and is in fact, quite light, somewhat entertaining, reading for a book that explores the science, and the resilience of the human digestive system. I'm no st...

Skateboarders Who Ever Dreamed of Dropping In on a City Building - Sandro Dias Just Lived Your Dream

Dias's drop-in from one of the lower platforms for practice. Image: © Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull I f you're a skateboarder living in a city you've probably looked at a building that has skate ramp vibes and imagined dropping in on it... well Professional Skateboarder, Sandro Dias didn't just imagine. The Perth Telstra Building as depicted in this fantasy poster print, Forbidden Skate Ramp by Harry Young. If you lived in Perth, Western Australia, any skateboarder who saw the top of the Telstra Building likely had the same thought about the ramp like quarter pipe at the top. Also, back in the day there was a classic skateboarding poster going the rounds that depicted Sydney as a literal skatepark with ramps built up, down, and over numerous buildings. Sandro Dias, who broke the record for the world's tallest drop-in on the 26th September 2025 by dropping in on a mega ramp built on the side of the curved façade of the 22-storey Centro Administrativo Fernando Ferrari (C...

Roary the Racing Car is Evil

Well okay maybe the lovable little red racing car, that has his own TV show, Roary the Racing Car , isn't evil but I do suspect he's into brain washing. Subliminally teaching everyone his life lessons. How else do you explain a fully grown adult, namely me, waking up in the morning from a dream about Roary? Before your mind begins to wander, it's nothing even remotely perverse (or maybe it is, depending on how you look at things), my dream was simply playing out like a typical episode of Roary the Racing Car. Perhaps we should back up a bit. In your best 'Big Chris' voice say "Come on Roary!" This all starts because I do my daily work out routine watching Judge Judy . Exercise is as boring as hell (oh dear, coarse language) so I watch TV whilst I go through my routine. At 3pm the most intelligent show on the box is, you guessed it, Judge Judy. Her show is only 30 minutes long and my routine is an hour so at 3:30pm I need something else to watch. Channel fl...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog