Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Co-Managing Editor
(ZERO SPOILER REVIEW)
In 2019, the world was taken by storm by a film that would not only set new standards for what we thought possible at the box office, but new standards for what we ever thought possible from a comic book movie.
You would probably figure that this movie was one of the main blockbusters of the year such as Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, or Spider-Man: Far From Home. Surprisingly however, none of those movies were able to capture quite the same magic as Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix.
This DC stand-alone film portrays Arthur Fleck, a mentally-ill and failing stand up comic who slowly spirals more and more into madness as he slowly transforms into the laughing maniacal lunatic that we know and love. After reports of this movie came out, many questioned how successful a rated-R Joker film WITHOUT Batman could possibly be? Afterall, not only did this movie split up the dynamic duo, but it forced Phoenix into the spotlight of being endlessly compared to previous legendary Joker performances such as Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamil.
When Jared Leto was cast as Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad, he suffered from this same problem being constantly ridiculed for delivering a performance unable to match the standards set by previous Jokers’. However, Phoenix not only matched those performances, he SURPASSED them.
The film garnered mass critical acclaim and numerous awards including a best actor win for Joaquin Phoenix. The success of Joker was only further evident when it grossed over a billion dollars at the box office becoming the highest grossing R rated movie of all time (until it was surprised by Deadpool And Wolverine earlier this year).
With a billion dollars in the pockets of producers, Warner Bros Studios felt no hesitancy in greenlighting the production of a sequel to the critically acclaimed stand-alone. However, this process was halted due to the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020 then disrupted again by a writers strike in 2023.
Nevertheless, five years and one global pandemic later, fans finally got the sequel they had been yearning for in Joker: Folie à Deux and it was well…completely and utterly disappointing.
Fans supported the idea of a sequel after first, but looking back in hindsight fans now regret not leaving Joker as the masterpiece it was. Joker 2 was a musical drama starring the returning Joaquin Phoenix as Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a beautiful exploration into the soul’s deeper connection to music starring our favorite clown prince of crime quickly turned into a nightmare of a film that audiences could not escape from.
Despite being out for only a week, Joker: Folie à Deux achieved one of the lowest rotten tomato meter ratings EVER from a superhero movie. This rating placed it below other flops such as Man Of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and Wonder Women: 1984.
Joker 2’s problems stem not just from the film itself, but from the entire existence of the film in the first place. Joker acts as a perfect stand alone story separate from everything else in the DC universe. By making a new film, you are tainting an almost perfect movie by allowing the invariably worse sequel to reflect poorly on the original story.
Furthermore, while Joaquin Phoenix is still delivering a performance of a lifetime, his incredible acting is weighed down and overshadowed by how disappointing the rest of the film is. One of the main problems is that the film only slightly commits to the musical aspect of the story. It is advertised as being big, bold and flashy, yet in most scenes the numbers fall flat and feel like they are just interrupting the story.
Additionally, these out of place musical numbers can not only disrupt serious moments, but they can ruin any and all tension built up by a previous scene. Joker and Harley’s romance is extremely rushed and feels like a phoned in plot point rather than a well developed and fleshed out relationship.
Most of Harley’s character is completely omitted in favor of more scenes with Arthur, and Gaga’s and Phoenix’s lack of on-screen chemistry does not help their case either.
Even in the musical numbers that are done well, they are then retracted of their magic by long, drawn out, and sometimes frankly unnecessary moments interwoven throughout the story.
While there is an admirable boldness to Todd Phillips’ musical concept, it does not even remotely appeal to Joker‘s target audience.
It’s underwhelming and, frankly, awful execution can drive even the most devoted of Joker fans away (such as myself).
Joker: Folie à Deux was viewed as quite possibly the most bold yet risky project of the entire year. However, even the biggest skeptics could not foresee a public outcry this bad.
After being projected to make over a billion dollars at the start of the year, Joker 2’s awful reviews have sent movie goers flying away from the theaters faster than street thugs running away from Batman.
With an over $200 million dollar budget, Joker 2 likely needs to gross over 500 million dollars to gross a profit. However, Joker has only grossed 39 million in the first week and is projected to go under 100 million, meaning the studio could lose over potentially $400 million.
As phenomenal and game changing as Joker 1 was, not every movie needs a sequel and there is no better example than the tragic tale that is Joker: Folie à Deux.