Joker: Folie a Deux Review

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

So recently Warner Brothers decided on making a sequel to the hugely famous Joker (2019) movie which starred Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker. The sequel was named Joker: Folie a Deux (French for “shared madness”). And to be honest, it did serve its purpose, by, uh, making the public mad. From the bizarre decision to make it a musical to a plot that completely undermines the original movie, this film was a chaotic ride. Let’s break it down into the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

THE GOOD

As always, Joaquin Phoenix brings his A-game as Arthur Fleck. His performance is raw, nuanced, and captivating. Lady Gaga also gives a solid effort as Harley Quinn, a fan-turned-love interest. Cinematography remains top-notch, with beautifully shot scenes and moody atmospheres that immerse you in this world.

THE BAD

Unfortunately, Folie à Deux starts to unravel with unnecessary characters and poor plot choices. Harley Quinn, while well-acted, feels shoehorned into the story without real purpose beyond marketing. Catherine Keener plays Arthur’s lawyer, Maryanne Stewart, whose involvement triggers a muddled courtroom drama that drags the plot into absurdity.

Worst of all, Harvey Dent (played by Harry Lawtey) is badly miscast, feeling too young and unconvincing as Gotham’s future District Attorney. Several minor characters from the first film reappear for no reason other than to remind viewers of the original. However, crucial figures like the Waynes are mysteriously absent, making the narrative feel disconnected from anything meaningful.

THE UGLY

Terrible, sickening, awful plot !!! I don’t think I’ve seen a script and plot this bad in recent times, let alone in a top tier movie with a top tier character and IP. Here’s where the movie truly collapses. Arthur Fleck—the man we believed was becoming The Joker—remains trapped as a lovesick, pathetic figure locked in Arkham Asylum, where the entire story takes place. Arthur is persuaded by his lawyer to claim he has dissociative identity disorder and that "Joker" is merely an uncontrollable personality. Instead of becoming the feared mastermind, Arthur spends most of the movie serenading Harley in tiresome musical sequences. Yes, LOTS of songs. Instead of them talking we just get boring songs for the majority of the movie.

When Harvey Dent tries to prove Arthur was always in control of his Joker persona, Arthur responds by... singing. I mean, not for Harvey ofcourse, he was singing in his head beating the judge and what not. It was abysmal. Things get even more absurd when Arthur discovers Harley has been lying about her past to get close to him and now she claims to be pregnant. Arthur’s reaction to all of this? Nothing. He seems to not react to anything in the whole movie. The emotional flatness is baffling and infuriating.

Arthur fires his lawyer because, uh, she was talking about his virginity. He decided to represent himself in court—dressed as Joker. Yes, dressed as Joker he was pleading that he isn't Joker. Then when one of his friends from the first movie claimed that he is afraid of him now, he starts reconsidering his decisions. A later scene adds up to this, when the movie pretends to build toward something serious when Arthur faces serious abuse by the guards at Arkham.

In the end, Arthur accepts responsibility for his crimes but insists he is just "Arthur Fleck" and not truly The Joker. Just as the judge reads his verdict, a bomb goes off, and in the ensuing chaos, Arthur escapes. On the infamous stairway where he once danced, Harley breaks up with him, saying she loved Joker, not boring old Arthur. Arthur is arrested once more and sent back to Arkham.

Then comes the most frustrating twist—Arthur gets stabbed by a random Arkham inmate, who laughs maniacally and carves a smile on his face. Yes, this random man is revealed to be the "real" Joker. He will become THE Joker in the future. The entire movie thus serves to inform us that Arthur Fleck was never Joker to begin with. WTF !!

VERDICT

With Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips undoes everything the first movie achieved. It completely dismisses the transformation of Arthur into Joker and turns him into a sad, irrelevant figure, who is not sure about which decision to take when, and is just jumping from one character to another without any reason. The musical numbers, shallow romance, and nonsensical plot twists leave viewers baffled. The final reveal—that the Joker we followed across two films wasn’t Joker at all—feels like a slap in the face.

Both movies are now rendered pointless, with no connection to the true essence of the Joker or the Batman mythology. Let’s be honest, Arthur Fleck was never the Joker we know, not in the first movie, not anywhere. He was just a random ill guy punishing people who laughed at him. The first movie received unnecessary hype from general audience who don’t know the roots of the character Joker. Joker is never supposed to be an anti-hero, he is never supposed to relate to the audience, most importantly, he is never supposed to have a definitive origin story !! Using Joker’s name to create a solo origin movie was foolish in the first place. I think Todd Phillips later realized that too haha. So he decided to erase the first movie completely from existence.

Remember Arthur laughing at a joke in the ending of the previous film? Although it’s never revealed, now it’s pretty clear, the joke’s on us. Us audience who glorified the first movie for no reason, we got what we f****** deserved !!