A lackluster waste of Lady Gaga

It's been five years since Todd Phillips joker gave us a gritty, ultra-realistic take on the iconic comic book villain. Set in a run-down 1980s version of Gotham. jokerNihilism touched on contemporary issues such as political divisions, wealth disparities and social isolation, which only intensified in the wake of the Covid pandemic. There was (and is) much critical debate about whether the film glorified the clown's violent acts or served as a cautionary tale about the community's neglect of marginalized people. Joker: Folie à DeuxUnfortunately, it has an even more confused perspective – and it's also just a worse film.

After playing talk show host Murray Franklin live on national television in the first film, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix in another crazy but unnecessary performance) spends five miserable years in Arkham Asylum awaiting trial. He has since become a cultural icon known as the Joker. One of the guards Arthur Fleck befriends (a tough Brendan Gleeson) enrolls him in a music therapy course, where he meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, played by pop icon and movie star Lady Gaga.

An anti-musical musical?

There were a lot of conversations about whether or not Joker: Folie à Deux can be considered a musical. During a Venice Film Festival press conference Last month, Gaga said: “I think the way we approach the music in this film is very special and extremely nuanced. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a musical. In many ways it's very different.” Todd Phillips said something similar the month before: tell diversity The “Most of the music in the film is actually just dialogue. It's just that Arthur doesn't have the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead.” But characters singing their feelings out loud is literally the definition of a musical, so were people are naturally confused.

Joker and Harley in Joker: Folie à Deux Sure, they sing their emotions (quite often), but the numbers they perform are hardly anything to go by. Although there are a few exceptions (which are the only truly quality parts of the film), most of the musical sequences are ordinary, everyday scenes that feature Joker and Harley singing in whispers to themselves or reciting their favorite songs from the radio. It's not the stop-and-stare moments you find in most musicals, you're not swept up in the lively movement and soaring vocals that make you feel everything the character is feeling.

In Joker: Folie à Deuxclassic American songs like “That's Entertainment,” “I've Got the World on a String,” and “Gonna Build a Mountain” are thrown in randomly and delivered in wafer-thin voices that barely articulate anything about the current situation or a character's perspective. Joker: Folie à Deux seems like the mumblecore version of a musical – and that was the case LADY FREAKIN' GAGA Available is a woman who has proven time and again that she is one of the best contemporary pop singers.

If Todd Phillips had leaned more into the musical genre and gone over-the-top with his song choices to express Arthur Fleck's psychological struggles, his disdain for society, or his overwhelming obsession with Harley, he would have made more sense to the songs. Rob Marshall's format Chicagoin which the lively musical numbers sound in the main characters' heads as a kind of escape from their everyday lives would have been a perfect fit for this film.

There are two scenes that break us out of the monotony of the film and make us care about the eccentric couple's romance despite its lack of spark. One of the best scenes is when Joker imagines himself singing the Bee Gees' “To Love Somebody” on stage with Harley Sonny & Cher ShowTV-like style, smartly dressed and set in front of flowing curtains bursting with Technicolor hues of red, blue and yellow. In another scene, they dance on a rooftop, with Joker in his suit and Harley in a flowing white dress, reminiscent of the elegance of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. A huge moon illuminates the bright blue sky, reminding us of the fantastic images of Moulin Rouge.

Another standout moment includes Joaquin Phoenix crooning “For Once in My Life” in the prison lounge; At first we're not sure if the inmates can actually hear him, but clever editing shows that everything is happening in his head. With his perpetually furrowed brow and tearful eyes, his entire body vibrates with despair. He also appears shockingly thin – even thinner than in the first film, with prominent shoulder blades. Phoenix's performance carries Joker: Folie à Deux just like the first time jokerand, despite the tedium of the story, keeps us captive in Arthur Fleck's collapsing mental state. But hearing his flat, rough vocals over and over again with little variety becomes more and more nerve-wracking as the film progresses.

Gaga, oo la la

While Lady Gaga certainly brings a quiet intensity to the role of Joker's lover, this version of the Harley Quinn character is more of a wide-eyed orphan who lacks the firecracker personality found in other iterations. She's still completely obsessed with Joker, staring at him with starry eyes and confessing that she's seen the TV movie about him hundreds of times, but Joker: Folie à Deux puts an interesting twist on this loyalty. While it's interesting that Todd Phillips takes a more reserved and dark approach to her character – particularly during her special visit to Arthur's cell – other versions of Harley Quinn and Joker are far more complex and intriguing. In Joker: Folie à DeuxJoker and Lee barely spend any time together and their lackluster singing creates no real chemistry or emotional depth.

Lee's pyromania gives us one of the film's few visually stunning scenes, as she sets Arkham Asylum on fire while casually singing and dancing among the bright, crackling flames. But here too the singing is quieter, quieter than it should be at this moment. The introduction of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn – a fiery character loved by so many, portrayed by a fiery pop star loved by so many – was so promising. But she often fades into the background and has little to do over the course of the film other than sit on the sidelines of the courtroom. What a waste.

Lee's only goal is to convince Arthur Fleck that the most important thing about him is being the Joker and that he should embrace his true identity during his trial. This goes directly against the wishes of Fleck's government lawyer, Maryanne (an aloof Catherine Keener), who wants him to pursue the insanity defense. This tension between Arthur and his Joker persona should be compelling, but the courtroom scenes are a slog and barely raise any interesting themes, such as where Arthur Fleck ends and the Joker begins, or whether the true illness lies within him or the world itself.

This sudden shift into the legal drama genre repeats the details we already know without offering anything new. Unlike the first film, where we witness the gradual disintegration of Joker's sanity and his growing anger towards an uncaring society, Joker: Folie à Deux has no plot dynamics or character development.

Todd Phillips' direction felt more comfortable in the first film, a paint-by-numbers riff on Martin Scorsese's Taxi driver And The King of Comedy full of DC stories. Joker: Folie à Deux It would have benefited from the director taking a cue from other films and either adopting a subversive realism similar to that of Lars von Trier Dancers in the dark or give us a direct homage to Hollywood musicals of the Golden Age Singing in the rain or The band wagon.

But this one floats around in the middle, just as callous and apathetic as its emotionally damaged characters. Joker: Folie à Deux wallows in uninspired misery and says little about Arthurt's mental stability, his romance with Lee, or what brought him to the courtroom in the first place. Unfortunately the best part of it Joker: Folie à Deux is the opening scene, a Looney Tunes-style animation about the Joker's shadow: it provides an entertaining, focused story before segueing into the mundane. Joker: Folie à Deux is a failed experiment that squanders its promising concept and stellar cast in favor of a lackluster and overly dark vision. Musicals may not be for everyone, but Joker: Folie à Deux managed to make the genre incredibly boring.