“Joker: Folie á Deux” review: Phoenix and Gaga save on villains

Slide for two – a shared madness – is a natural theme for a musical romance between Batman characters, but in Todd Phillips' troubled follow-up to his 2019 megahit Joker, the first question will be: Who are they? deux included film? Is it Joker and Harley Quinn? Arthur Fleck? Anyone else? Although the film is marked by momentum problems and a general heaviness, it still offers some interesting possible answers, although none to the general question: What did I just see and why?

Co-written by Phillips and Scott Silver, “Joker: Folie à Deux” begins two years after “Joker,” with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix in his Oscar-winning role) awaiting trial at Arkham Asylum for his numerous crimes. The plot is preceded by a Looney Tunes-esque cartoon entitled “Me and My Shadow”, which shows Arthur being haunted by his own shadow, which is more powerful than him. It exemplifies both the musical direction of the film and a metaphor for the unconscious and often unacceptable parts of ourselves. Arthur's dedicated lawyer (Catherine Keener in another intelligent, empathetic turn) prepares a “shadow” defense: Arthur is guilty of insanity innocent because Joker is an independent personality within him.

This is one of the possible duos in the film. Soon, however, Arthur will meet his fellow inmate sister Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), this film's version of Harley Quinn, previously played by Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey . These crazy kids love music and talk about killing their parents. The rest of the plot revolves around Arthur's trial, conducted by Gotham's awesome assistant district attorney Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey). Oh, and there are songs. Many, many songs.

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix in the film “Joker: Folie á Deux”.

(Niko Tavernise / Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Folie” is a sequel to “Joker” through and through, told in the same heightened cinematic language, with the return of key contributors. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher captures captivating images: Arthur's reaction to Lee drawing a lipstick smile on glass; or Arthur and Lee smoking cigarettes through prison bars. Phoenix is ​​every bit as engaging as we'd expect, and Gaga is convincing as a crazy superfan. But the biggest change, of course, is that they frequently burst into song – sometimes it's not so much bursting as percolating – and permeating the Great American Songbook for tunes like “That's Entertainment!” and “Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered).”

There are 11 songs on the soundtrack album and more than those in the film, presented in full or in parts. Sometimes the numbers serve a narrative purpose, sometimes not so much. The actors are brave, but these musical pauses test our patience. They often break the momentum, and there isn't much of that at first, with no attempt to create suspense about the verdict or some grand plan Arthur or Lee might hatch. This lack of cheerful mastermind is a painful reminder that this is nowhere near “Joker.”

The 2019 film bore more resemblance to a bastard child of Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy (Robert De Niro was even in it) than any traditional origin story, with Phillips clearly more interested in following a template by Martin Scorsese to follow as a DC. (In the sequel, a judge character looks suspiciously like Scorsese.)

So what, other than another billion-dollar box office, motivates the second film? This is something the audience will be wondering for almost the entire duration of “Folie à Deux,” which mostly comes in fits and starts until a tour-de-force sequence in which Arthur/Joker acts as his own lawyer functions. This is Phoenix at its best and the movie at its best. It's hilarious, strange and menacing in all the right ways – and a plus point for a somewhat slow comic book film. But anyone who waits for Arthur to develop into the insane Joker of the world of legends will do so in vain. That's not what this is about.

It's also not about the romance, which isn't explored in depth. The film seems more concerned with what others – the media, the crowds outside the courthouse – expect of Joker. It's so divorced from the supervillain narrative that it's almost meta. But since the musical numbers become long detours rather than providing further insight into Arthur, the sequel doesn't work as a character study. And it's certainly not a thriller.