Joker 2 first reviews land ahead of cinema release next month

“The darkness at the core of the film is underlined by its very brutal ending, which rejects comic book conventions in favour of psychological depth. Phoenix’s performance remains powerful and stirring, too.”

“Comic-book fans should not come to Folie À Deux expecting a conventional superhero approach here, then — just as musical-theatre fans should not expect world-class standards of singing and dancing. It’s something scrappier and stranger.”

“Folie à Deux is the most interesting film about Arthur Fleck. It’s genuinely a little daring, genuinely a little challenging, and genuinely a little genuine. And that’s no joke.”

“The sequel is here, and though it ends up as strident, laborious and often flat-out tedious as the first film, there’s an improvement. It’s a musical, of sorts, with Phoenix and others warbling show tune standards, often in fantasy set pieces, a little in the way of Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven. This gives it structure and flavour that the first film didn’t have.”

“It’s a disappointing film — but I suspect that’s exactly what it’s meant to be.”

“If we had had a bit more comic book action and a little less singing, this could have been a truly outstanding film. Alas, it is not.”

Related: All you need to know about Joker 2

Ahead of its release, it’s been revealed that Joker: Folie à Deux is around 16 minutes longer than the first movie. It has a confirmed runtime of just under 138 minutes.

We also know the sequel opens with an animated Looney Tunes-inspired sequence which Todd Phillips – who returned to direct and co-write – said was to make the movie “feel like it was made by crazy people”.

Joaquin Phoenix has also revealed that Lady Gaga had a strong reaction to the first time she heard him sing — but not in a bad way.

“I do seem to remember [Gaga] spitting up coffee the first time I sang, so that felt good, that was exciting and made me feel confident,” he recalled to Empire. “Gaga was always very encouraging of just, ‘Go with what you feel, it’s fine’.”

Joker: Folie à Deux is released in cinemas on October 4.

Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
 

Night News Editor

Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US. 

He has worked previously as both a reporter and sub editor for the brand, prior to taking on the position of Night News Editor in 2016. 

Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. As a US contributor to Digital Spy, Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo.