The Clown Prince of Crime has returned to Gotham City in the eagerly-awaited sequel to Todd Phillips’ Joker.
The 2019 comic book movie starred Joaquin Phoenix as troubled Gothamite and floundering stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck; his already fragile mental state exacerbated by a cruel and uncaring society.
As the film ended, it saw Fleck fully inhabit the Joker persona – becoming a cult figure as he murdered a man live on television, and finding himself incarcerated in Arkham State Asylum.
Phillips’ sequel picks up where the first film left off, with Fleck standing trial for his crimes. While imprisoned at Arkham, he meets the luminous Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who helps him to come to terms with his fractured identity.
Following mixed reception at this year’s Venice Film Festival and unfavourable reviews from critics, Joker: Folie á Deux is now on general release – and it hasn’t gotten off to a good start at all.
Shocked and appalled by a reportedly divisive ending, and unexpected rebranding as a musical (really) fans have branded the film a ‘disappointment’ and an ‘insult’ to the original film.
The film has only been out since Friday (October 4), but it’s already wallowing in a paltry 33% score from critics and audiences alike.
While critics described its story as ‘thunderously dull’ and ‘cobbled-together,’ fans of the first film took its failures far more personally – perceiving the sequel as an insult to them and the character.
‘In a vacuum this movie cannot be any better than 5/10. But in the shadow of the first film this “movie” is an insult to the first and a stain on the genre. We as a society should take it as a warning to not force a sequel from a movie that didn’t need one,’ wrote the Rotten Tomatoes user Nikolai B.
‘Hands down, worst movie I’ve ever seen. From the first one being one of my favorite to this being the worst, this series had an insane fall from grace,’ said a shell-shocked Dan M.
However, it was the musical element which really set the cat(woman) among the pigeons.
‘Couldn’t personally enjoy the constant singing,’ said the user Whatever.
‘I thought it would never end. My favorite part was when Phoenix puts his hand over Gaga’s mouth and says “stop singing”,’ said GD L.
‘Don’t recommend at all, it was a musical type of style movie,’ bemoaned BMoviee.
The musical element shouldn’t have come as a surprise to those who have followed its journey from conception to screen – with Lady Gaga even releasing a new album of music inspired by the film.
Titled ‘Harlequin,’ the album is named after her Joker 2 character, and features tracks such as The Joker and Folie á Deux.
However, she has been careful not to describe the film as a musical per-se, telling audiences at Venice Film Festival: ‘I wouldn’t necessarily say that this is actually a musical in a lot of ways. It’s very different.’
She continued: ‘The way that music is used is to really give the characters a way to express what they needed to say because saying it is not enough.’
Meanwhile, director Todd Phillips also shied away from using the M-word, saying: ‘Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue.’
He said to Variety: ‘It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead. I just don’t want people to think that it’s like In the Heights, where the lady in the bodega starts to sing and they take it out onto the street, and the police are dancing.’
The director then added: ‘No disrespect, because I loved In the Heights.’
To the film’s audience, who would seem to disagree? In the words of Arthur Fleck’s Joker: ‘You wouldn’t get it.’
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