“Joker: Folie a Dieux” Review
Written by Victor DeBonis
It takes a ton for a movie to unintentionally anger me.
It takes even more for a movie to leave me feeling unpleasant but to have accomplished little that is meaningful for me after viewing it.
“Joker: Folie a Dieux” is a movie that infuriates me to my core partly from the shoddy qualities of what should be elements that gather more interest and partly from continuing the same needlessly mean-spirited demeanor without having anything valuable or thoughtful to communicate.
Granted, I have never been much of a fan of Todd Phillips’ filmography. The older I get, the less “The Hangover” holds up for me. Even at the time when every human and animal was talking endlessly about the movie, I found the film not too different from other “Shenanigans happen in Vegas” movies and episodes of shows if one took out the “Are you offended?” humor trying too hard to be edgy that was popular at the time. I also continue to feel displeasure from Phillips’ tasteless comments about comic-book movies not being real movies and his philosophy about why he doesn’t make comedy films anymore.
Many recognize I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the original, but this film for all of its attempts at being “edgy” and trying to make certain statements about mental health that were irresponsible and poorly thought-out, at least, had a few ideas and slightly longer moments of interest in it for me.
For all of my qualms of how he treats interviewers and behaves when the camera isn’t rolling, Joaquin Phoenix is devoted as ever as Arthur Fleck to laughing and hanging his head with the familiar brokenness from the original film. He has moments of brief humor trying to find solace, and he shouts and smirks as he embraces at the sight of specific fans wowed by his actions and the darkness still overtaking him.
Despite being criminally underutilized, Lady Gaga lets her singing vocals ring with their familiar talent when she’s not being asked to faintly whisper her melodies. Sadly, Gaga doesn’t tap into the insanity of Harley Quinn (or Lee as she’s called in this version) nearly as well as she should and appears more meekly inspired and worn-out than delightfully off-the-rails, which is a disappointment in itself considering her immense gift for performance.
The relationship itself between this version of the Joker and Harley is one of the multiple elements that should work and has worked in the past but is done a great disservice here. Aside from the first half-hour or so of what’s a 138-minute long film and does not need to be, Phoenix and Gaga interact very little with each other as the story heads more into the trial.
The connection starts off promising, and it’s done with ideas I haven’t seen from this couple before with both of these characters being patients instead of one being a psychiatrist and the other being a patient she attempts to help. Then, a pointless twist happens in the middle of the film, and it takes away all of the intrigue and great potential this story’s take on the couple originally had.
Furthermore, the choices made between these characters become baffling and turn each of these characters into dummies. It also doesn’t help that, despite both of them being great actors in other movies and having shown an impressive charisma in those films, neither Phoenix nor Gaga has much chemistry with each other here. And, if a version of arguably one of the most memorable couples in all of comic-book culture is not presented with much to lend in the form of interest or amusement behind it, you know a film is not advancing on the right foot.
The musical sequences are rather weak. The backgrounds of a few numbers visually look colorful and t terrific. Maybe, one or two numbers work fine and pop with color and some decent dance moves.
All of the other songs are poorly sung. I understand the point may be that they’re not supposed to completely sound as though they come from characters who are trained performers, but the weak warbling and muttering from when someone sings just sucks away all of the energy a number is supposed to have. Entire sequences in which a character is trying to sing are done without any sense of energy or passion behind it. If a musical number isn’t imagined in this movie, it’s poorly staged and choreographed with people just walking around a room or circling in a tiny cell instead of demonstrating complex movements and greater emotions and enthusiasm. I don’t expect this film to be “La La Land” or “Chicago” but, for a film with this budget, I would, at the very least, hope for songs containing a little more passion behind them in their construction or, in the worst case, advance the story in a meaningful way. Instead, the majority of the songs slam the pacing of the narrative to a halt, show subpar singing and dancing, and only add to my boredom in the experience.
Unfortunately, pacing is also a huge issue. As stated earlier, the movie is about 140 minutes, and it could potentially be entertaining enough if something interesting was communicated through the singing bits and the relationship or even the trial. So, it is a shame when the scenes involving the trial drag the tale even more than the singing moments do because they don’t demonstrate any valuable knowledge or commentary related to the mental health community.
Lawyers briefly mention names of specific disorders and bring up the painful childhood trauma of Fleck’s character, but, similar to the first movie, they only hammer the idea over the head about people who have mental health struggles being alone, due to what they deal with. We don’t discover anything valuable or insightful from the people who are questioned, and we aren’t encouraged to empathize with them very much based on what they share or even that much for Arthur.
Events happen in this movie that have no rhyme or reason and are only meant to try (and fail) to enhance its idea of being edgy and advance its own needlessly mean-spirited tone. You hope that the central relationship and the movie’s attempt about loners trying to find solace or hope in each other is going to be expanded upon and provide more uniqueness and some glints of actual humanity as the story advances. Yet, that moment never comes. And, the shoddy method through which this movie wraps up in the last 20 minutes or so only sealed my frustration for good. I asked myself what I had finished watching and what I had learned or had connected with through seeing such poorly written, mediocrely sung and performed tripe.
I’ve seen dozens of sad and difficult movies that I feel incredibly blessed to have experienced, and those movies work because they have real glimpses of humanity and thoughtfulness guiding them. Those movies add to the conversation, feature genuine passion, and encourage reflective dialogue based on what the characters say or do.
Todd Phillips’ “Joker” and especially its sequel has none of this.
A movie can look as good as this one does with its cinematography and its fierce colors. Yet, if it lacks anything meaningful to discuss as well as anything close to good in terms of production and just wants to try to be “edgy” without anything else behind it, then this is an act that shouldn’t even step on stage.
The only thing keeping this from being exactly on the bottom-of-the-barrel level of this year’s “Madame Web” is the visual presentation and non-singing performances. Brendan Gleeson is also exceptional as a vicious guard, by the way.
Skip this act, and go re-watch “Chicago” or, if you’re not into musicals, check out or re-watch “The Wild Robot” or “Rebel Ridge” instead.
Those movies are different, but they are made with sincerity and great love and deserve as many people seeing them as possible.
Grade: D