The first Joker film was a real triumph when it was released in 2019. Five years later, its sequel Joker: Folie à Deux has just been unveiled at the Venice Film Festival. The first reviews are in, and the film is divisive.
Joker 2: the critics are in
Released in 2019 while the DC Extended Universe continued to exasperate superhero fans, the film Jokerby Todd Phillips was a real success. Heavily inspired by Taxi Driver and The Puppet Waltz, two masterpieces by Martin Scorsese, the feature film offered a reinterpretation of the origins of the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Crowned with the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals, it was also awarded the Oscar for best actor for its lead performer and best film music. It also exceeded $1 billion at the box office, becoming for five years the highest-grossing R-rated film in history, before being surpassed in the summer of 2024 by Deadpool & Wolverine.
Say thatJoker: Folie à Deux is expected to be an understatement. Since the end of 2023, it has been regularly cited among the most anticipated films of the year. This Wednesday, September 4, one month to the day before its American release, the sequel to Joker has just been unveiled to the public at the Venice Film Festival. A very symbolic place for the film! What is the verdict? It seems that the first reviews are at least mixed.
According to Pete Hammond (Deadline), Joker: Folie à Deux is “a brilliant musical comeback“. The journalist from the very serious American media underlines that “the production is excellent in all areas“, which was already suggested by the first trailers. Hammond also mentions Lady Gaga's solid performance as Harley Quinn, who would be “smartly understated, far from the Harley Quinn we associate with Margot Robbie, credibly showing affection and connection with Joker, and more importantly, with the man behind the makeup“.
For Discussing Film, the sequel to Jokeris “as deranged and exciting as you'd hope.” Reviewer Ben Rolph was charmed by the “musical misadventure that walks the line between reality and fantasy” and especially by Lawrence Sher's cinematography, which “beautifully illuminates Joker: Folie a Deux.”He also points out that Joaquin Phoenix's performance as the Joker is “another Oscar-worthy performance.” Finally, he praises the film's ability to “focus on a singular and heavy theme,” and is delighted with the “musical numbers in Joker: Folie à Deux,” which he describes as “well-performed and incredibly entertaining.” For our French colleague Renaud Baronian (Le Parisien), the songs are one of the highlights of this feature film “as dark as it is dazzling“, thanks in particular to the presence of Lady Gaga who “shimmers on the screen” and “gives us a feast for the eyes“.
However, the musical aspect would be according to other reviews the main weak point of Joker: Folie à Deux. Owen Gleiberman (Variety) sums up: & …While Lady Gaga seems to have been born to star in musicals, given her undeniable talents as a singer and actress, she would be “under-exploited“, according to Gleiberman. The journalist also mentions a film in which not enough events happen, despite its 2 hours and 18 minutes. He also accuses Todd Phillips of having listened too much to the fears of Warner Bros. Discovery executives, following the heated debates concerning the violence of the first Joker.
A view shared by Vanity Fair, for whom this sequel is “a joke in questionable taste“. Journalist Richard Lawson is scathing: “It's hard to know what you saw. The film has little to say about mental illness or criminal tendencies.The obsessive love story is barely sketched. The film's political message is too lazy and inaccurate to have anything libertarian or libertarian about it. To put it briefly, Folie à deux is a farce that plays out at the expense of those who would like to find meaning in it.“.
More nuanced, The Hollywood Reporter points out “an uneven sequel“, weakened by the film's closed-door aspect, split between prison and court. “By blocking the Joker from his manic spread of chaos in the streets of Gotham City, the film neutralizes him little“, develops David Rooney.However, he recognizes several strong points in the feature film, particularly on the technical aspect. “It's a muscular blockbuster“, he writes. Furthermore, he underlines “the merit [of Todd Phillips and Scott Silver] for having followed their own path with a canonical character from DC Comics“, even if it means to anger Batman fans.
Anyway, we can't wait to discover Joker: Folie à Deux, to form our own opinion. And you, how are you waiting? Tell us in the comments section.