User reviews

It was a complete waste of time. As a massive fan of Joker, I expected a strong comeback five years later. The movie was a complete drag. Whenever I thought the movie was taking a turn for the better, it got worse. Save yourself the time and money. Joaquin Phoenix's performance was excellent, but the script was terrible. Through no fault of his own, Joker Folie A Deux is in line as one of the worst sequels ever. The movie seemed more like a display of Lady Gaga's singing and acting ability, which isn't great. I believe this may be the biggest box office flop of 2024. This movie should have been released on Tubi for free.

If Joker 2 was meant to expand on the tortured psyche of Arthur Fleck, it succeeded only in expanding my boredom. What made the first film so intriguing-the slow descent into madness-was replaced with a frantic, disjointed attempt to outdo its predecessor without any real sense of direction. Fleck's evolution (or lack thereof) feels more like a series of erratic, isolated scenes than a cohesive narrative.

The film struggles to find its tone, oscillating between forced social commentary and a carnival of absurdity, leaving neither thought-provoking nor entertaining moments to cling to. It's as if the filmmakers believed that more chaos automatically equals more depth, but instead, it comes off as empty spectacle with none of the philosophical grit that made the original resonate. The character development was shallow, almost as if they hoped we wouldn't notice the lack of story under the avalanche of neon-lit chaos and ominous laughs.

Joaquin Phoenix, ever the committed actor, did his best, but even his performance couldn't save a script that feels more like a checklist of provocations than an actual journey. Joker 2 is a poor imitation of its own predecessor, like trying to laugh at the same joke twice-only this time, it falls flat, and you're left wondering why you ever found it funny in the first place.

Verdict? Skip this punchline.

Seriously if you just want to listen to some songs being sung without any story line it is movie for you, in the middle pf the movie I have almost fallen asleep, just feels like there was nothing to show so they just tried to extend the movie with singing... Compared to first part this film is really poor... Story line is not existent it does not really attract attention.

I had really high hopes when they announced second part of the movie, but unfortunately there expectations were not met..

It is basically 60 min of singing 60 min of court and 18 minutes of story, seriously way worse than expected, if you expect similar movie to first part better do not go..

Tod Phillips should've asked for some guidance on how to handle a musical within this world. I felt like Arthur/joker took a back seat and they did some flashbacks. Idk maybe focusing on Harvey Dent and other interesting characters within the DC universe, whoever they could've added or maybe mentioned within the joker universe at least it just didn't feel the same and as shocking as the first one I don't wanna give too much away at all so this isn't spoilers this is just very much my opinion I do not think Lady Gaga was necessary. I do not think a single was necessary. The first one was the best if they would've kept it at that I would've been able to keep it legacy, adding a sequel only devalued it. It's not that I don't appreciate God's voice or I'm not a fan. Maybe she should not have to sing in every movie like use your acting chops and just act girl you got it. You don't need to sing in every movie. We already know you're a great singer so stop please.

Let's start with simple questions.. Where's the story? Why did you make it musical? Where's the production house inputs when they saw that vision from the director? Why didn't they respect the fans?

Yes this movie and the director did not respect the fans of Joker or DC!! We were waiting for five years to see Joker's effects on people and how they would react and destroy the city. You could do the hospital and the court scenes in first 30-40 minutes then start the epic battles and the tricks of Joker and his followers!

Joker for the fans is the devil and the destroyer not a man who only laughs!!!!

Honestly, BIG disappointment!!

I have to give credit to Joaquin Phoenix for his performance and for the general mood.

Let's be honest, the first film was great! A self contained tale about a man who was broken down and incredibly well told and acted! The second only just rehashes what was told in first film and drags on over prison and court scenes dragged over 2 hours and 20 minutes.

The musical parts are incredibly misplaced and Lady Gaga was just not great, she was ok but she's not a talented actress and to me was a very strange pick considering the musical side of it is so bad.

Pheonix is probably the only redeeming factor of the film and he makes it atleast watchable if your very bored and want to watch Joker in the prison/court and dream sequences that are terrible songs.

The good is Pheanix is a brilliant actor and anything he touches is gold. But it's nowhere near the original, skip it unless you really really care.

I wonder what the insurance was like on this film since every...single...scene contained at least one person smoking. Chances are, they had to do multiple takes with each performer smoking a pack and a half to nail the scene...

This felt like an obligation movie. Like Writer/Director Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix were contractedly (and very begrudgingly) HAD to do a follow-up to their Oscar-winning/billion-dollar original. "Fine, since you're gonna make us do this, let's ruin it by making it a musical" I could hear them say.

Also, this felt like it could work either way. It could be brilliant by making the sequel into a musical or the musical scenes could bring down the whole movie. Spoiler: it's the latter.

I could see maybe ONE fantasy scene play out with a song and dance on an obvious soundstage. Maybe two. Most of the movie, it didn't work. And neither did their voices.

I love Lady Gaga and her music. Not this time. She was awful. And maybe Phoenix isn't a born singer. I almost want to give him the benefit of the doubt since again, it felt like he was trying to sabotage the film. He was even worse with his voice.

What did work for me was the transition from depressed clown to slowly getting a smile on his face due to the introduction of Gaga's Harley Quinn. I pretty much loved watching that spark grow. While this was nowhere at all entertaining as the entirety of the first movie, at least that was something to grasp onto during this disaster.

Can't wait to hear someone ask if you needed to see the 2019's Joker. Well, you should anyways because that was 10x better. But, necessary? Not sure. They bring that movie up and its events as much as you see someone light up a cigarette. Again, that's every scene.

So, if you were to take away the musical segments, the smoking and the references to Part One, this would be 22 minutes, max. What would be left is those awesome character developing scenes of Joker getting life back into his chuckles.

It's easy to hate on this movie for making the daring, albeit terrible, choice of switching subgenres and making this a musical out of nowhere. If the songs were good, memorable or were sung well, I could easily forgive this decision. I left the theatre roughly 60 minutes ago and I can remember one line from one of the songs: I am that Joker, or something like that. Okay, I guess all songs/segments were pretty forgettable.

I definitely praised Phoenix for his take on the Joker in #1. While he was still only my third favorite live-action take (Heath Ledger will remain my #1 and Jack Nicholson's a solid second place,) Gaga's Harley Quinn was meh. I will ALWAYS prefer Margot Robbie's version. I understand this version and that doesn't make it great.

Was this a waste of time? Did I try and cancel my tickets all week? Is this a worthy follow-up to that fantastic first movie?

Why yes, yes and no. Skip it.

***

Final Thoughts: I will give this movie's opening a total thumbs up. I'm not sure why THAT wasn't the whole movie. I mean, if they could ruin the first by making this a bad musical, they could've certainly go all-in with that very fun opening.

Multiple times during the screening I said to myself: "Warner Brothers has done it again; they've destroyed another DC franchise." I was reminded of Gaga's other questionable acting gigs, such as her disastrous Simpson's appearance. But, the more I watched, the more I wondered if the film before me was actually a piece of art so layered, dense and inspired that it transcended the bounds of human comprehension. Or, perhaps, could it be both? Are we mortals too feeble-minded to see the genius behind this film. Was the director inspired by the divine in a way that we will only come to understand in generations.

No, I think, perhaps it was truly just ... bad. A bad movie, prone to making decisions so obviously cringeworthy at every corner and also, inconceivably, also being a musical, because that's what DC needed: a sing-along adaptation of its once beloved villain.

I for one am going to home and turning HBO Max to watch a much better, animated, take on Harley Quinn.

Joker was an actual good movie, so a sequel was pretty much in the books, but yeah, Lady Gaga was involved and it had to be a musical, with that in mind I knew I wasn't going to like it but would still go out of my way to see it.

That was the easiest 12$ any movie theater made out because as expected, the movie was a garbage musical....it had zero action, then music, then zero action. To put in perspective, think of the worst movie from DC? Was it green lantern? Not anymore!

If you want to waste some money and 2+ hours in the movie theater, it's perfect for you. There was no mention of Batman, no 2face... sleep and you'll be better off.

I've never seen a musical in cinemas where the longer it went on, the more you could feel the audience be like "ugh, another musical number???" I think part of why these musical parts fall so flat is that they really add nothing. Traditional musicals use the songs to progress the plot and keep the story moving, the songs in this film just paused the movie like an irritating commercial break.

The first movie resonated a bit too powerfully with the most dangerous segment of humankind, historically. The main message was one of revolution: subvert the dominant paradigm, kill the rich. But there was also an incredibly poignant affirmation for sufferers of trauma, especially that suffered by the movie's protagonist, and all too real and common in our society even if massively under-acknowledged.

I believe (and as always I must add that I could be wrong), that the studio execs, themselves somewhat wealthy, but especially pressured by the owners of capital who finance those studios (and nearly everything else), compelled a formerly unremarkable and less-than well-established director to disempower the sequel by rendering it a boring yet confusing musical inanity with the intention of at least capping the momentum of revolution and the empowerment of solidarity felt by the disenfranchised outcast represented by the Joker character in the first film.

Serious question: who is this made for? I can't see comic book fans, Lady Gaga fans, or even fans of the first movie liking this.

The film doesn't trust the audience to critically question the main character, so it portrays them as weak and passive, only reacting instead of taking action. Anyone expecting a good sequel to the socially critical masterpiece predecessor will be disappointed.

The film feels long because, in the end, it just retells the story of the first movie. The only positive aspects are once again good acting and truly beautiful set design and cinematography. It's truly a shame for all the fans who were wondering how the story would continue and rightfully had high expectations.

Lady Gaga's performance is good. You can tell she's giving it her all.

Good - the character stayed true to the first film.

Bad - so many different angles that where presented during the film, so many opportunities to make it as brilliant as the first but unfortunately it felt like it a was a money maker to get people back in the cinema with the memory of the last film. Very disappointed, very frustrating, if your a joker fan then give it a miss.

It was always going to struggle with the first film being so good and because of that I gave it 2 extra stars, otherwise it would have been a 1 star for me.

Best part of the movie was the Nacho's and cheese dip... Delicious.

I loved the first Joker film but I have always thought a sequel was unnecessary and there has been lots of negative responses to Joker: Folie a Deux and I have finally had a chance to see this film and here is my review. The premise of the film sees Arthur Fleck locked up after the events of the previous film and meets someone who gives him a new lease on life.

Main Character Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as Arthur Fleck and he is really trying here. He still clearly has passion for this role and their are elements of this performance that are similar to the first film. But there just isn't that depth that he had in the first film and the character is completely butchered here. There is no development of his character and it feels like he actually goes backwards and it was really disappointing.

Supporting Characters Brendan Gleeson plays a Security Guard and he is good in the film. He is really unlikeable but the dynamic between him and Arthur is actually pretty interesting, it's just not a huge part of the film and doesn't really get any resolution.

Lady Gaga joins the cast as Lee Quinzel and I thought she was pretty weak here. I didn't care for her dynamic with Arthur and the fact that she doesn't fit the role that she was hired to play and the character was weak. It feels like she was just brought in to sing and no care was taken to her character.

The rest of the cast are given little to work with and some are only in like one scene. The guy playing Harvey Dent did nothing to convince me that he is this iconic comic book character and that was a shame.

Story The story doesn't really exist, it is incredibly messy and doesn't take advantage of the fantastic ending from the previous film. It focuses on the relationship between Arthur and Lee and that is really dull so that doesn't help. The first act of the film could have been removed and the film would be better for sure. The ending of the film is also terrible, it comes across as over indulgent and makes no sense and I hated it.

Script The script has a few chuckle worthy moments and a few darker moments and that managed to salvage a few moments in the film. But overall the writing for this film and the characters isn't good enough and makes all the characters seem worse and poorly written.

Style The film took the bold approach of being a musical and it really doesn't work here. First of all Joaquin Phoenix is a poor singer and it totally goes against the tone of the film. All the intense situations are just broken up by these over the top singing sections which means there was no reason to ever care about anything. The film is way too long as well and really drags making it a pretty dull time at the cinema.

Overall Overall, Joker: Folie a Deux is a bad film that is a huge step down from the previous film. The film is boring, dull and offers nothing new to the table. It feels like a cash grab that failed at that even, don't waste your time on this film.

Rating - 3/10.

Don't waste your time. For me, this is like a huge disrespect to the first one.

The movie doesn't follow a plot, doesn't have a character development, things happen without a reason. They just throw a bunch of songs and some forced romantic trope and literally butcher entirely the whole image we had of Joker.

What a downfall, there was no need of making this film if this is what you were gonna give us, a not-so-good fanfic.

Obviously the cinematography, color palette and soundtrack is amazing. And joaquin's performance is without a doubt excellent. Meanwhile, lady gaga lacks of giving personality to the character, for me, the worst harley adaptation.

Literally, it's just nonsense. The movie makes decisions that don't make any sense, and doesn't add up to anything constructed throughout the film.

3 stars for Joaquin actually accepting being on this film, other than that. This is the worst movie of the year so far.

I thought the first one was awesome and was in every way possible in doubt when they said they were going to make sequel but giving the way the first movie performed I was not surprised.

Should they have made a sequel, after watching this atrocity, no they should have stayed well away.

Was there anything positive about this film, yes the start was great with a cartoon start, I thought that was good and of course who can forget Phoenix's performance, as always great but that's about it, oh and the ending was good. No I am not going to give anything away.

But the rest of it, awful.

The singing, don't get me started on that part, in all honesty, they ruined the movie doing it with musical numbers throughout the movie, it ruined the actual story of the film and ruined the tension this movie could have had.

If anyone was a fan of the first movie, please give this a miss you will be totally disappointed, I was.

The 3 is only for Joaquin's acting otherwise I would be with the ones. The most fascinating thing about the movie is how Joaquin got himself to look so frail. Looks like he starved himself unless it is movie magic. The description of jukebox musical is appropriate as there is singing throughout and full numbers not just snippets. Kept waiting for action but it was far and few between and mostly flashbacks to the first Joker. Gaga was brought in for the singing as her acting is B movie quality and if you don't like her singing the movie becomes torture. It would have been more interesting if they did more with her character with a different actress. This ended up being more of a prison movie than anything else. Save your money.

Joker was an incredible movie but the sequel does not nearly keep up with that quality.

While the first movie kept us hooked with amazing acting and a well written story line, this movie doesn't get even close to that level. We get it, Arthur Fleck struggles with his mental health. Now he meets Lee and falls in love with her. No doubt, Joaquin Phoenix is an amazing actor but there is no spark between him and Lady Gaga at all. Their relationiship is like thousand others we've seen in cinema so many times and does not really add to the story. What is the story anyway..? The scenes feel repetitive and play in the same three locations. In between they are singing American evergreens without ever finishing a song.

The best thing about the movie are the beautiful cinematography and the charming animations in the very beginning but you could probably watch the first and last 15 minutes without missing any of the story.

Also I don't really understand what Todd Phillips is trying to communicate here. Is it a dark comedy, a court drama or a musical? By trying to be all of that it's somehow none of that. Sadly I feel like I wasted two hours of my life...

It is not only about the musical, the plot also sucks. You will spend more than 70% of the movie listening to Lady Gaga singing all the time. Sometimes, I think she could just talk instead of singing. At first, I could still tolerate her singing a little, but her singing all the time just becomes annoying. You cannot understand Arthur-sometimes he wants to be the crazy 'Joker,' and sometimes he just wants to be himself, 'Arthur.' This makes the character hard to follow. My suggestion is not to spend your time and money watching this movie in the cinema. Instead, watch it online to see how bad it is!

As a huge fan of the first Joker movie I had been excited ever since I knew a sequel was being made, so you can imagine the disappointment someone like myself would feel after seeing this movie that was so unlike the first one and contained no essence of what made the first movie so impressive.

I thought it would be interesting having it be a musical and I thought they would incorporate songs in a clever way and make it seem organic but I was incorrect. Some of the songs did make an impact but 80% of the music sequences just felt out of place and really paused any momentum the movie had, which wasn't much.

Nothing really happened in this movie, it kind of felt like an unnecessary, added chapter to the end of the first movie, dragged out to a feature length film. I'm not sure who this movie was made for as it definitely wasn't made for the fans of the original movie, but I can't imagine it makes any new fans happy either.

Anyone coming for Lady Gaga will be disappointed that she is not used very well or often and her story leads nowhere. Anyone coming for Joker (while an amazing performance by Joaquin Phoenix) will also be disappointed with how his story unfolds as he doesn't have any agency in his own film and he is made out to be the joke of the film.

The movie is visually beautiful and the performances by Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix are great, and the movie does have some really funny moments but these are not enough to save the film. I would not watch this movie a second time even though I have watched the first film multiple times.