MOVIE REVIEW: Joker Part 2
Joker Part Two delivers in music and acting while lacking in plot sequence, script writing and overall clarity.
WARNING: contains spoilers
American Director and Academy Award Nominee Todd Philips returns with a sequel to the popular 2019 film “Joker”. The very film that won 2 out of the eleven nominations it received during the Oscars in 2020 and created a highly anticipated sequel for joker fans to look forward to. The film which stars Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix and singer and actress Lady Gaga follows the moments right after the last film when Joker is finally captured and locked inside a mental institution for his crimes.
Joker, which is the persona created by the character Arthur Fleck, is now on trial in front of Gotham fighting in court for an insanity plea to avoid the death penalty. As he grapples with his new life as a murderer and inmate, he deals with the abusive and corrupt prison system while navigating his new relationship with a mysterious woman named Lee, who is a version of the Harley Quinn, played by Gaga.
Since its release however, both fans and critics have been quick to voice their disapproval of the film and its ending. From the overly seriousness of its characters to the scattered plot points, it inevitably fails to create a well synched story and leaves viewers confused and dissatisfied.
Let’s start with the good.
Joker part two has some good things to offer. The casting is spot on and it’s clear that Phoenix was born to play the Joker. He not only embodies this role perfectly but brings a dark sense of depth to the role and creates a new persona to the overly played character.
Even if the film was lacking in certain areas, Phoenix is a treat to watch and draws the viewer inward to the psychosis of the Joker, forcing you to emphasize and sometimes justify his actions. The writing was bogged down by misplaced musical numbers and random plot points, however, the acting by Phoenix and Gaga was impeccable.
Gaga shines as Lee, the mysterious Arkham’s Asylum arsonist who is romantically attached to Fleck and his persona as the Joker. Despite only appearing on screen with Phoenix for a brief period of time, she radiates light and charisma from her vivacious acting and musical talent. She plays a joker-loving groupie who’s obsessed with Joker’s psychotic breakdown in the first film, stating that she “watched a biopic about him.”
When Fleck is faced with challenges in life, he turns inward to his fantasies to process reality. In this world, Lee and Fleck are having the time of their lives dancing and singing together on stage in front of a crowd. Both in their personas, they communicate their feelings about the world and each other through songs.
While Gaga is a secondary character in the film, she adds a unique voice to Lee and helps deepen the complexity of Arkham’s and Flecks world as the Joker.
The film’s soundtrack is amazingly diverse, catchy, authentic and touching. The first musical number “For Once in My Life” is about Fleck expressing how happy and different he is now that he has someone to love and look forward too. As he watches the news about his upcoming trial, he sings in a room full of inmates about how things are beginning to turn around for him now that he’s met Lee.
In a different dream sequence, Fleck imagines himself as the host of a variety television show and performs on stage with Lee in a Sonny & Cher themed duet. They sing the song “To Love Somebody” which is an upbeat seventies themed ballad about how much they are in love and happy now. They both act sarcastic and witty during this sequence while singing to each other, before Fleck cuts it short due to his paranoia that Lee is trying to kill him. The music is well written and helps convey how Arthur views the world around him.
Now the bad.
Unfortunately, not even the music or Gaga can salvage this film from its bad scriptwriting and uneven flow of plot points and lose scene transition. The first film details how alone and disregarded Fleck is by society.
Fleck navigates through constant turmoil and abuse by turning inward to his fantasy. His brain makes up scenarios of interactions between him and others that never existed. The shots of him alone on the bus or sitting down on the bench tying his shoes at work all help to encapsulate his world and lack of connection within it.
In Joker part two, the film overuses musical numbers to repeat what’s been said on screen. During Fleck’s trial when his neighbor Sophie takes the stand, she describes how Flecks mother told her about the traumatic and abusive childhood Fleck had as a young boy. As the camera pans into Fleck listening to her testimony, it then cuts into a musical number of Fleck standing in a spotlight on stage while holding a lit cigarette. He begins to sing a sultry melodramatic rendition of the 1968 Shirley Bassey song “The Joker” while confessing how outcasted and misunderstood he feels by society.
Too often the film tries to make a serious point but goes too far into the self-loathing and self-pity that it breaks any attempt at the sympathy we might have for these characters. The musical numbers don’t really add any significance or information about Fleck or Lee, instead leaning into their melodramatic sorrow of being pushed out from society and being in love deeply.
The writing is also not so forgiving, lacking a stabilized and coherent story. The film feels like it drags on without a clear direction. There’s no reason to what’s happening before you as the characters are sometimes found in different places because the director doesn’t cut the scenes. Joker 2019 had a strong immersive story to tell about a struggling and mentally ill man in an unforgiving world.
The buildup led up to an intense climax where Fleck does something he can never take back. He finally decides to become the Joker.
The film doesn’t lead to a strong ending and bounces around from topic to topic, instead of focusing on Fleck’s character development in becoming the Joker. It lacked stability and had no clear objective. It never answered the question many had after screening the first film: does Fleck finally become the Joker?
The film is a 3.5 out of 5 at best and does not live up to the hype that Joker 2019 left viewers with. Joker: Folie à Deux is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video for rent or purchase, if you prefer to watch it and form your own opinion.
