Why is ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ getting so many bad reviews?

Joker: Folie à Deux finally goes on general release Friday - with a lot to love up to. Todd Phillips’ sequel to his 2019 box office smash has received mixed reviews so far.

The film premiered exactly one month ago at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and initial reviews from there have started to emerge ahead of it’s official release.

Mixed reviews for Joker: Folie à Deux

So far, opinions are divided - some love it, others were less generous in their appraisal. The BBC’s Nicholas Barber falls into the second camp and wrote that he was expecting much more for the sequel. “The film spent two hours telling the grim and gritty backstory of Arthur Fleck’s abusive childhood, his medical issues, his eventual adoption of a white-faced, clown-suited new identity, and the killing spree that prompted a series of riots in Gotham City. It didn’t show him being the Joker. Gotham is barely glimpsed...”.

Joker 2 disappoints critics

Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson concurred that too much emphasis is placed on Arthur Fleck’s backstory and compared the sequel to its 2019 predecessor: “The first Joker won the top prize here in Venice, on its way to huge box office returns and an Oscar for its lead actor. This time around, Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is no longer free to roam Gotham as a lonely, murderous sad sack. He is festering in Arkham Asylum, awaiting a court date should he be deemed mentally fit to stand trial. Those hoping that a Joker sequel would be about the newly minted villain wreaking havoc across his city will be mightily disappointed by Folie à Deux”.

Meanwhile, indiewire.com’s David Ehrlich slammed Joker 2 as, “Boring, flat, and such a criminal waste of Lady Gaga that we should demand a public hearing”. He adds, “‘Folie à Deux simply tap dances in place for the majority of its listless runtime, stringing together a series of underwhelming musical numbers that are either too on the nose... or too vaguely related to its characters to express anything at all.

“It does not give the people what they want. On the contrary, it actively courts the disappointment of its own fandom in order to articulate how cruelly Arthur is co-opted by the fantasies of the collective unconscious - lost in a dream that his followers want to have for themselves”.

On Rotten Tomatoes, only 39% of the critics’ reviews so far are positive and public opinion is even worse - just 37% of the reviews submitted were constructive.

Praise for ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’

But some genuinely enjoyed the film and could understand why Todd Phillips needed to take a different angle this time around.

Empire Magazine’s John Nugent cheered Joker 2 as: “As sweet and beguiling a musical romance as it’s possible to have between two murderous psychopaths. Its kooky approach won’t suit all stripes of comic-book fan, but it finds a strange, tragic hopefulness all of its own. In a cinematic climate saturated by superheroes, supervillains, and even Jokers, Phillips, Phoenix and now Gaga have fashioned a genuinely original narrative, even in its obvious magpie’s-nest borrowing. Folie À Deux is not the definitive Joker story - maybe there will never be one - but no other adaptation has burrowed this far under the character’s face-painted, mutilated skin”.

The Wrap’s William Bibbiani agrees: “Unlike the original, which finds a perverse heroism in Arthur Fleck’s failings, Folie à Deux doubles down on how pathetic he is, and always was. It’s a sad, pensive, and impressively odd motion picture that uses the theatricality of movie musicals to undermine its hero’s ambitions instead of elevating them.

“What’s most impressive about Joker: Folie à Deux is the way Phillips willingly undercuts his own billion-dollar blockbuster. He’s looking inward. Arthur is looking inward. Hopefully the audience will too, and question why they care so much about Arthur Fleck in the first place”.

Joker 2 premiered on 4 September at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and hits theaters today Friday 4 October at 11 global IMAX 70mm film locations.

US viewers can watch Joker 2 on a number of streaming services. Per TV Guide, the movie is available for free to subscribers to TNT, TBS and Max. You can also rent it for $3.99 on Apple TV, Google Play Movies and Fandango At Home.