Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Joker:-Folie-à-Deux-(2024)
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Shakespeare is bound to be rolling in his “grave,” given how Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to the acclaimed Todd Phillips’ Joker from 2019. Memories of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a party clown and wannabe comedian who murdered five people including television host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), and proclaimed it was a great performance, give a distinctly Hamlet-like sense as though he were living in a dream in Arkham State Hospital awaiting trial on these demons floating around.

The Prince of Denmark, the hero of “Hamlet,” cuts down everyone around Archie di Plunkett, this time directed by his mother. It’s horrific, and that’s the point: mothers always justify the means in the pursuit of their children’s ideals. Arthur, dressed in a pageant costume with red lipstick that makes him look like a clown, cannot stalk Elsinore’s towers looking for his father’s lookalike; however, he can certainly deliver countless monologues to the multiple copies of himself inside his head.

The day after the Joker’s November traceries sent Arthur to Arkham, narrow sections of the ruled society ignored by the official history stormed the streets, demanding justice. His short and resentful period as the Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent, portrayed by Harry Lawtey, can be seen as, in all his arrogance, eager to bring Arthur to trial. His professional career prospects can greatly improve after such high-pitched events are cheerfully broadcasted.

Arthur seems to be in another universe and the heart of every prisoner serving as a perfect deport in the presence of guard Jackie Sullivan, as well as the prison inmates, especially a young man, played by Jacob Lofland, who has a strange obsession with the most popular patient in Arkham. Aiden manages to get a glimpse of Mary Anne Stewart (Catherine Keener), his driven but exhausted lawyer, as he walks through a music therapy room while looking for her. At that moment, Aiden’s gaze meets Lee (Lady Gaga) and everything seems to click into place.

You can sympathize with Arthur when Lee shares that she was placed in Arkham by her unpleasant mother after committing arson, that is, burning down their residence. Lee escapes from Arkham just as the trial commences and makes a movement to rally supporters on behalf of Arthur. During the trial period, Arthur encounters spectral beings from his past, like his neighbor Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz), with whom he thought he had a flirtation, Gary (Leigh Gill) a clown colleague with whom Arthur was friendly, and his treatment provider (Sharon Washington).

Now, Phillips had imagined the first Joker as a standalone film, but adding a musical element (at Phoenix’s suggestion, it seems) is brilliant. a sequel. So is the fantastic animated style in the first part of the film; it is something different with respect to the disassociation, isolation, and social commentary of Joker while those beautifully composed jazz pieces are a luscious aural pleasure. For those of us who have grown up watching Slumdog Millionaire-style chaka chaka inundation at the movies, it is a small step to get lost in a beautifully reinterpreted soundtrack from Hildur Guðnadóttir (who won an Oscar for Joker).

Despite trouncing the mystery behind Phoenix’s body structure (the protrusive spine and protrusive shoulder blades that resemble wings), there’s an appetitive artistic appeal about Arthur Fleck/Joker. Even as you want to look away from the disfigured arms that are deteriorating, your eyes are irresistibly pulled back towards the unspoiled eye, almost on the brink of chaos or thanks; the eyes, and the mouth, which distorted and quiver. It is the performance, not the character, as well as Lady Gaga naturally being more quiet even if there’s no comparison with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

Although less tightly woven and complex than Joker, each character is very exciting hence Folie à Deux could have been assisted by more directorial control, especially in the second half, this one does have its major downside, the plot line is a bit shallow. It is also important to note though, that the slower shots by cinematographer Lawrence Sher and his vision across the lines were a pleasure to watch especially having an actor at the forefront of the whole game.

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