Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga may have made what they believe is a masterpiece, but viewers would beg to differ. Joker: Folie à Deux, the much-awaited sequel to 2019’s award-winning movie Joker, is making critics and fans reconsider if it is worth their time.
Joker 2 primarily focuses on Harley Quinn’s relationship with Joker/Arthur Fleck. It explores her obsession and passion for the supervillain of Gotham. As the trailer and teasers suggest, music is often used by the characters to express themselves. The general verdict about such a film is that it is a musical, but the cast and crew insisted that it is not. Now, fans are expressing their displeasure about the same element.
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga Seem to Have Failed to Change Fans’ Minds About Joker 2
The cast and crew have insisted that Joker 2 is not a musical even though it was reported that Lady Gaga had recorded about 20 songs for the film. Even so, she denied that it was a musical while commenting on the movie and its music at the Venice Film Festival (via Deadline). She said:
I think the way we approach music in this film is very special and extremely nuanced. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this is a musical. In a lot of ways it’s very different. The way the music is used is to give the characters a way to express what they need to say because the scene and dialogue is just not enough.
Todd Phillips said something along the same lines in an interview with Variety. He claimed that the music is used in the film in place of dialogue whenever Arthur feels like he does not have the words to express his feelings. Joaquin Phoenix agreed, saying:
It was important to me that we never perform the songs as one typically does in a musical. We didn’t want vibrato and perfect notes.
There may not be vibrato and perfect notes as Phoenix notes, but the music is still very much there and fans are not very impressed with it. Here is how some fans are reacting after watching the early screenings:
The 2019 psychological thriller was the sixth highest-grossing movie of the year and the highest-grossing R-rated movie for almost 5 years before being replaced by Deadpool & Wolverine. It rightfully won 2 out of the 11 categories it was nominated in at the Academy Awards. So, the bar was set high and the expectations seem to have not been met so far.
Did Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga Use Method Acting for This Movie?
Both Gaga and Phoenix are widely known for their use of method acting when performing in movies. While the former spoke in an Italian accent during the filming of House of Gucci, the latter lost 52 pounds to portray Joker in the first movie. When director Phillips was asked about this during the interview with Variety, he said:
I don’t even really know what Method means. Does he take it seriously? Does she take it seriously? Hell, yeah. But he doesn’t stay in character 24 hours a day. With her, I’d say she does a lot more of that than he does. But as a director, I’m in favor of whatever it takes to get them to the place they need to be.
For this movie, the Die with a Smile singer revealed to Complex that she had to unlearn her musical technique to make sure that it was Lee singing and not her. As for Phoenix, he looks just as lean as he was in the first film.
Joker 2 will be in theatres from October 4, 2024.
Frequently asked questions
Is Joker: Folie a Deux a musical?
The cast and crew have insisted that Joker 2 is not a musical, even though the article reports Lady Gaga recorded about 20 songs for the film. At the Venice Film Festival, Gaga said the music is used in a nuanced way to let characters express what dialogue alone cannot. Director Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix echoed that the songs replace dialogue rather than function as conventional musical numbers.
Why are fans unhappy with Joker 2?
According to fan reactions cited from early screenings, viewers are displeased mainly with the musical element the filmmakers defended. The article reports comments calling the songs bad and disconnected from the scenes, describing the sequel as pointless and uninspiring, and warning that fans of the original may dislike or even despise it. One reviewer reportedly rated it 3/10 and called it potentially the worst film of 2024.
How did the original 2019 Joker perform compared to expectations for the sequel?
The article states the 2019 psychological thriller was the sixth highest-grossing movie of that year and the highest-grossing R-rated film for almost five years, until Deadpool & Wolverine surpassed it in 2024. It won 2 of the 11 categories it was nominated for at the Academy Awards. That success set a high bar that, based on early reactions reported, the sequel appears not to have met. Joker 2 releases in theaters October 4, 2024.
