34/44
Plus, Gaga explains how she got into and stayed in her dark persona
Scenario
Struggling with his dual identity, failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital. Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, and writer-director Todd Phillips share what scared them most about tackling the musical sequel. The subtitle for the film “Folie à Deux” is “Folie à Deux.” means “Madness for Two” in French. This initially led to speculation that Harley Quinn would appear in the film, which was confirmed shortly after.
It is also known as Lasègue-Falret syndrome
The name Folie à Deux comes from 19th-century French psychiatrists Charles Lasègue and Jules Falret. The term was coined to refer to two or more people who share the same madness or delusion. The jury foreman refers to the “People of New York” instead of Gotham City. This is because New York State is the plaintiff in a criminal trial and this version of Gotham City is obviously located in New York State (most versions place Gotham in New Jersey).
logo surrounded by rings and the Joker’s face
Arthur Fleck: [Written as a malicious autograph with a sad smiley face] I hope you get cancer. The film opens with a Looney Tunes title sequence, featuring the Warner Bros. Featured in AniMat’s Crazy Cartoon Cast: The Wicked Discovery of a Lifetime (2022). Merrily We Roll Along Written by Eddie Cantor, Murray Mencher, and Charles Tobias.
Joaquin Phoenix gives a decent performance, but it’s nowhere near as good as the first film
I absolutely loved the first Joker movie directed by Todd Phillips, but I have to say, what were they thinking when they decided to make this sequel. Unlike the first film, this film has almost no story, but rather a series of weird, wacky vignettes that were spliced together with musical numbers that got old really fast and made the runtime way longer than it needed to be given how unentertaining it was. I kept waiting in anticipation thinking that this was going to be building towards a big moment that unfortunately never comes, and I was left with nothing but disappointment as the film ends on a worse note than it started. I was on the fence when I watched the trailer, but now that I’ve seen it, I wish I hadn’t.
Check out our list of exciting new films from this year’s film festivals, including Venice, TIFF, the New York Film Festival, and more
If you’re a fan of the first film, it’s a big deal whether you’ll like this one or not, but I wouldn’t recommend it.