Cinepals - JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX Movie Review! | Mostly Non-Spoiler (with Spoiler Warning)

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

Here is my review of Todd Phillips' follow up to the Oscar winning Joker, Joker Folie a Deux (aka Joker 2). Starring Joaquin Phoenix as Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. Mostly non-spoiler (but with a clear spoiler warning before I start talking about spoilers).   SOCIAL MEDIA: ~CINEPALS~  YouTube: @CinePals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals

Sine. I just got back from watching Joker Folly Adieu, and I've been trying to figure out how to best navigate having this conversation with you guys. For full transparency, I saw a few non-spoiler reviews going into watching the film. I, you know, skipped around a bit because I didn't want to get spoiled at all. But I noticed that a number of the reviews started the same way, which is they praised the first Joker movie, talk about how amazing it is, how much they loved it, et cetera, et cetera, how excited they were for Joker Folli Adieu.

And then they talk about some positives about Joker Folly Adieu, followed by several minutes that feel like it's all just an undercurrent of sadness because it wasn't quite as good as the first film at all, not by a mile. I'll just break this up into three parts. So the first part is going to be my recommendation about the movie, whether or not you should see it and why or how. And then the second part will be non-spoiler. That'll be the chunk of this video. And then the third part will be maybe some spoilers if I've got any that I want to share. So I will let you know loud and clear as we move through each section. The first section is my recommendation for this film.

Should you watch it in theaters? I think that you should watch it in theaters, but really, really, really, really, really lower your expectations because it is nowhere near as good as the first one. I feel like if you watch this at home, you will not finish it. The best way to watch it is at the theater. Because that's my honest feeling. Like if I had this on at home, I would have probably paused it

and been like, I can come back to this move. I don't need to sit through all of this in one setting. I can go and take a poop or, you know, whatever. I'm just saying it's like it's best to watch it in the cinema so that you actually finish the movie. And I do think that there are elements qualitatively that are worthwhile. It's just that it didn't quite, you know,

it doesn't quite fit together all that well. So I will get into that right now in my non-sparlour section, which we're doing now. So Joker, Folly Adieu, picks up, right after the events of Joker, the first film, and it is a trial for Arthur Fleck of the crimes he committed in the first movie. Most of this movie takes place in jail and the courtroom, okay? That should help you really temper your expectations, especially after the first movie, which felt like it had an adventure. This one does not have an adventure. The film

never quite, you know, ignites the rocket into full force. It just like, if you let at any point to go to the bathroom and came back, it is very unlikely you'd be confused. It is very unlikely you'd be lost because there's not a lot that changes throughout the film. And then there is, of course, the musical element in the movie, excuse me, while I try to brighten my TV, it automatically dims.

There is the musical element in the film, which I've heard a number of people talk about, and there's like mixed feelings about that, for sure. A lot of feelings are not so positive about the musical element, most of which are saying, it didn't seem needed, it didn't seem necessary. And I can see the reason why it's in there, I would compare the relationship of Joker and Harley Quinn in this film to a teenage romance.

You know, if you look at the personality of Arthur Fleck in the first movie, you can see that he's fairly, let's just say, completely inexperienced, right? And Harley Quinn would probably be his first love. And so when I'm watching their behavior in the film, it's all very childlike in a lot of. ways. I thought that that was actually a neat element to the film, but I never quite got swept up in the musical aspect of things. I understand why they're doing it. It's basically communicating what's going on in Arthur Fleck's head. That all makes sense. It's just that it's not really moving me. I'm not feeling swept up in it, and so it feels pointless. And I think that's the problem. Like, even the songs themselves don't necessarily not that fun. It's like the only

songs that are fun in the movie are the songs that you already know from hearing on the radio or whatever millions of times. The new songs, the original songs for the movie, I'm just like, okay. You know, they're talking about feelings. It's a song, but traditional musicals are kind of moving the story forward. In place of a regular scene, it's taking you from point A to point B through, you know, in the form of a musical. And this is not doing that. it's literally just a song break and it's like why though I got a little tired of the locations after a while it's just like dang we're still just in the courtroom and what like where the film leaves you is where it felt like it should have picked up momentum in the beginning of the second act right so like everything everything they did in this movie felt like that should have concluded at the 30 minute mark and then the adventure kicks off from there like this is the movie now um the Another film that this kind of reminded me of was, what am I thinking of? I had it in my head a few days ago.

Now it's not there. It's gone. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Yeah, so sometimes you get movies like that where it's like, it's, oh, I remember, it's the movie about two Earths. I don't know if you all ever saw that or heard of it. It's kind of an indie movie about another Earth shows up. I forget what it's called.

It's probably called Two Earths. And where that film ends, that's where the movie really should have gotten into its second act. And so here, it's the same thing. you know, Joker Farley Adieu, it's like, it spends all this time basically retreading ground. Now, why did I recommend watching this movie? Because I do think that there are acting elements and just like visually, it's interesting. Just the, I guess the texture of the movie is interesting. It's interesting to see that.

And I think that you can see the hard, even if it's like a mess, you can see the hard work in there. And I think that that's worthwhile, that's worth watching. It's neat. And, you know, between the costumes, the makeup, the set design, all of the things that it takes to make a movie, that's all fun to watch. It's just that the story was so boring. If you're a film aficionado, if you're someone who likes pretty pictures and stuff like that, you know, I think it's worth seeing for that. But did I like it? I was left in a place where I was like,

that was my feeling at the end. I'm just like, well, also, this is a side note. Every time I go to watch a movie, especially one that I know is going to draw a crowd, it makes me want to go to the movies less, if I'm being totally honest. Like, I love going to the movies. It's one of my favorite pastimes,

but every time I go to the theater these days for a packed house, there's always a bunch of jokers in there that make me not want to be there. I had a dude next to me who had like shaking leg syndrome or munching on popcorn like a dog who has not eaten in four days. And then off to my far right was someone going, like every five to ten minutes of the movie. And I'm like, was that warranted, really?

So, yeah, the movie theater-going experience is so much more fun when it's like a few people, sadly, these days. Anyway, yeah, Joker, for all they do. I explain the music, the acting for the material that we got. acting. I like the acting. You know, Joaquin Phoenix is a powerhouse. It's just that his acting couldn't save the story.

Lady Gaga does a nice job in this movie. I think that you know, when I heard she was playing Harley Quinn, I was like, okay. And then I see her in the film, I'm like, okay, okay. It's not her fault, though, that you know, nothing's her fault in this movie.

It's just that the story never goes anywhere. If the story went somewhere, then I could really, you know, judge her as Harley Quinn, but anyway, yeah, there's a, I think that everyone they chose as far as acting goes was well picked. I think they all did a fairly strong job. You know, Joaquin Phoenix, I didn't love the first Joker movies just so you know, I've waited a long time to say that, because I knew if I said that early, people would click out and downvote right away. So I didn't love the first Joker movie. I think that it's definitely a worthwhile experience for much of the same reasons I

mentioned here for a joke or folly ad do i liked it way more than this movie i can tell you that much uh but it's not a film i would ever revisit i don't it doesn't move me doesn't motivate me uh so but i can totally understand why people enjoyed the movie i respect you know their feelings about it and so i also equally respect people not liking this one i think that there's very clear reasons not to like it uh it's just it's not there's nothing enjoyable about the movie however um i do think that there is a message in here and i i do you know that there is a message in here and appreciate having like okay what something that was opposed to me a while ago in terms of writing is like why did you tell me the story what did you come here to say and I was thinking

about that while watching the film I'm like what is this movie saying so I'm going to move into spoilers a little bit right now so if you don't want any this is the time to leave okay after you know the story concluded I was like what is what is the point of all of this and it seem to me, I could be wrong. It's art. Art is up to interpretation, but my interpretation is that you have these people out there who do something, right, whatever it may be. It could be art. It could be a crime. It could be whatever. And other people kind of get swept up in the momentum and the spirit of it all. And they have their own feelings about it that they sort of project onto it. And now that person is propped up like a god, like a hero.

And if that person does something to let the fans, for lack of a better word, down, now that person goes from being God to being the most hated person ever. It's like if you let your audience down, suddenly you're the worst person ever and you deserve to die. That seemed to be the message of the film. It's like it almost doesn't matter what the feelings are of that person that has somehow, you know, conjured this movement, somehow drawn. all these people into his sphere, into his orbit, it doesn't matter what his actual feelings are. What matters is what the people who follow him feel about him. And if he does something to violate that, he deserves to die. And then he does. And then, you know, at the end of the film, you had this guy who was in the background for a lot of the films, just sort of like looking

curiously and with the expression. And then he's the Joker at the end of the movie. There's a lot that's advertised in the trailer where you're like, that'd be cool to explore, where does that go? And it doesn't explore any of that. And that's the problem. What it sold you on, the trailer lied. What it sold you on, it never truly explores. This is a movie about Joker on trial. And they didn't advertise that to you.

Had they advertised that to you, I think a lot of people would have been less disappointed. It doesn't save the fact that it doesn't save you from the fact that the film meanders. Like the story is just like, it just keeps retrading the same thing. over and over again for the most part. It's like initially it seemed like it was kind of building, you know, when he encounters Harley Quinn. But there's like this whole lead up to Harley Quinn. And I'm like, what are we doing?

Why, like, why is this intro so slow and so long? I get we're introducing things. We're introducing the situation and the guards. But I think that we spend so much time in the situation with the guards. We don't need all that setup. You could have done away with all that, get the movie going sooner, take that entire, whatever the hell that was, make it 20 to 25 minutes, and then kick off into high gear with whatever this new adventure is. You can still explore the same themes, the same ideas, but do it in a way where it feels like the story's going somewhere. What does this character want?

What is in his way? Does he achieve it at what cost, et cetera, et cetera, all the classic things of telling the story. Like explore all that shit, but like to confine it to the same location. After a while, it just feels suffocating. And maybe that's the point. You know, there's a film that I watch that I like that was not liked by a lot of people called Mother with Jennifer Lawrence and it was directed by Darren Aronovsky. The film is designed to make you feel frustrated and confined and suffocated and angry. And so that might be some of the goal here, I guess.

I don't know. But anyway, those are my feelings about the movie I thought that it had some interesting moments You know, it definitely had moments where I was like Okay, cool, that's fun But overall, it was, you know I would only watch it again to do a commentary on it And that's about it

But like for leisure, no, I would not ever put this on for leisure But it did have some beautiful images, you know? I was surprised that the film was not entirely in the IMAX format Like it had, I don't know That's nerdy shit you guys don't care So I'll stop talking about this. Did you guys like it? How did you feel about it?

Do you like my t-shirt? I've had this for years is one of my favorite t-shirts. Y'all be good. Peace out.