Joker 2 Review: An Improved Sequel Engineered To Antagonize Joker Fans [Venice]

When Joker premiered here in Venice in 2019, one of the prevailing narratives was that the movie could be dangerous. The film's embrace of Arthur Fleck's perspective, the thinking went, might inspire disgruntled young men to commit acts of real-life violence. In reality, what toxicity it generated emerged as memes instead of movements, but this seems to have impacted the filmmakers enough to make Joker: Folie à Deux about that very idea. This film seems targeted directly at the audience a little too into Joker – and made special to antagonize them.
Joker: Folie a Deux R DramaCrimeMusical
Director Todd Phillips Release Date October 4, 2024 Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Writers Todd Phillips , Scott Silver , Bob Kane , Paul Dini , Bill Finger , Bruce Timm , Jerry Robinson Cast Joaquin Phoenix , Lady Gaga , Brendan Gleeson , Zazie Beetz , Catherine Keener , Jacob Lofland , Harry Lawtey Franchise(s) Joker prequel(s) Joker Expand Folie À Deux Is All About The Return Of Joker And Harley Quinn's Role In Bringing Him Back In the wake of murdering Murray Franklin on live TV at the end of Joker, Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) is now stuck in the maximum security wing of Arkham while he awaits trial. Conditions there aren't great, but Phoenix's protagonist is much more subdued than when we last saw him, and has been a model prisoner. His lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), is convinced that Arthur and Joker are two split personalities, stemming from his horrifically abusive childhood. Assistant DA Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), his prosecutor, thinks he's fully aware and is pursuing the death penalty.
His trial is declared to be one of the first ever to be fully televised, and the cameras bring out the showman in him. Things only devolve from there.
Which of these is true is one of Joker: Folie à Deux's running questions, even if the original didn't ever advance Stewart's theory. The film opens with a Looney Tunes-style cartoon called "Me and My Shadow," in which Arthur's shadow literally replaces him to perform in Joker makeup, the primary purpose of which is seemingly to encourage us to wonder if Joker might be its own entity. With Arthur meek and obliging, Stewart's defense just might stick.


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