Director: Todd Phillips. USA 2024. 138min.

Can two people with dementia with a song in their hearts find love? Joker: Folie A Deux pairs Gotham’s Clown Prince Of Crime with Harley Quinn, resulting in an ambitious sequel whose wide swings mostly prove to be misfires. Part musical, part courtroom drama, this sequel to 2019’s Oscar-winning sensation further explores the fractured psyche of murderous Arthur Fleck, but without the insight that made the original film so compelling and disturbing. Joaquin Phoenix once again demonstrates his willingness to take risks — in this case, singing alongside the far more technically proficient Lady Gaga — but a performance once so attuned to his character’s fragile mental state is, in Foil A Deuxstrewn with familiar decorations.

lukewarm chemistry

Warner Bros. Reveals Foil a Deux in Venice, where the original took home the Golden Lion en route to a worldwide gross of $1.1 billion. Gaga only adds to the commercial firepower of this highly anticipated sequel, which opens in the UK and US on October 4, although the film’s musical flourishes may dampen the enthusiasm somewhat. Still, Foil a Deux looks set to be a good box office affair.

Two years later jokerwhich ended with failed stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) murdering talk show host Murray Franklin on live TV, this sequel focuses on Arthur’s murder trial. His attorney, Maryanne (Catherine Keener), sets out to prove her client was mentally coerced into saving him from the electric chair, but Arthur seems more interested in fellow inmate Lee (Gaga). Arthur quickly realizes she’s just as disturbed as he is — she has a penchant for random arson — and falls for Lee, who’s been obsessed with him ever since he murdered Murray.

To give Foil a Deux credit for being just as daring as the 2019 film, with returning director and co-writer Todd Phillips plunging us back into the darkness of Gotham City in the early 80s. Along with many of his joker With the help of his collaborators — most notably cinematographer Lawrence Sher and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir — the filmmaker attempts to create a sequel that is not an exact copy of the previous film, but rather represents a stylistic shift that aims to interrogate the terrifyingly ill protagonist.

Part of that strategy is the incorporation of musical numbers into the story. Some are fantasy sequences played out in the characters’ heads, while others simply have Arthur and Lee burst into casual song in the middle of an otherwise traditionally dramatic scene. Not surprisingly, Gaga shines during these set pieces, whether she’s sweetly crooning “(They Long To Be) Close To You” or belting out “Gonna Build A Mountain” in a souped-up R&B/gospel mode. But Phoenix struggles. It’s true that his weaker vocals capture Arthur’s fragile psyche, but when his character needs a cathartic moment — as during a fiery rendition of Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s “The Joker” — this gifted, vulnerable actor simply doesn’t have the skills to make the number rousing.

But the blame also lies with Phillips, who shows little inventiveness in his staging. Neither euphoric nor edgy, sentimental nor sarcastic, the musical sequences exist in an unsatisfying, indifferent middle ground, never focusing on the emotional undercurrents of these popular songs that are meant to outline Arthur and Lee’s frenzied romance. This lack of spark is just as evident in Phoenix and Gaga’s non-singing scenes. As convincing as Gaga is as this unstable woman destined to become his legendary soulmate Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie in other DC films), the chemistry between her and her co-star is only tepid. Meanwhile, Phoenix, who played Arthur in joker while a traumatized failure falls to pieces with such tenderness and unpredictability, and merely repeats those mannerisms here, with much less effect.

Opening with a Looney Tunes-style animation sequence designed by Belleville Triplets author Sylvain Chomet, Foil A Deux attempts to comment on societal issues, including our society’s fixation on mass murderers. Unfortunately, Phillips struggles to move the story forward once the film becomes a dull courtroom drama. There’s a mystery at the center of the story — does Lee love the sensitive Arthur, or does she really love the diabolical Joker? — but the film falters when it attempts to explore these warring characters within its fractured soul.

Foil a DeuxThe shocking final sequence suggests a new way of thinking about joker‘s cinematic legacy — and the ways in which violence begets violence. But where the original joker remains a stunning exception — that rare blockbuster with emotional nuance, mature themes, and a genuine sense of grandeur — this sequel fails to keep up the pace.