Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Joker: Folie à Deux 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The joke's on us.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 11, 2024

You know what Joker didn't need? A sequel that's part jukebox musical, part courtroom drama, and part navel-gazing clip show that seems to actively resent its own characters and the audience. Truth be told it didn't need any sequel, but the 2019 film's $1B box office haul basically guaranteed a second trip into Gotham City's dark underbelly with the new Clown Prince of Crime. The difference this time around is that director Todd Phillips, again co-writing with Scott Silver, seems to have barely-hidden contempt for fans who embraced the wrong aspects of what made his original film work so decently well... and as a result, everyone gets punished for 138 minutes with lukewarm drama, dull music breaks, and eye-rolling meta-jokes. If Fight Club 2 or Scarface: Beyond Miami existed, they'd be just as bad.

I didn't hate The Flash, I'll passionately defend Alien3, and I even have a soft spot for Terminator Genisys... so when I tell you that I approached Joker: Folie à Deux with an open mind, please believe me. Sadly, any sort of enthusiasm for this sequel slipped away during its first hour and it never returned, as the film's punishingly homogenous approach to storytelling repeatedly shoots itself in the foot. Opening with a Looney Tunes-style short overseen by French animator Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Bellville, and one of the film's only bright spots), Folie à Deux soon switches gears to reveal Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) rotting in Arkham State Hospital where the cruel treatment of staff members and inmates has caused him to lose his smile. Chief among them is guard Brendan Gleeson, who throws Arthur a bone one day -- only to advance the plot, mind you -- by getting him into music therapy class with lower-risk inmates including Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Lady Gaga), an obsessed fan who's seen his never-shown "TV special" (a ham-handed metaphor for the first film) countless times. Arthur and Lee soon become an inseparable pair, forming an intense bond fueled by their two shared interests: psychopathy and music, which double as their only means of mental escape.

The latter is typically presented as daydream-like scenarios similar to the way Arthur appears on The Murray Franklin Show as an audience member early in the first film, like Requiem for a Dream's Sarah Goldfarb. But it's done to death here (and routinely given away by a slight opening of the aspect ratio to 1.90:1), from Arthur's solo song-and-dance performance during TV time to multiple flights of fancy with Lee in more extravagant settings. This continues well into Folie à Deux's second half when Arthur stands trial for the first film's five murders: he's almost reigned in by his lawyer Maryanne (Catherine Keener) but eventually represents himself in full costume and makeup, where each sporadic daydream breaks up a string of witnesses who regurgitate Joker's events. Mercifully, the verdict finally arrives and all hell breaks loose, sending Folie à Deux into a chaotic final stretch that revels in a cheap "gotcha" ending.

I'm all for filmmakers taking chances, especially where sequels are concerned, and I'll admit to being extremely intrigued when Folie à Deux was first announced as a musical. But a jukebox musical only reinforces the film's lazy approach to a bold new direction: it features only one original song and almost every attempt at a sharp tonal detour brings the Folie à Deux's momentum to a grinding halt, and even Lady Gaga's inarguably powerful pipes can't save her half of the performances. The drama is pandering, uninspired, and rife with clichés, cheap exposition, and convenient plot holes. The attempts at audience-aimed meta-humor are insulting and come off like something a teenager would write. The suitably oppressive atmosphere? Well, it certainly pulls its own weight, but again only reminds us of what the original film managed to do right. Essentially, Folie à Deux is a one-note film that tries to cut up a print of Joker and paste it back together to make something more interesting. It doesn't, but luckily the original still exists.

More than 30 years ago, Warner Bros. released a much better (and more subversive) sequel to a then-controversially violent film that expertly skewed its source material and also featured a cartoon interruption: Joe Dante's criminally underrated Gremlins 2: The New Batch. In contrast, Folie à Deux feels like one of the laziest "ambitious" films in a long, long time, one that shot for the moon but missed it entirely and is now floating in space forever. Perhaps one day a re-evaluation might reveal some sort of hidden treasure, but I wouldn't bet on it. In the meantime, the film's small but vocal fanbase and curious newcomers will at least appreciate WB's separate 4K and Blu-ray editions, both of which feature top-tier A/V merits and a solid collection of extras. A Steelbook combo pack is also available.

Joker: Folie à Deux 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from the separate Blu-ray edition, reviewed here.

I'll be honest: Joker: Folie à Deux's overall aesthetic and Warner Bros.' 2160p/HDR10 transfer takes almost all of their cues from the original film (which has the same cinematographer), meaning that my linked review might just suffice as a summary of the genuine highs that this inarguably great-looking sequel achieves. There are slight diversions here and there, mainly in the form of those song-and-dance numbers, so to the untrained eye this film's HDR layer might seem to work even harder the second time around. But while those occasionally vivid hues are appreciated and at least offer some nice visual contrast where the story falls short, the real name of the game is accuracy so it's definitely a draw in that both presentations are practically perfect. Fine detail, textures, contrast, black levels, and yes, color reproduction are all rendered with care here, making this well-authored 100GB disc just as much a standout as the first film.

Joker: Folie à Deux 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The same can be said for this Dolby Atmos mix which, like its predecessor, aims for heavy and oppressive atmospherics that almost immediately draw you into Folie à Deux's punishing and often depressing world. This time around, it's not just complemented my the somber tones of Hildur Guðnadóttir's (partially recycled) original score but the same handful of song-and-dance numbers, all ranging in tone from quietly reflective to aggressively upbeat. This clearly makes Folie à Deux the more "showy" of the two (pun intended), but both mixes seem purely accurate to their theatrical source and have no trouble achieving perfect five-star marks for their high levels of sonic detail, precision, and fidelity.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are offered during the main feature and all extras listed below.

Joker: Folie à Deux 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork, a matching matte-finish slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Surprisingly, the bonus feature are much more numerous than last time.

• Everything Must Go (44:05) - This surprisingly in-depth four-part documentary -- broken into "Can I Have a Cigarette?", "Finding Lee", "A Hundred Films in One", and "King of Nothing" -- features key members of the cast and crew discussing the characters, themes, and of course the unique challenges of trying to advance upon the first film while going in a bold new direction. Frustratingly like most of these studio-funded pieces, it's stubbornly positive in its approach and pretends as if nothing went wrong and everyone got what they wanted. Still worth a look though, as there's some interesting technical stuff here and a good bit of candid on-set footage.

• The Character of Music (8:20) - Lady Gaga and several crew members talk about the films numerous dance numbers, which is paired with glimpses of on-set rehearsal and live music recording.

• Crafted With Class (7:21) - Joaquin Pheonix, Lady, Gaga and other talk set design and production.

• Colors of Madness (6:22) - Todd Phillips, cinematographer Lawrence Sher, and several returning contributors discuss the film's deliberate use of color and other visual "sweeteners" used to enhance the story.

• Live! With The Joker (5:16) - Animator Sylvain Chomet talks about the 1940s-style opening cartoon, from emulating the classic Looney Tunes visual design to the importance of working by hand.

Joker: Folie à Deux 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Much like other inferior sequels in film history, Joker: Folie à Deux does a lot less with more, squandering a massive budget and the first film's success with a go-nowhere story that seems to actively resent its own characters and the people watching them. Perhaps its biggest sin, though, is that it will likely kill the possibility of big studios taking any kind of risk with future follow-ups, all but guaranteeing that the next installment of Barbie or The Batman will probably play it safe. So while it's already bad enough now, the repercussions of this colossal train wreck might actually be felt for years to come. That said, anyone who feels differently will appreciate the strengths of Warner Bros.' well-appointed 4K edition, which offers predictably top-tier A/V merits and a well-rounded collection of bonus features.