Joker: Folie à Deux Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Joker: Folie à Deux Blu-ray Movie Review

Die without a smile.

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.

For a full synopsis and light roast of Joker: Folie à Deux, please see my separate review of the 4K edition or Brian Orndorf's similarly dire theatrical review. A Steelbook combo pack is also available.

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

I mentioned in my review of the 4K disc that Joker: Folie à Deux's visuals have a lot in common with its predecessor since they share the same cinematographer, meaning that large portions of this sequel and its 1080p/SDR remain more or less identical to the first film's Blu-ray counterpart. This means that image detail, color representation, black levels, textures, depth, and more are all well-handled within the format's limitations, never really faltering from start to finish. The key difference visually is that Folie à Deux obviously goes into more vividly fantastic territory along the way via its sporadic song-and-dance numbers, some of which explore such locations as a 1970s-style variety show (below) and a moonlit rooftop (screenshot #5), pushing the limits of SDR boundaries but doing so in a way that doesn't fall victim to bleeding or oversaturation. Disc encoding is also solid and no obvious signs of macro blocking, posterization, or other anomalies could be spotted. Of course the UHD disc is going to beat this Blu-ray in direct comparison at every turn... but on small to mid-sized displays (65" or less), most viewers won't find anything to complain about here.

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

My thoughts on the outstanding Dolby Atmos mix can be found in the 4K review. Please note that in keeping with region code distribution, the Blu-ray's subtitle options differ greatly from that disc.

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

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork, no slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. The on-disc bonus features are identical to the 4K edition and are listed below.

• Everything Must Go (44:05)

• The Character of Music (8:20)

• Crafted With Class (7:21)

• Colors of Madness (6:22)

• Live! With The Joker (5:16)

Joker: Folie à Deux 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, the home video presentation is excellent no matter which edition you choose, so this cheaper Blu-ray might be a better way to test the water.