I was going to go and see the first Joaquin Phoenix outing as the "Joker" (2019) to remind my self of who did what to whom, but I didn't have time. I think I am glad because I recall that being so very much better than this. Here, we pick up after "Fleck" (Phoenix) has been on his clown-faced slaughtering spree and is in prison supervised by prison officer "Jackie" (Brendan Gleeson). His lawyer "Maryanne" (Catherine Keener) is trying to have him declared competent to stand trial for his crimes so she can plead some sort of personality disorder defence - he's not "Fleck" when he's the "Joker" sort of thing. Thing is, he encounters "Lee" (Lady Gaga) at a prison sing-a-long and she manages to ingratiate herself with him and then to derail that plan ensuring the plot twists it's way into the courtroom where his conviction for multiple homicides quickly appears as inevitable as there being a song in the film. Now I did like the soundtrack, but by the way Todd Phillips has presented this, it might as well have been either Tony Bennett or Newley who took on the leading role as her part is largely a series of entertainingly photographed music videos with the thinnest slices of meat constituting a weak story in between. It's a love story, I suppose, but that wasn't really what I turned up to see. There's loads of excess, but no menace or jeopardy and the character's previous adeptness at treading the thin line between sanity and madness isn't really developed at all here. He comes across more as a pathetic, emaciated, prisoner whose flame has well and truly gone out. His legal antagonist (Harry Lawtey) looks about eleven years old but that doesn't really matter either as the judicial proceedings themselves offer us little by way of sustaining drama, even as we build to a denouement that offers the tiniest bit of hope then... It's a stunning piece of cinema, money has been spent and there's imagination a-plenty from the production's designers. It's just too much of a jigsaw of a film with too little plot serving as a vehicle for an album boxed-set that's doubtless ready to hit the shops.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/joker-folie-a-deux-review-an-ambitious-musical-failure/ "Joker: Folie à Deux holds immense technical and artistic merit, but it fails to replicate the success and impact of the original. Todd Phillips’ boldness in turning the film into a musical is admirable, but the execution ends up being incoherent, with abrupt transitions between the dark drama and the musical numbers, resulting in a jarring experience, made even more frustrating by the studio’s embarrassing secrecy about the movie’s format. While visually impressive and with standout performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, the lack of thematic and character development makes this sequel an ambitious yet ultimately disappointing attempt that adds little to the thought-provoking study presented in 2019." Rating: C-

Combining movie genres can be tricky business. When the mix is right, the outcome can be truly impressive, but, when it’s off, it can spell cinematic disaster. In the case of this long-awaited sequel to the 2019 box office and critically acclaimed success, unfortunately, the result is closer to the latter than the former. Picking up where the protagonist’s story left off, this saga about charismatic villain Arthur Fleck (a.k.a., the Joker) (Joaquin Phoenix) finds him in prison awaiting trial for his string of heinous crimes. Most of the picture’s first half takes place here, an unlikely venue for Arthur meeting the love of his life, the psychopathic Lee Quinzel (a.k.a., Harley Quinn) (Lady Gaga), who diligently stands by her man when he eventually goes to court, the primary focus of the film’s second half. So, at this point, the picture is already part prison film, part courtroom drama and part dark romance. But, if that weren’t enough, writer-director Todd Phillips draws upon a fourth genre – musicals – to make the mix even more overstuffed (but, hey, if you’ve got a talent like Lady Gaga at your disposal, why not, right?). The result is a convoluted, overlong, often-uninteresting offering that’s heavy on style but weak on substance and not especially interesting. Admittedly, the performances of the two leads and many of the supporting players (Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Steve Coogan in particular) are quite good, doing a more than commendable job of making this material look far better than it actually is. In addition, stylistically speaking, the picture is terrific when it comes to its production design, costuming and cinematography. And the soundtrack is great, too, including an array of superbly chosen standards to complement the narrative (even if there are a few too many selections). But these strengths by themselves aren’t enough to make a good picture overall; what’s stuck in between these elements feels more like filler than substance, and that’s where the movie falls apart. In my view, “Joker: Folie à Deux” isn’t as resoundingly awful as many reviewers have made it out to be in light of its artistic and aesthetic accomplishments, but that doesn’t mean this release is not without its share of problems, most notably in the dreadful writing and mishandled film editing. This is one of those pictures where you get to the end and are likely to heave a heavy “Ho hum, so what?” And that’s regrettable, given that the character and this picture’s predecessor both deserved better than what this follow-up has to offer. If you haven’t seen this yet, you might be better off sticking to the picture’s genuinely stellar trailer, as that’s ultimately much better than most of what’s found in this clunky 2:18:00 release.