News culture “Worse than you can imagine” The first opinions on Joker 2 are alarming, the film is more criticized than ever!
Published on 02/10/2024 at 10:52
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Joker with Joaquin Phoenix breathes a breath of fresh air in 2019 on a superheroic 7th Art which is losing its splendor. Todd Phillips’ film is critically acclaimed, adored by the general public and hits the box office. Five years later, Gotham’s clown makes his comeback to the cinema accompanied by his sweetheart Harley Quinn… And it’s tragedy!
The sequel to a billionaire global phenomenon
No one would have imagined that Todd Phillips’ Joker would become such a critical and commercial success before its theatrical release in 2019. For a budget estimated between 55 and 70 million US dollars, it grossed more than a billion at the box officewhich is phenomenal for a superhero film that isn’t one. In addition, this theatrical success leaves the Venice Film Festival with the Golden Lion and the 92nd Academy Awards with the awards for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Film Score out of 11 nominations. The Joker has just turned Hollywood upside down
Joker could/should have remained an anomaly in the Hollywood cinematic landscape, but that would be a misunderstanding of the major North American studios who sniff out the easy move and put a sequel into production. Five years later, Joker: Folie à deux hits theaters on October 2, 2024 in France to waltz with a supposedly acquired audience and introduce the colorful character of Harley Quinn aka Harleen “Lee” Quinzel into this universe detached from the DC Universe and The Batman.
Arthur Fleck is interned in Arkham awaiting trial for the crimes he committed as the Joker. As he struggles with his dual identity, Arthur not only finds true love, but also finds the music that has always been within him. -Warner Bros. Pictures
The fall of the Joker in Folie à deux
The first opinions on Joker: Folie à deux did not suggest anything good at the start of September 2024, and those following its cinema release today only confirm what we feared. The sequel to the superheroic UFO directed by Todd Phillips in 2019 is ultimately a damp squib. Those who had the chance to see him “day one” did not necessarily come away satisfied from their session. The “It’s much worse than you can imagine” expressed by @spherection on X (formerly Twitter) is sufficient in itself to understand the extent of the disaster. And the press is not kinder to this film starring Joaquin Phoenix in the role of the Joker and Lady Gaga in that of Harley Quinn. It has a score of 59% on the reference site Rotten Tomatoes: the mass is said!
According to our colleague Tim Grierson for ScreenDaily, “The original Joker remains a stunning exception – that rare blockbuster with emotional nuance, adult themes and a real sense of grandeur – and its sequel fails to keep up.” which turns out to be a shame for a musical. Others are more lenient and give a chance to this feature film which has for it to offer something other than the eternal Marvel formula rehashed many times in theaters: “the tragedy of a broken man in a world which is not interested than sensational” (John Bleasdale for Time Out). Joker 2 succeeds at least on this point, namely being a critique of our contemporary society puffed up by the star system and sensationalism.