As long as Batman has been around, there have been villains to fight against him. Since his first solo comic book, originally published in 1940, that villain has been Joker. Characterized by his white makeup and painted-on smile, he hides behind a mask of pain and evil. Over the past 85-plus years, there have been many iterations of the Joker. From Cesar Romero (Falcon Crest) on the 1960s television show to Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets) in the 1989 feature film Batman, Joker has always been a mentally unstable character.
In 2019, Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line) portrayed Joker in a whole new way, as a simple man who was abused by his mother and ignored by society. Arthur Fleck was a part-time clown who still lived with his mother and had been let down by social services as a child. As the first film ended, Arthur's violent tendencies came to light, and he was put in jail. This year, Joker: Folie à Deux premiered in theaters to continue Arthur's story. This month, it became available for purchase in 4K.
While in jail, Fleck has been a model inmate. When a guard suggests to the warden that Fleck join the singing group in the lower-security ward of the asylum, it is approved. There, Arthur meets Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Lady Gaga; A Star Is Born), and the two quickly fall in love. With Lee feeding Arthur's ego, he fires his attorney and represents himself at trial. However, when Arthur renounces his Joker persona in his closing argument, Lee becomes disgusted and leaves.
Phoenix and Gaga are terrific in this film, but the rest of the project fails. Co-writer/director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) decided to make Joker: Folie à Deux a musical, which is its downfall. Separately, the story and the musical performances are heartfelt, but together, the musical numbers are distracting and interrupt the flow of the plot. This was an experiment gone wrong, resulting in a frustrating case of "plotus interruptus."
The Dolby Vision and 4K native resolution are wonderful, offering sharp details and true shading contrasts. While much of the film is intentionally gray, there are still moments of color saturation that highlight Arthur in various scenes.
The Dolby Atmos Audio is equally impressive and showcases the musical numbers and haunting score, with its lower tones rumbling in the background. The dialogue is well-represented, sitting mostly in the front speakers, while the ambient sounds utilize all the surround speakers throughout.
The combo pack comes with the 4K disc and a digital download, plus five extras. These include a 45-minute, four-part documentary called Everything Must Go and four other featurettes: The Character of Music, Crafted With Class, Colors of Madness, and Live! With The Joker. These extras offer some insight into the idea of the musical numbers and the creation of the characters.
Phoenix won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck in the first film, and he is no less imposing in this second go-around. Gaga has impressed with her film roles in the past, and like a fine wine, she continues to improve with age. Together, they create some memorable scenes.
However, what could have been a great and memorable movie has instead turned out to be a disjointed film that doesn't know what it is supposed to be. While Moana 2 and Wicked are wonderful examples of how great a musical can be, Folie à Deux shows us the opposite.
Grade: C-
