The Joker: Folie à Deux Review - Brandon Lee

 
Spoilers!

 

  Following the masterful movie Joker the second movie of the series, The Joker: Folie à Deux, has finally been released in theaters. This sequel of the first movie had fans highly anticipating and exited thanks to the masterful execution of the first recreation of the story of Joker. Jack Napier, aka Joker, is a fictional character mainly introduced as the antagonist of batman and is well known to reign havoc among the citizens of Gotham. However, this movie introduces a more realistic view of the Joker. In this film, the Joker is set into motion as Arthur Fleck, a normal comedian struggling to start up his career. Arthur struggles with phycological damage from depression and his special condition called PBA which causes him to have uncontrollable episodes of laughter and crying in uncomfortable situations. However, after years of bullying and discrimination, Arthur ends up committing a total of 6 murders over the time span of a few weeks. Eventually, Arthur gets arrested and lands in a prison where he is being treated at a phycological ward. There, he meets a new woman named Lee Quinzel  and begins to fall in love with her over time. They bond over the similarities they share about their childhood trauma. This sparks a burning passion for Arthur as he has now set a new goal to legally escape the prison through trial and rule get a taste of freedom with his new found partner. They share the hope of being released into the public and to descend into chaos together.   

    I personally really enjoyed this movie, partially because I had the whole movie theater to myself, but also because of the unique characteristics of the characters. There is a mix on mystery and unknown struggle within all of these characters which we can see very well. especially for Arthur. Joaquin Phoenix really does a great job breaking down the complex characteristics of this version of the Joker. After seeing multiple different Jokers with very little character development over the movies, It was really refreshing to see a new type of joker hit the DC universe. One of the main differences of this character is the difference in characteristics compared to the other Jokers. In most of the other films, Joker is portrayed as a strong supervillain that causes mass destruction and is also view as an evil character in the citizen's eyes. Arthur on the other hand, is represented as a frail, weak, and quiet person. He is a very influential figure that delivers a sense of freedom and rebelling against the government. I thought it was very interesting how these two characters are almost polar opposites but also end up causing chaos and a change in how the city of Gotham runs. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it to people who love deep dark phycological movies.