“Joker: Folie à Deux”: A film for no target audience?

“Joker: Folie à Deux”
A film for no target audience?

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga are going "Joker: Folie à Deux" bathe.

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga go swimming with “Joker: Folie à Deux”.

© imago images/ZUMA Press

A flop with an announcement? “Joker: Folie à Deux” with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga offends many fans of the original.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” with Joaquin Phoenix (49) and Lady Gaga (38) are becoming more and more megaflops. After a disappointing start, the sequel to the billion-dollar hit from 2019 fell by 81 percent in its second weekend – at least in the USA. This is the biggest crash of a comic book adaptation. Although “Joker 2” is only this in the broadest sense. Which may be an explanation for the failure. But first things first.

The deep drop from the first to the second weekend is a clear indicator of negative word of mouth. Which is more effective than ever in times of social media and comment columns.

But “Joker: Folie à Deux” wasn’t well received by critics either. On the collection site “Rotten Tomatoes,” for example, only 33 percent of the reviews are positive. These come not only from professional critics, but also from fan blogs. “Joker 2” has a similarly weak audience rating of 32 percent.

SPOILER ALERT: Why “Joker 2” disappoints many fans

The rejection from the ranks of superhero fans doesn’t really come as a surprise. Finally, “Joker: Folie à Deux” rejects the expectations of comic ultras, even more radically than the first part. Director Todd Phillips (53) is said to have even refused to exchange ideas with DC Films. The offshoot of the comic publisher produced the first and second parts of the Batman adversary’s origin story.

Or rather, apparent origin story. Because that’s not what “Joker 2” is. Because, very last spoiler warning: Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, dies before he can become Batman’s rival. The DC villain’s place is taken by another character, Arthur Fleck’s murderer. At least that’s what the final sequence suggests. This turn of events offended many nerds; in one user review, for example, there was talk of an “unworthy ending”.

“Joker 2” takes back the anger of the first part

But Todd Phillips isn’t just scaring away DC nerds. His “Joker” hit the zeitgeist five years ago. As in the film itself, men who felt left behind identified with the frustrated (anti-)hero. There were even fears at the time that “Joker” could inspire riots.

But “Joker: Folie à Deux”, unlike the first part, does not articulate this social anger. On the contrary. Arthur Fleck rows back and buries his alter ego Joker. Professional critics criticized the film for the fact that, like many twists and turns, it seemed a bit abrupt and unmotivated.

In the film itself, Arthur’s about-face disappoints his supporters who are cheering him on in the courtroom. In this way, “Joker 2” anticipates the attitude of many viewers in its story. An irony in film history.

A film for everyone and no one?

Instead of a superhero prequel, a mixture of courtroom drama and musical with Lady Gaga: “Joker: Folie à Deux” seems like a film for no target group. The whole scene almost seems like an experimental film – which art house viewers could certainly appreciate. But they probably avoid (supposed) superhero films.

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