Director: Todd Phillips. USA. 2024. 138 min.

Can two crazy people with a song in their hearts find love? Joker: Foil for Two pairs Gotham’s Clown Prince Of Crime with Harley Quinn, resulting in an ambitious sequel whose wide swings mostly prove to be a failure. Part musical, part courtroom drama, this sequel to the 2019 Oscar-winning sensation further explores the shattered mind of murderer Arthur Fleck, but without the insight that made the original film so compelling and unsettling. Joaquin Phoenix once again shows his willingness to take risks – in this case singing alongside the far more technically accomplished Lady Gaga – but a performance that was once so well-matched to his character’s fragile state of mind is in Folie A Deuxcovered with familiar flourishes.

Lukewarm chemistry

Warner Bros. reveals Slide to Two in Venice, where the original took home the Golden Lion and grossed $1.1 billion worldwide. Gaga adds to the commercial firepower of this highly anticipated sequel, which opens in the UK and US on October 4, although the film’s musical score may dampen some of the pre-release enthusiasm. Still, Slide to Two seems poised for strong box office success.

Set two years after jokerwhich ended with failed stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) killing talk show host Murray Franklin live on air, this sequel focuses on Arthur’s murder trial. His lawyer Maryanne (Catherine Keener) wants to prove that her client was under psychological duress to save him from the electric chair, but Arthur seems more interested in fellow prisoner Lee (Gaga). He quickly realizes that she is just as disturbed as he is – she has a penchant for random arson – and falls in love with Lee, who has been obsessed with him since he murdered Murray.

Give Slide to Two Recognition for being just as bold as the 2019 film, in which returning director and co-writer Todd Phillips plunges us back into the darkness of Gotham City in the early 1980s, reuniting with many of his joker Together with his collaborators – especially cinematographer Lawrence Sher and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir – the filmmaker attempts to create a sequel that is not an exact copy of the previous film, but rather represents a stylistic change that questions the frighteningly sick protagonist.

Part of that strategy involves weaving musical numbers into the narrative. Some of them are fantasy sequences that play out in the characters’ heads, while others simply show Arthur and Lee breaking into casual song in the middle of an otherwise traditional dramatic scene. Not surprisingly, Gaga shines during these scenes, whether she’s sweetly crooning “(They Long To Be) Close To You” or belting out “Gonna Build A Mountain” in amped-up R&B/gospel mode. But Phoenix struggles. Sure, his delicate vocals capture Arthur’s fragile psyche, but when his character is supposed to have a cathartic moment — like during a fiery performance of Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s “The Joker” — this gifted, vulnerable actor simply lacks what it takes to make the song stirring.

But Phillips is also to blame, showing little ingenuity in the direction. The musical sequences are neither euphoric nor edgy, sentimental or sarcastic, but instead move in an unsatisfying, indifferent mediocrity, never capturing the emotional undertones of these popular songs that are supposed to outline Arthur and Lee’s madcap romance. This lack of spark is just as evident in Phoenix and Gaga’s non-singing scenes. As convincing as Gaga is as an unstable woman destined to become his fabled soulmate Harley Quinn (portrayed by Margot Robbie in other DC films), the chemistry between her and her co-star is only lukewarm. Meanwhile, Phoenix, who played Arthur in joker as a traumatized failure who falls to pieces with such tenderness and inconsistency, here merely repeats those mannerisms, with far less convincing effect.

Opening with a Looney Tunes style animation sequence, designed by Triplets of Belleville Author Sylvain Chomet, Folie A Deux attempts to comment on social issues, including our society’s fixation on mass murderers. Unfortunately, once the film becomes a monotonous courtroom drama, Phillips struggles to move the narrative forward. At the heart of the story is a mystery – does Lee love the sensitive Arthur, or does she really love the evil Joker? – but the film falters when it tries to explore these warring personalities in its fractured soul.

Slide to TwoThe shocking final sequence of jokers cinematic legacy – as well as the way violence creates violence. But where the original joker remains a stunning exception – that rare blockbuster with emotional shading, adult themes and a genuine sense of grandeur – this sequel fails to keep up the pace.