“Joker: Folie à Deux” is a bold movie that wants to say a lot but ends up having nothing to say all.

Following the 2019-hit, Joaquin Phoenix returns his Oscar-winning role, this time being joined by Lady Gaga as the Joker’s crazed love interest, Harley Quinn (referred to as Lee in this rendition of the character). Also returning to work behind the camera is director and writer Todd Phillips, who takes the movie in several bold directions.

Firstly, it should not be undermined how good Phoenix is in this role. He is just as good as he was five years ago in the role and continues to be the best thing about the films. Additionally, Hildur Guðnadóttir delivers just impactful of a score, even if it does ride similar to the first’s score. The film is also gorgeous to look at it, each scene breathing life into either a courtroom or a prison, which is not always the easiest feat.

Beyond that, this story is a mess. There are a lot of moving pieces in this movie, filled with a lot of “you almost had it” ideas, but none truly worked for me. The story also makes very, very creative decisions with its characters and I can’t say I was satisfied with the direction it took me. A lot of this I feel is on the story not setting up what it wanted to finish with, feeling like a hollow ending with no true payoff.

The movie also doesn’t really know what it wants to be. It tries to be ambitious and go for being a musical… but it doesn’t want to be ambitious, so it just scatters music in here and there, often undercutting a scene’s tension.

I would personally equate the film to a breakup. Right after it’s over, you just feel empty and can’t really comprehend your emotions. As time goes on, however, your disappointment in what has just happened to you grows and grows until it is insurmountable and all you can do is focus on the good times (in this scenario, the first film).

Overall, it is entertaining, but I can’t say I would recommend it.

3/10