Advertisement

Apparently "Joker: Folie à Deux" Isn't A Musical, And I'm Less Excited To See It Now

I loved the first Joker movie when it came out. 2019 was a great year for films and I think I actually had it as my favorite movie of that year. In hindsight, I don't know if I'd go that far. I probably prefer "Jojo Rabbit" and "1917" over it, but I did think that it was really well done, and I give Todd Phillips credit for making a movie that was as pessimistic as it was. Joaquin Phoenix gave an unbelievable performance and got his well-deserved Oscar. With that said, I've been kind of indifferent about the idea of the second Joker movie. I figured it would happen eventually. Movies that make a billion dollars end up getting sequels no matter what, but I became intrigued when it was announced that the movie would be a musical featuring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. If you're going to make a sequel to something like "Joker," you might as well go butt fuck crazy. DC does better than Marvel is they give their directors a lot of creative freedom, and it seemed like that's what Todd Phillips was going wild, but now those involved are collectively backtracking on the idea of this being a musical. 

"It has music in it?" What fucking movie doesn't have music in ? I didn't expect this to be the Blair Witch Project. The first one had great music in it. It actually won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, which it deserved, and it consistently used Frank Sinatra's "That's Life" to full effect. I don't know, maybe this is just a misunderstanding, and we'll get a musical number or two. Lady Gaga has proven herself to be a fine actress, but why would you get her in a movie like this and cast her as Harley Quinn unless there was some kind of musical element? 

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't really care how much this does or doesn't connect to the Batman universe. From a timeline standpoint, having a character like the Joker exist at a time in which Bruce Wayne is a child probably goes against canon, but I'm fine with creative liberties if you do something bold and original. I feel like that's what Todd Phillips did with the first Joker movie. I find it interesting that the DC properties that I am invested in, like Todd Phillips's Joker series and Matt Reeves' Batman universe, don't actually have any real connection to James Gunn's DCEU. Just give me quality storytelling, and I'll be happy, but I'd still like to see a musical number or two.