Joker Part 2 Review

Growing up my mother was an educator. She taught middle school English to be exact. Maybe that gives insight to my writing skills and thirst for economic freedom. But apart from that, she took on overtime at work via managing an after school program called “Sports and Arts.” This program was implemented at schools across New York to provide students with the opportunities to learn performing arts in the form of dance and theatre. They got the opportunity to put on shows at their school and perform at larger events across the country. Some of the perks I received from that were my mom not having to find an after school program to put me in, or leave me at home alone from the age of 7 to 11 to get into whatever shenanigans my impressionable mind could come up with. Additionally, I was able to tag along to different trips they got access to, like Broadway plays, Disney World, and the like. I never actually participated, but I was often in the auditorium doing homework or playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on my Playstation Portable while watching a bunch of 8th grade girls dance. Not too bad of an after school gig for a 9 year old to say the least. Nonetheless, the reason I mention this is to affirm that I am well versed in the world of theatre, musicals, and broadway plays due to watching middle school girls that I had a huge crush on perform West Side Story, Footloose, and the Lion King as an after school activity throughout grammar school. So when I watched that atrocity of a movie that Todd Phillips sold to us in the Joker sequel I was largely unimpressed.

Firstly, I wouldn’t have been so displeased with the musical elements of the movie had it actually had a worthwhile plot to accompany it. Seeing Lady Gaga as the leading lady in the film was one of the selling points for me being that I was actually impressed with her villainous acting in House of Gucci. I was expecting to see someone give Margot Robbie a run for her money as Harley Quinn. However, it became clear to me about 45 minutes in that Lady Gaga was casted to break out into song on command and bring her pop star qualities to this film rather than acting prowess. The first Joker by Todd Phillips was an abstract take on the supervillain that Heath Ledger embodied all too well may he rest in peace. I thought Joaquin did well at depicting a mentally unstable victim of abuse taking out his pain on the world as many of New York’s mentally ill tend to do in random acts of violence. And adding his performative circus-like infatuation with being known as an act felt very authentic to the comics and earlier Batman adaptations. Where the Joker is largely motivated by having an audience to his terror. But the sequel’s depiction of the Joker’s infatuation with being a star was extremely cringey. I never recall him breaking out into song at random in any adaptation I’ve seen before. And I don’t feel that any filmmaker should be a slave to earlier interpretations of a character, but there wasn’t any real value to his random singing to the development of the storyline. 

As I explained to my girlfriend on our angry walk home from the movies, I interpreted the film to be a view into the Joker’s mind and perspective. We all have that little song playing in the back of our mind throughout the day. Those songs that get stuck in our head or tunes that get triggered by certain smells, thoughts, or memories. And I feel that is what Phillips was portraying with the random cut scenes to the Joker performing show tunes and committing terrifying acts in the process. And maybe if he was actually doing these things rather than imagining it, I would have found more of a plot centric value to it. But it seemed like the entirety of the movie was his imagination. And there were only like five real plot developing events that occurred outside of his sick mind resembling a guillotine sacrifice inspired Broadway play. I am a fan of out of the box abstract film interpretations, but I am one that enjoys a good plot in a movie. This film just seemed like an opportunity for everyone to watch Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix sing showtunes for 2+ hours. 

And the ending sucked. I at least thought this would all lead up to some monumental mind blowing ending that made the 2 hours of annoying singing worthwhile. But it really didn’t. It fell flat. Maybe if the Joker chose to represent himself earlier in the movie I could have appreciated an ironic “making fun of the legal system” courtroom movie. I love movies that are centered around trials and court cases normally, so watching the Joker make a mockery of the legal system for two hours could have been something I enjoyed. Considering that he wasn’t even a conspirator in the courtroom bombing was very not-joker like. 

I just want to take this moment to send my condolences to Heath Ledger’s family and thank Christopher Nolan for delivering the best live action adaptation of the Joker our generation has seen. Thanks for nothing Todd Phillips. Lastly, I want to add. The cinematography and acting in this film was top of the line. It just seemed like a waste with such a mundane plot. The money they spent for Lady Gaga’s singing and Joaquin’s vocal lessons should have been spent on a better writing team. But hey who am I? What does this former truant B student from Southeast Queens really know about filmmaking right? Kèlkeswa¹. Peace.