Why Joker: Folie à Deux Is Losing At The Box Office

Joker: Folie à Deux, the heavily anticipated sequel to the first movie Joker, has finally hit theatres. The sequel, however, is falling very short of the high bar that was set for the original movie. Having been rated a D by CinemaScore based on audience polls, which makes it the lowest grade ever for a comic book film, you have to wonder where it all went wrong. Major spoilers ahead!

One of the biggest mistakes the sequel could have possibly made was the inclusion of  Lady Gaga, who plays Lee Quinzel aka Harley Quinn. The original film was advertised as a psychological thriller film which follows Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, as he spirals into a dark descent of mental illness and nihilism. The sequel, however, is advertised as a jukebox musical psychological thriller. Joker: Folie à Deux starts out as a psychological thriller up until the introduction of Lady Gaga’s character from which point the film takes a largely musical themed tone. The Joker is meant to be this dark twisted character who has no morals or care for those around him while Harley Quinn is meant to be his romantical love interest who he has molded to his vision. The sequel shows the Joker as an unwilling symbol to Arthur Fleck that was forced onto him by the people of Gotham who give him the love he always wanted; Lee Quinzel is shown as the manipulative one in the relationship as she forms a bond with Arthur only because of his Joker persona. The reversed roles of the movie adds to the many mistakes the film made when portraying the relationship between the Joker and Harley.

Arthur Fleck wasn’t even meant to actually represent the Joker; at the very end of the movie he is killed off by another inmate at the Arkham State Hospital after being told a joke. While Arthur lays there dying, the inmate can be seen in the background cutting a smile into his face much like Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker. The truth of the matter is that Arthur Fleck was never meant to be the Joker, he was just a stand-in for the real Joker who may or may not have been that inmate who cuts a smile into his face at the end of the film. Why name the movie Joker when the main character that we focus on throughout the whole film turns out to have never been meant to actually be the Joker? Arthur Fleck was only meant to represent the idea of the Joker, setting the stage for the actual one like a comedy club; he never wanted to be the Joker in the first place. His death ends up feeling much like a bad punchline to the whole film, mostly because he was already going to be executed for the murders he committed in the previous film, but also because it brings no point to either of the Joker films. If you’re going to create a Joker then at least take inspiration from Heath Ledger’s.