Controversial Joker: Folie à Deux Divides Audiences and Critics After Premiere

Lady Gaga, Michael Polansky

As audiences rush to see the second installment of the Joker saga by Todd Phillips, so do the critical reviews online. After the initial premiere of Joker: Folie a Deux, the overall consensus has been negative; meanwhile, most people believe that Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s performances were excellent but deserved better in terms of the quality of the overall film. Here’s everything you need to know about what people are saying online after the premiere of Joker: Folie a Deux.

Todd Phillips Joker Timeline

Joker: Folie à Deux, Movies
VENICE, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 04: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga and Director Todd Phillips attend the “Joker: Folie à Deux” red carpet during the 81st Venice International Film Festival at Sala Grande on September 04, 2024 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images)

The original Joker by Todd Phillips was released on October 4th, 2019, and only had a budget of 55 million dollars. However, it produced over one billion dollars at the box office and received an IMDb score of 8.4 out of 10 with over 1.5 million votes. IMDb also ranks the film number 83 on the top-rated movies list. With two Oscars and 120 other awards won you would think that all the success would set the stage for the sequel to follow in its footsteps. Joker: Folie a Deux hit theaters on October 4th, 2024, five years after the original. The box office numbers fell from the first film and made 7 million dollars on Thursday previews.

Reviews and Reactions

The initial reactions to Joker: Folie a Deux have not been very welcoming, to say the least. One reviewer states, “It’s a courtroom drama without the drama, a grubby prison movie with no point to make, and a romance with no chemistry, investment, or characterization.” However, the reviewer continues and sheds a little positivity on the situation, “which is not to detract from the performances of both Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, who are both excellent and deserved better.” Unfortunately, other critics and reviewers agree. IMDb has rated the film 5.4 out of 10. Meanwhile, Rotten Tomatoes scores the film at 33% fresh. A massive and distinguishable difference in reception from audiences around the world.

On the other hand, the reactions aren’t all horrible. One audience member by the name of Carlos R. on Rotten Tomatoes reacted to the film and said, “The cinematography is beautiful. Excellent performances by every character. Great storyline. Very different from the traditional comic book movie, but still a slam dunk.” But reviews seemed to be mostly encapsulated by another outlook on the film that came from top critic Dylan Roth when he said, “Joker: Folie à Deux is a product of wild, aimless ambition, the sort of mad swing that would be laudable if it weren’t so absolutely awful. It falls flat as a musical, as a courtroom drama, as a romance, and as a character piece.”

Final Thoughts

The premiere of Joker: Folie a Deux has not gone smoothly so far. With such a massive success from the original installment, the sequel is falling short on almost all counts of previous financial and critical review records. While the film has only garnered a small 3% of its budget back in one day, there is still a lot of time for the film’s trajectory to change. Some still suspect Joaquin Phoenix will receive another Oscar nomination for his performance regardless of the audience’s reactions. Stay up to date with everything movies, gaming, sports, and more at Total Apex Entertainment.

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