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The final Joker: Folie à Deux trailer has been released and even though I’m still deeply confused about what the movie plot is, as well as the constant back and forth arguing by fans about whether it’s a musical or not, what I can definitively say is that I’ll be skipping seeing it in theaters.

Now let’s be real – the first Joker movie was brilliantly awesome.

It should have ended there. Did it need a sequel? Absolutely not.

IS IT A MUSICAL OR NOT?

That’s not to say that the new Joker film will be a Box Office disaster, as you will definitely have your die-hard comic books and Batman fans seeing it on the opening weekend regardless. But what has been a disaster has been the confusing rollout of the film – most notably, whether Joker 2 is a musical or not. 

At the Venice debut screening of the film two weeks ago, Lady Gaga, who plays opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker as character Harley Quinn, didn’t do herself or the film any favors by explaining why the movie isn’t a musical, by exactly explaining why it is a musical.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that this is actually a musical, in a lot of ways it’s very different,” Gaga began. “The way that music is used is to really give the characters a way to express what they need to say, because the scene and dialogue is just not enough.” 

Sure as heck sounds like a musical to me, Gaga. With each subsequent trailer that has been released, potential theatergoers like myself have become more confused as to what is happening.

 

FANS ARE SPLIT ON JOKER SEQUEL

One thing I noticed scrolling through social media’s reactions to both the official Joker and Lady Gaga’s Twitter X accounts is that there are A LOT of bots in the comments. Seriously, read through them, and you can immediately tell that so many positive comments are AI-generated, or bots. In fact, in multiple instances, you have the same exact wording or word choice coming from multiple accounts at different times. So, if one was to just look at the comments, you’d think I was actually in the wrong for waiting to watch Joker 2 when it comes to streaming. 

When one goes from social media bots to actual movie review sites like RottenTomates.com, the feedback shows a different position. RT has given Joker: Folie à deux a 63% rating, which, needless to say, is not great for the $200+ million cost of the film. (The first Joker, which was nominated for 11 Oscars, had a budget of around $60 million).

Of course, RottenTomatoes isn’t the end-all, be-all, as we all know, there are plenty of haters and trolls out there. But many of the positive reviews of Joker talk about the cinematography and the brilliance in the camera work and the music intertwined. Yadda, yadda, yadda. 

Which, in the end, is fine if that’s what you are going to the movies to want, but once again, this is the Joker and, as the first one showed, the acting and story itself was able to do a fine job without all the “extra.” I’ll eventually see the movie, but the final trailer does not have me feeling like it’s a “must see” in theaters.

JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE ON OCTOBER 4TH.