New ‘Joker’ Movie Hit With Savagely Brutal Reviews

The reviews for the “Joker” sequel are an absolute bloodbath.

The highly-anticipated sequel to the original film with Joaquin Phoenix is finally out in theaters across America, but it appears this one should have stayed on the shelf.

The 2019 movie about the transformation of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) into the legendary villain was outstanding. It was one of the best movies of the year.

People feel *VERY* different about “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

The reviews for “Joker: Folie à Deux” are brutally bad. (Credit: Warner Bros.)

“Joker: Folie à Deux” earns horrible reviews. 

There had been a lot of chatter about how the sequel was going to be a bit of a musical, which I always found super odd. That was definitely a red flag, but I was holding out hope that it’d be worth watching because of Lady Gaga’s addition.

Well, the reviews are brutal. As of publication, the “Joker” sequel holds a 39% rating from critics and a 37% rating from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

The reviews for “Joker: Folie à Deux” are awful. (Credit: Rotten Tomatoes)

I don’t think I even need to explain how bad that is. You almost have to try to fail in order to get scores that low.

The review pullouts are also hilariously bad. Check out a few below:

• “That’s Entertainment?”
• So, whether the movie is some middle finger by Phillips to the world or just a meaningless rambling, the joke really is on us.
• “Joker: Folie à Deux” soars when it goes full-on musical, and bores with its thin story when it doesn’t.
• If Folie à Deux were just a demented musical romance, it could’ve been something special in a small-scale, character-driven way. Alas, Phillips is somehow convinced that these Joker movies need to Say Something Important about the state of the world.
• Todd Phillips has never managed to write a plausible female character. Why start now?
• There’s always a joker, there’s always a clown — but if he doesn’t morph into something bigger and bolder and more terrible, it starts to feel like we’ve seen this show before, only without the musical numbers.
• Writer-director Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver obviously had no idea what kind of movie they were trying to make. “Joker” had something to say to the world; “Folie à Deux” just seems to be muttering and warbling incoherently to itself.
• I can’t imagine fans enjoying what Phillips does with the Joker here, but then again, studios are counting on you to see these comic-book movies no matter how poorly they’re made. With rare exception, audiences flock to give DC and Marvel their money
• Phillips has followed his very anti-hero take on the Joker with a very anti-sequel. It combines prison drama, courthouse thriller and musical, and yet turns out remarkably inert given how combustible the original was.
• So determined to avoid satisfying fans that it’s borderline antagonistic, as actively hostile to genre conventions as its protagonist is to the world at large.
• Joker: Folie a Deux is an ugly look at fan service, obsession, and toxicity without any exploration of the “why” behind them all.
• A listless, depressing “musical” that seems to hate its characters, and itself.

Stop the count because this is a blowout, and as noted above, it’s not just critics. I don’t even put much weight into what critics say. I always focus on what the audience is saying as the priority, and the audience hates “Joker: Folie à Deux” even more than the critics.

That’s not a good sign for how this movie will perform over the coming weeks. Bad press can sink a movie before it even has a chance to get off the ground.

Have you already seen it? I want to hear your opinion so I might be able to save myself a trip to the theater. Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.