To the surprise of many, Joker 2 (alias Joker: Folie à Deux) is a musical, unlike the first film.
Director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix are returning to their billion-dollar DC franchise with the addition of mega-talents like Lady Gaga. Joker 2 throw.
Although everything seemed set up for success, Joker 2 has not gotten off on the right financial footing. Instead of missing a Taxi driver– Rough drama like the first movie, Folie à Deux changed things up and turned the movie into a jukebox musical full of classic tunes from the 1940s and 50s.
Why is Joker 2 a musical?
It can be confusing to figure it out Joker 2 is a film musical, but there were grounds for the decision.
Joker: Folie à Deuxin theaters now, once again focuses on Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, this time as he is admitted to Arkham Asylum and stands trial for his actions in the first Joker movie (read more Joker 2 plot here).
As part of her new surroundings and in the public eye, she crosses paths with Lady Gaga’s Harlee “Lee” Quinzel. They quickly fall in love, and for the rest of the film jump in and out of Arthur’s personal delusions, which include several musical numbers such as “If My Friends Could See Me Now”. Sweet charity.
This choice to focus the film so closely on the music has caused quite a stir among fans, as many had hoped that there would be another sequel. Joker and not upsetting the apple cart in any significant way.
According to director Todd Phillips, this move to make the film a musical was part of an active pursuit of it “from above (self)” and do something “dangerous” with the film’s sequel (via Variety ):
“The question became, ‘How can we outdo ourselves?’
He said that most of the music in the film should be seen as audience dialogue because he is simply the Arthur character of Phoenix who has no words he wants to say, so “he sings them instead:”
“Most of the music in the film is really just dialogue. Arthur just doesn’t have the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead.”
This is not to say that the film’s musical narrative can (and should) be compared to Broadway hits such as Evil or On highHowever, according to Phillips.
“I just don’t want people to think it’s like that On high,” Phillips added, saying that most of these musical numbers are in Arthur’s head, as opposed to this enhanced version of reality where people just burst into song in the streets:
“I just don’t want people to think it’s like ‘In the Heights,’ where the lady in the bodega starts singing and they take it out on the street and the police dance. No disrespect, because I loved In the Heights.”
Star Lady Gaga would even say that the film is not a musical at all, just one with songs.
Speaking to People Magazine at the Venice Film Festival in October 2024, Gaga remarked, “I wouldn’t necessarily say this is really a musical.” He, like Phillips, sees the musical elements as an extension of the dialogue, helping the characters to express feelings that have no words to say:
“I wouldn’t necessarily say this is actually a musical. The way the music is used is to give the characters a way to express what they need, because a scene and just dialogue isn’t enough.”
Phillips agreed with Gaga’s sentiment and also told the press that she’s not sure “musical” is the right word to describe the film.
He told The Wrap in September 2024 that in most musicals “you walk out of them, (and) you feel a lot better than when you walked into them” but this is not the case Joker 2:
“The musicals I tend to love, or musicals in general, when you walk out of them you feel a lot better than when you walked into them. And often you find yourself whistling music from the musical you just saw. And I guess I didn’t want to mislead people because I didn’t know that you leave this movie feeling better than when you walked in. So I always think that the term ‘musical’ has a very, like, positive slant, so in some ways that was my way of using the term.”
In fact, during production, Phillips said that the crew “I’ve never really spoken” Joker 2 is a musical and that, in his opinion, the film does not deviate too far from the essence of the original film.
Joker: Folie à Deux is shown in theaters around the world.
