Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? Early viewers of "Joker: Folie à Deux" did -- and it sounds like they had a pretty terrible time. "Joker: Folie à Deux" made its world premiere at Venice Film Festival in early September ahead of an October wide release. In the sequel, Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck is joined by Lady Gaga as Lee Quinzel -- aka Harley Quinn -- who becomes Fleck's partner in chaos and crime. But "Folie à Deux" isn't striking the same chords with audiences as the first one did. Early reviews are trickling out, and a lot of viewers of the film just weren't hearing the music.
Taking to X, one person wrote: "#Joker2 is a shallow mess. It may be beautifully shot with great performances from both Gaga & Phoenix but it's all wasted on a story actively wanting to put off fans of the Joker. The musical numbers are awkward & drag the film."
Issues with the many song and dance numbers were a recurring theme. Another person agreed when they said: "The musical scenes felt like they were there to pad out the runtime. You could edit out all the musical scenes and the movie would be shorter, but also flow better without issue. You wouldn't even notice."
One reviewer flat-out said: "If you liked the first Joker, you will not like the sequel. If you did not like the first joker movie, you will outright hate and despise Joker 2."
Director Todd Phillips has always shied away from outright calling the film a musical in interviews, despite admitting on the "Fresh Air" podcast that the sequel is "the very definition of a musical."