SPOILER WARNING

The new Joker: Folie à Deux is seemingly the worst new movie in theaters now. With a score of 5.5/10 on IMDB, and a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is safe to say that Joker 2 has not lived up to the first movie. 

Folie à Deux means “The presence of the same or similar delusional ideas in two persons closely associated with one another” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The basis of the movie follows this definition. Arthur Fleck, also known as The Joker by his loving fans, is in jail, and is awaiting his trial. He is mentally disturbed, and in the first Joker movie, kills 6 people, including his own mother. 

His lawyer advises him to plead an insanity case to the court, saying that he has two personalities: The Joker, and Arthur Fleck. However, as the movie goes on, and Arthur meets Harley Quinn played by Lady Gaga, he fires his lawyer and goes rogue, admitting that he is simply a killer, and that he has never had a split personality.

When in theaters watching this movie, there was nobody else except 2 other boys. We talked to them about what they thought, and the general consensus was that the movie didn’t deserve the hate it was getting online. However, considering they were on their phones for most of the movie, as well as from what they told us, it was clear that it was boring.

One of the most interesting things about the movie was that it was a musical. Using the voice of Lady Gaga, they sing Arthur’s delusions using hits from the 30s and 40s. This is where fans take the most issue with this movie. Instead of being a gritty and dark movie like the first, the movie mostly consists of dialogue and singing. 

In the end, the choice is yours to go see Joker 2. The final scenes have left viewers with a shock, but, as can be seen from reviews, to get to the good stuff you have to slog through the rest of the movie. The best advice I can give about seeing this movie is to approach it as a standalone, completely separate from the first.