Joker 2 Initial Reviews Are Here And The Musical Seems To Miss The Right Notes

Probably one of the most anticipated sequels of 2024, Joker 2 is supposed to be one of the best movies that will come out in a long time. However, the initial reviews of Joker 2 tell a different tale altogether. Several critics have come up with negative reviews of Joker 2 and it seems as if even though Todd Philips was ambitious with this project being a musical, the execution part of it did not work out that well. Here’s what critics have to say about Joker 2.

What Is Joker 2’s Rotten Tomatoes Score?

As of now, Joker 2 has received a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is far less than what was expected of the film. The reviews of Joker 2 are very mixed and an estimated, three out of five reviews from the initial screening of the movie are on a rather negative note resulting in a lower-than-expected Rotten Tomatoes score. In comparison, the Joker (2019) debuted with an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Critics Say the Musical Element Is Not Working Out

All the critics who have talked about Joker 2 in a negative light have focused majorly on the movie’s Musical approach. According to the critics, even though ambitious, the Musical aspect does not fit in with the theme of Joker’s character.

Hannah Strong from Little White Lies, brings forth that she does not understand why Todd Phillips was so adamant about making sure that Joker 2 stays a musical while overshadowing other elements that could have made this movie a masterpiece like its predecessor. In her review, she commented-

“Why is Phillips so reluctant to embrace that the film is a musical? Why not add a little more colour, some flourish to the production design and create a really fucked up fantasia, instead of the grimdark karaoke session Joker: Folie à Deux turns out to be? Is he concerned about alienating the legions of stans who made the first film a billion-dollar box office smash, or just creatively incurious? Whatever the answer, this is a film of half-measures, lacking ambition in a way that is at least mildly more entertaining than its predecessor”

Now, with that being said, you would wonder if this musical element is that strong in the movie, it might have an effect or certain brilliance to it but as it turns out, it does not. According to David Ehrlich from IndieWire, the musicals of Joker 2 failed to express anything at all and were largely underwhelming as well. In his review, he wrote-

“Folie à Deux” simply tap dances in place for the majority of its listless runtime, stringing together a series of underwhelming musical numbers that are either too on the nose to communicate anything that Arthur couldn’t express without them — Shirley Bassey’s “The Joker” is a major “are we really doing this?” moment — or too vaguely related to its characters to express anything at all”

In another review from Screendaily by Tim Grierson, he went as far as saying that the chemistry shared by Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix was as lukewarm as the effect the musical numbers had on screen. He wrote-

“But the blame also goes to Phillips, who shows little ingenuity in his staging. Neither euphoric nor edgy, sentimental or sarcastic, the musical sequences reside in an unsatisfying, indifferent middle ground, never zeroing in on the emotional undercurrents of these popular songs which are intended to sketch out Arthur and Lee’s mad romance. This lack of spark is just as apparent in Phoenix and Gaga’s non-singing scenes. As convincing as Gaga is as this unstable woman destined to become his fabled soulmate Harley Quinn she and her costar’s chemistry is only lukewarm.”

With everything mentioned by the critics above, it looks like Joker 2 is not really living up to what people expected from the movie. On top of that, people are not only dissatisfied by the bad incorporation of musical elements but multiple reviews have stated that the on-screen chemistry of Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix did not work well and does not give off the Joker and Harley Quinn vibe you would expect.

However, even though a majority of these initial reviews are not positive, let’s wait till the movie is released to understand the perception of the audience it targets. Will it live up to what fans have been expecting, I guess we will find out on October 4, 2024. Till then, stay tuned!