The highly anticipated “Joker” sequel premiered Wednesday at the film festival in Venice, but the first critical reactions are quite mixed. The film currently holds a 60% approval rating on Rotten tomatoes down from the original’s 69% score. Rotten Tomatoes ratings typically decline as more reviews are added closer to a film’s release.
Joaquin Phoenix returns as Arthur Fleck in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” in which the character is put on trial for his crimes committed in the original 2019 film. Lady Gaga debuts as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s paramour, a role formerly portrayed by Margot Robbie. The film features musical components, showcasing the Joker and Harley occasionally bursting into song.
Vanity Fair’s R. Lawson said the film is “startlingly dull” and a “pointless procedural that seems to disdain its audience,” noting it feels “cramped” because it takes place almost entirely in the asylum and the courthouse. Lawson also agreed with the consensus that Gaga is “woefully underused” and said director Todd Phillips “wrings nearly every ounce of life out of these moments of song.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney was mixed in his review, arguing that while the film is “narratively a little thin and at times dull,” Gaga is a “compelling live-wire presence,” and “in the handful of scenes where fantasy liberates her in full-throated glory, the movie soars right along with her.
Despite the mixed critical reactions, “Joker: Folie à Deux” received an 11-minute standing ovation at its Venice premiere. The original “Joker” won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2019 and went on to earn 11 Academy Award nominations, the most of any film that year. Joaquin Phoenix received the Oscar for Best Actor. Additionally, “Joker” grossed over $1 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie at that time.
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