Tag Archives: joaquin phoenix

10.05.24
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Joker: Folie à Deux

After inciting violence, murder, and chaos in Gotham City, Arthur Fleck is institutionalized at Arkham, where he faces trial for his crimes — and perhaps the love of his life.

It might still be that there’s no reality in which a sequel to Joker makes sense. Joker felt so fresh compared to other IP-driven blockbusters when it was released, but also provided a sense of shock when it ended. Folie à Deux is a confused sequel that left me feeling nothing. Perhaps a radical decision like making this follow-up a jukebox musical is exactly what it needed to justify its existence, but a movie this ambitious is also too cowardly to take large enough swings or hit hard as a musical. The two main ingredients that work here are Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, which is still incredibly committed and breathtaking at times, and the gorgeous cinematography by Lawrence Sher, which embraces different colors and a grand sort of look to its prison scenes. However, it’s a bad sign when you wish such a legend like Phoenix was spending his time and talents elsewhere rather than helping Warner Bros. milk this character, which won him an Oscar the first time around.

One of the things that inherently doesn’t work about the concept of a Joker sequel is that we don’t have that gateway of sympathy into Arthur’s world when we meet him; he’s been dejected and abused by the world around him, but by the time this movie starts, he’s already done his awful deeds, and it’s hard to feel anything for him in this one’s opening act. Without that fascinating entrance into this world of sorrow and sadism, it’s hard to really feel anything watching the movie. Lady Gaga’s casting is inspired, but the film itself doesn’t do her and the character justice. Why make the singer of a generation whisper lots of her singing or not give her something more substantial than to pine over Arthur? In a psychological thriller about two insane criminals that turns into a musical, the numbers couldn’t afford to be this safe and scared. They feel like they’re holding back and are too concerned with convincing us they are set in the characters’ heads rather than leaning into surrealism and ambiguity. The music scenes don’t feel like a trip, or like they’re unlocking something about the characters and the film that can’t be backtracked on, they’re just breaks with song, and that’s what makes this risk feel so frustrating and timid. Not to mention, we don’t feel like we learn anything new about Arthur that wasn’t already established in the first film, nor anything original about the justice system, the mass hysteria around violence, or society’s outlook on poverty and the mentally ill.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a film that, unlike the masterful and already iconic first movie, has no identity of its own, because it’s too scared to commit to its giant leaps. As a courtroom drama, it’s derivative. As a romance, it’s painfully undercooked. As a social commentary, it’s tiring. And as a musical, it’s just too dim. By the end, nothing really transports, terrifies, or resonates, and worst of all, it fails to answer the most important question of why another chapter to this story.

12.04.23
by

Napoleon

Two decades after receiving his first Oscar nomination for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Joaquin Phoenix reteams with the legendary director for another epic action film about one of history’s most famous (and infamous) generals. Scott delivers on the promise of a Napoleon epic filled with spectacle. The action sequences are clearly committed and the best of Scott’s approach. The grandiose definitely comes through particularly in two famous battles; the violence does get a laughably gratuitous in certain occasions, though. Phoenix’s central performance captures Napoleon’s larger-than-life presence without romanticizing his historical grandeur, showing his ruthlessness and narcissism having led to countless deaths through his wars and invasions. His performance makes his screentime interesting, but sometimes the political dynamics drag and other scenes fall into unintentional camp or lifelessness when the battlefield isn’t the centerpiece. His relationship with Empress Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) is an interesting but also generic storytelling catalyst as well. The music and editing feel particularly poor in the film’s execution and rather unfitting. Though it’s cool to see the 158-minute film cover Napoleon’s entire life and rise to power, it also robs the film of any intimate tension that a film like The Last Duel benefitted from. Sometimes it feels like empty spectacle, and the muted color palette may distract in the wider shots, too.

Still, Napoleon benefits from its production value and immense storytelling among a historical icon’s rise and fall, and seeing a 2.5-hour Ridley Scott Napoleon epic may be all we really needed and were asking for. With the engaging action and lead performance that carry some of the film, it delivers on those fronts. However, it isn’t a must on the big screen and may still deliver the same entertainment when you watch it at home, as the grandiose on its own may be the saving grace for those who end up liking it.