Plot: What’s it about?
Hmmm…where to begin? I guess I could start out by saying that Hollywood doesn’t need to make a sequel to anything and everything that manages to turn a profit. I mean, OK, yeah…I get that the first film was nominated for 11 Oscars including Best Picture and Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor for his role. It’s a bit odd with all of his performances over the years that he wins for this, but so did Heath Ledger (and Jack Nicholson was overlooked for his turn in Tim Burton’s 1989 version). But, I get it, movies are a big business and if you can sell it once then you can sell it again. Director Todd Phillips has given us a wide array of films over his career, but this second installment is, for lack of a better term, self-indulgent crap. Too harsh? Hey, one gets testy when they waste 138 minutes of their life. Nevertheless, this one also has Lady Gaga who I like both as a singer and an actress, so could it be all bad? Well, there’s that title…
To the film’s credit, this isn’t a standalone entry. There are consequences as to what happened in the first installment. And the first half of the film serves as somewhat of a prison drama as we see more of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) and less of Joker. He’s preparing for a competency hearing for the murders he committed in the original film. The audience is full of onlookers and Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga) seems infatuated with Joker, not Arthur. She does everything in her power to bring out his alter ego. There’s not a lot going on here, either. Arthur interacts with a guard (Brenden Gleeson), bursts out into a song in front of his inmates (“For Once in My Life” if anyone’s curious) which leads us back to the courtroom. There’s a bit of back and forth, but let’s just say the ending is one that’ll polarize fans/viewers of the first one. I guess when you’ve got a film “franchise” like this, you’ve got a license to do whatever you like. That’s too bad.
Video: How’s it look?
Assuming the first film has been seen (and if so, do it – it’s much better) this one employs most of the same look and feel. Well, we do have an odd animated opening and some rather obscure aspect ratios (2.20:1 and 1.90:1), but aside from that – it’s a close match. Granted, the film is shot in a way that doesn’t exactly utilize every color in the spectrum, rather it’s intended to look bland and, well, uninviting. In that respect it succeeds. Detail is tack sharp, we see some extreme close-ups of Phoenix both in and out of his “joker” makeup. The backdrop of Gotham looks stunning as well. By comparison, the 4K does have an edge on its Blu-ray counterpart.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack does make the most of vocals. And I’m not necessarily talking dialogue. No, this is more of a musical. Thankfully both Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix can carry a tune. For some reason, however, this one never really seemed to get going for me. Certainly it doesn’t sound “bad” by any means, but it was like waiting for the punchline of a joke that’s never delivered. Maybe I was so spoiled by the Batman movies that this one sounds tame by comparison. Nevertheless, ambient sounds do manage to penetrate and deliver some much needed ambiance in a few scenes and vocals sound as they should – rich and sharp.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Everything Must Go – This four-part “longform” documentary gives us just about everything we’d want to know about the project, the production, the shoot and the cast. Both Lady Gaga and Phoenix wax philosophical on their characters, what they can/did with them and so on. It’s a good look at the movie as whole – which was the idea.
- Can I Have A Cigarette?
- Finding Lee
- A Hundred Films In One
- King of Nothing
- The Character Of Music – Wisely, this one is led by Lady Gaga who tells of the film’s musical and choreographed numbers and the like.
- Live! With The Joker – We get some insight from Animator Sylvain Chomet as he discusses the film’s opening sequence.
- Colors Of Madness – Director Todd Phillips and his cinematographer discuss the use of color in the film.
- Crafted With Class – We get some insight from Phoenix and Lady Gaga about the film’s set design and production.
The Bottom Line
I’m not opposed to sequels, especially if they give us more of what we want. But this one just…fell flat for me. Phoenix’s Oscar-winning turn as the Joker was great (as was Heath Ledger’s before him), but this one missed. But if you’re a fan, and several are, then Warner’s disc looks and sounds great with enough supplements to warrant a purchase.
