? AT THE MOVIES-

The king of chaos loses his crown. Five years after the movie that gained huge admiration backed up by nine Academy Award nominations and two wins, director and co-writer Todd Phillips returns with Joker: Folie à Deux, a disappointingsequel to Joker. How did that happen?

Setting the scene: Two years after Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) crimes that rocked the city into a state of disarray and earned him the title of The Joker, Fleck is now being held at Arkham Asylum as he awaits his trial. He meets Haley “Lee” Quinn (Lady Gaga) during a musical therapy session, quickly falling in love. And then the musical begins.

It’s safe to say that the sequel didn’t meet fans’ expectations… Theaters were only half-filled with unenthusiastic fans hoping that the reports of it being a musical were exaggerated. But Fleck was nothing like the king of chaos in the first film — his weakness was even reflected in his musical chops, but whether or not that was an artistic choice is up to interpretation. The audience didn’t even get to see post-Joker Gotham, but got a good look at Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), a prosecutor who eventually becomes the Batman villain Two-Face.

… But some people think it was by choice. Some internet denizens have been theorizing that Phillips’ goal was self-immolation. Rumor has it that the director disliked the kind of fan the first movie attracted, feeling that it took away from the poignant story he meant to deliver about “the cruelty of [an] unempathetic world, told through the eyes of a man who’d been violently denied the love [needed] to suffer through it.” Like Fleck in the first movie, Phillips tells everyone to “ go f-ck themselves,” throwing the world in chaos in his wake. So perhaps he is the real criminal mastermind after all, and the real folie á deux — meaning “shared madness” — was between the audience and the director. Or, the movie — which cost about USD 200 mn to produce and saw paltry returns — was just bad.

While the film didn’t meet the fans’ expectations, some aspects were reminiscent of its much-loved predecessor. The same gloomy cinematography was something of a comfort for fans, and Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score — which earned the film an Oscar in 2019 — retained its brilliance.

WHERE TO WATCH IT- You can find the film at VOX Cinemas at City Centre Almaza and Mall of Egypt, City Stars Cinema, Cairo Festival City,Point 90 Cinema, Cima Arkan, Zamalek Cinema, and Zawya. You can also watch the trailer on YouTube (runtime: 2:50).

? FROM THE BOOKSTORE-

Tags: