JOKER FOLIE À DEUX Movie Review! - NO SPOILERS

hey guys Ben here and welcome back to another video today we're going to be doing my review for Joker 2 I have seen the film twice it was just screened this morning at the Venice Film Festival where I am at so I'm going to do my spoiler-free review and breakdown of a joker fly Ado so if you do go on to enjoy the video please be sure to leave a like and a comment and subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any future videos later this year okay so we're going to have some more Joker content up in probably about a month's time when Joker releases in October however I'm not going to give spoilers until then obviously there's bits and pieces that you'll see in reviews online and maybe even myself so I would recommend just watching this video and then kind of scanning through reviews I wouldn't really go into detail because I know some people are going to spoil bits but in my review online for discussing film you don't have to worry there is no specific spoilers to any big twists or any big events it's kind of just plot points and that's it but let's go ahead and break down what worked and what didn't work in Joker to so obviously Tod Phillips is back he directed the film we have the returning Academy award-winning actor Wakim Phoenix reprising his role as Joker he's joined by Lady Gaga who plays a different type of Harley Quinn she's more restrained she's more kind of to herself even though she has that spark she has that kind of chaos around her and you'll see that in the film however she is more restrained and I do like Lady Gaga's interpretation of Harley Quinn and then you have like various other characters to return for instance Gary is back I love Gary in the first film so it was great to see him he actually has one of the best scenes in the whole film and so yeah this is a sequel but it's a sequel in a different way and I'm going to explain why this long awaited sequel is different but it's still as deranged and as exciting as the original film but it just has like some added song and dance which obviously the first film didn't have so this is a musical it's true but it's not like la la land or some other musicals where there's music in almost every scene it's regularly popping up in the film but it doesn't pop up all the time I would guess there's about maybe 8 to 10 musical numbers in the film and most of it set in reality however some of it is in a fantasy and it's more so set in reality than I initially thought because I thought Joker 2 was going to be more like in the minds of Harley Quinn and Joker but it's quite grounded and as I said it's more restrained and contained than the original film so what's the difference between these two films right I know a lot of you are going to want to know how to compare them or what to expect and all I can say is I think the sequel is nearly as good as the original film that came out in 2019 but it doesn't try to one up that film which I think is perfect because I remember Tarantino after he did PP fiction he he mentioned in an interview he didn't want to try and make a better film than PP fiction but a film that is equally as good and that turned out to be Jackie Brown and it was however in this case I think Joker and Joker 2 are quite similar however Joker 1 is more thrilling there is more action in the film it's more violent so if you love that you're going to slightly miss out on that in here and that's not to say there's no violence because there is some very strong violence but it's just not in the entire film and so it kind of sideline some of those Thrills for musical numbers to express Joker and Harley's emotions beyond what words could have communicated so I feel like the musical numbers are planted in at the perfect point because it really goes on to properly Express how they're feeling at that moment and so yeah in terms of the sequel as I said it doesn't try and one up the original film but it tries to expand on Joker's mental state and the difference between Arthur and Joker and basically offering a closer and more personal look at him which I really appreciated and as I said I watched the film twice now and I do feel the same way and obviously I've realized some spoilery stuff that obviously you guys will see and you'll be like hm what does this mean because there are some great twists and turns throughout the film but I think overall it really works as a film and I very much did like it and I have said this before but this is maybe out of 10 like a 8.5 out of 10 that's probably what I would give it I do think the first Joker is nearly perfect I think that is actually slightly better than this film but that's not to say this is not good because I really enjoyed it I watched it twice after all and so what does the film center around I need to give you guys some context obviously so Joker begins with ARA Fleck incarcerated at Arkham right that's where we left him off in the previous film it's been 2 years and we catch back up with ARA and he is living a repetitive life where he's constantly being teased by the prison guards at Arkham Asylum one of them is actually played by Brendan gleon who was in Harry Potter he played mad I Moody so that's a really good role for him because I thought he was really good throughout the film and he's always teasing ARA throughout and so everything changes for joker as he meets the love of his life Harley Quinn and so as I said this Harley Quinn she appears out of nowhere and the two become infatuated with each other after only meeting just like a few days before at a singing class and the reason for that is as it's seen in the trailer she's a fan of Joker she's one of those people that would have been in the crowd at the end of the first film when basically Joker was inspiring a whole new generation of people to stand up and fight against what they believe is wrong in society and so she's one of those people and so she becomes really close with Joker very fast after meeting and having an initial conversation and obviously Joker really appreciat appes that she is so attached to him and she almost already loves him before they've even met and so singing actually becomes part of their kind of love language I would describe it as and obviously that comes from them both being in a singing class together and they sing through some songs that they love and that's what you get throughout the film that's the musical numbers there is no original songs in this film which I think it's very fitting because it's like the music that both of them like that's what they are performing throughout and as as I said there is a lot of musical numbers that are in reality but there's also some that are fantasies and so this is all in the leadup to Arthur's Big trial which you've seen in the trailer so no specific spoilers here but that trial is being broadcast live on TV and you have familiar faces returning from the Past who testify against Arthur and he does have a big Turning Point obviously in the film like every film does there's always one major point where you see the progression of the film from the First Act to the second act and then in that second act you get something that propels the narrative forward into that final Act and I have to say that's great but I don't want to spoil that for you guys so I'm not going to talk about that and so outside the courtroom there's like thousands of Joker supporters he is a celebrity in Gotham City and so that's all I'm going to tell you about the story because I just wanted to kind of give you some context and talk about the stuff that's already been released online whether it's in synopses or in trailers but let's talk a little bit more about the film and what I likeed so as I said it was awesome seeing Joker and Harley Quinn belting out their hearts and that's something that us DC fans we would have never expected to see on screen so I really appreciate that Todd Phillips despite doing a musical that obviously could be very controversial because lots of people don't like musicals but lots of people love them it's a very polarizing genre I like that he's actually been brave and done something so different from other superhero related films I can't think of many other musical films or episodes that are set within the DC Universe obviously you have the Flash and super gos crossover that was a musical back in the flash season 3 so it's definitely not going to work for everyone but it worked for me because I liked how little it cared to be just a normal superhero related film and despite me saying this this doesn't make it strictly a musical is a joker film after all it does take quite a decent amount from the comics despite them coming up with their new iteration of Joker and Harley and creating a new story line so it's not going to annoy fans of the original film is what I'm trying to get at but let's talk a little bit about wackin Phoenix as Joker returning after winning the Oscar could he get another Oscar he totally could I mean it's a equally good performance and this time he's actually ask to do a lot more he still embodies Joker's Disturbed personality to Perfection like he did did in the original film but he's obviously singing dancing as well as all that stuff he did in the first film and so I really do like wackin I think he is one of the best Joker actors for sure and he could be nominated again and let's talk a little bit about Lady Gaga so she is playing Harley Quinn and this is the first time we've seen Harley Quinn in live action since Margo Robbie played her obviously Margo Robbie's version is more crazy she is absolutely nuts in The Suicide Squad so don't expect her to be playing that kind of version of Harley Quinn she is definitely more understated as I said and a little bit less psychotic although she is kind of crazy but crazy in love with him and so I think Lady Gaga is great at singing and I think Wen even proved he can really belt out a song and I love some of the dancing and some of the set pieces that they did with the musical sequences they actually really looked amazing obviously visually Joker just looks insane shot by Lawrence Sher who shot the original film he was the cinematographer I love the colors I love the lighting I love the way that they capture Gotham you see the Grim reality of the outside world but also the Fantastical musical numbers also the score the Oscar winning score really adds to The Haunting atmosphere with the orchestral music so I really do like the way that all of this has come together just like the first film and quite honestly it feels like a straight continuation despite the original film coming out in 2019 and now we're in 2024 it's nearly been 5 years which is just insane to think and that's why I'm also very impressed with wacken coming back he's just literally looks exactly the same and he's acting the same I mean that's just a sign of a great actor right and so overall I really like this film as I said this is about an 8.5 out of 10 for me I really liked it it's not that much of a complicated story it's pretty straightforward W as I said earlier there is some surprise twists which will leave you speculating and thinking about stuff in a good way which I think is really good obviously don't want to spoil it here but once we get into spoilers next month when it's released we can talk about that and so it ends in a satisfying way that I think you guys will be happy with and as I said earlier there is a chance that some Oscar nominations will be coming its way once again because the first film was nominated for a lot it won score and it also won for wacking Phoenix and best actor so we'll have to wait and see but this is a great DC film it's one of the best DC films in a while obviously the DC euu kind of ended on a whimper we're really looking forward to the DCU right now with Superman coming next summer and then various other DCU projects coming afterwards even Creature Commandos later this year so that pretty much does it for this review guys SL breakdown I guess for Joker flyo do AKA Joker to so if you did enjoy the video please be sure to leave a like and a comment and subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any future videos but for now you can click on the top right corner of the screen to watch my latest video and I'll catch you guys later goodbye