Joker Folie a Deux

After the first half:

I'm biased by the negative press but I have to say the timing is weird and it's just kind of boring. The songs are really not hitting. I liked Joker dancing in the last movie, but it's really excessive here. Every time someone starts singing I'm tempted to fast forward despite my inclination to watch movies the way they're intended (like a theater). The songs are boring. And outside of them, the pace is strange -- long dramatic shots that aren't actually that dramatic, because nothing is happening, no tension was built for the long shots to bathe in. It's just slow wandering scenes without much narrative drive. Also, Arthur is just in prison and not really doing anything, just waiting for trial. He's not doing anything! Who would have dreamed of a Joker movie in which Joker doesn't do anything, criminal or otherwise? I'm sure something is coming in the second half, but it's a little odd. Not screamingly bad, but a little disappointing.

After the second half:

This movie is unhinged. What, a Joker movie unhinged? Sounds great. No, you don't understand. It's concerning that anyone involved thought this movie would work. An entire movie of Joker in captivity doing absolutely nothing. Introducing Harley Quinn and she does nothing but sing. The script is confounding. It's utterly undramatic. In the absence of action, one would at least expect a character study, but nothing about Fleck is fascinating like it used to be, and the writing doesn't conduct any study, of any sort, let alone an insightful analysis of insanity. Nothing happens at all; Fleck doesn't advance as a character; surely the plot doesn't advance. After the smashing success of the first movie, they let them make a mess of the second. It's a polished mess, with all budget, no substance, not even any entertainment. I also want to call out those moments of stupid writing common to both films. There are these moments of incredibly artificial dialogue, in both movies, that undermine whatever authenticity or artsiness the rest of the two movies suggests. I'm sure I don't get it.