DC has already released the movie you should be watching instead of the time-wasting ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’
At this point everyone has learned that Joker: Folie à Deux is a bad movie. Not “haha” bad but unwatchably so. Of course some people are “feeling bad” for director and co-writer Todd Phillips but the reality is that his movie is just not good. Not like another DC movie.
When Birds of Prey came out, it was fighting against a lot of things. A pandemic and toxic men being two big reasons why it wasn’t the box office success it should have been. But now that everyone has hated on Phillips’ version of a Harley Quinn/Joker story, it is important to talk about why Birds of Prey is just a better movie overall. In fact, it is the best DC movie outside of The Batman.
Birds of Prey brings Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) into a world post the Joker. He breaks up with her, leaving her alone, and we see the chaos of Harley without her need to find the Joker’s approval. It is a story about a woman finding her own strength in Gotham, even if it means murdering a fellow villain all on her own.
“I’m the one they should be scared of,” Harley says in the movie and it is all we need to know about her. She’s someone on her own healing journey outside of the destruction that the Joker caused in her life. Yet Joker: Folie à Deux seems to think it is saying something “special” about her. There is nothing that Folie à Deux does that Birds of Prey doesn’t do better and with more substance. Even the beginning of the two movies are similar and Harley’s cartoon story at least gives us important context about her. Folie à Deux‘s is a mindless reference with nothing behind it.
At least you will enjoy yourself with Birds of Prey
Unfortunately there are very few moments in Folie à Deux that I felt were worth my time. It was visually very appealing every once in a while and I did like Lady Gaga’s harlequin inspired looks. Other than that, I found the entire movie drab and void of any kind importance. There is no message. It is just a mess of an idea that left me depressed that millions were spent on it.
On the flip of that, Birds of Prey inspired me. Everything about it brought me joy and I found myself excited about the world of Gotham once more because of it. It is why things like The Batman had me so excited and it is all thanks to Cathy Yan’s take on the city. Robbie’s Harley is a complicated character and seeing her as part of a “team” of women was really what I needed to fall back in love with Gotham.
Joker: Folie à Deux threatened to take that joy from me again. To be fair, I don’t like Phillips vision for Gotham in either film but the second film really just felt devoid of any kind of joy or inspiration. It was a movie going through the motions and badly at that.
So if you’re looking for a Harley Quinn inspired story, don’t waste your time with Joker: Folie à Deux when you can watch Birds of Prey instead.
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