Although it became a massive hit in the fall of 2019, those involved with Joker initially indicated that a disinclination toward the creation of a sequel. Then presumably Warner Bros. drove a big truck of money to the houses of the film’s main contributors and voila! We wound up with 2024’s Joker: Folie à Deux.

After he murdered multiple people, Arthur “Joker” Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) ends up incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital as he awaits trial for his crimes. Sedate – and sedated – he becomes a model prisoner, albeit one who seems beaten down by his circumstances.

When Arkham guard Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson) allows Arthur to go to a lower security wing to engage in music class and social activities, he meets psychiatric inmate Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga). They spark a romance that gives Arthur a new reason to live and impacts where his trial goes.

As I write this in December 2024, Folie may well go down as one of the most prominent flops in movie history. The 2019 flick made more than $1 billion worldwide on $55 million budget and also earned Phoenix an Oscar along with multiple other nominations including Best Picture.

Hence WB’s desire to convince co-writer/director Todd Phillips and Phoenix to produce a sequel. Apparently given total creative control, Phillips grabbed a $200 million budget and produced a movie disliked by fans and critics that wound up with $206 million worldwide.

When a sequel costs nearly four times as much as the original and rakes in 20 percent the gross, that’s what we call “bad” in financial terms. Many disagree, but I feel Folie didn’t deserve this fate, as it offers a dating and compelling journey.

To say the least, Folie takes chances and does something unexpected with the genre. While I liked the first film, too much of the time it seemed like a mix of Scorsese flicks in search of its own identity.

Many sequels simply remake their predecessors, and that would’ve been the easy way out for Phillips and company. Make Joker 2 essentially “Joker ‘n’ Harley Go on a Nutso Rampage” and the folks who dug the first flick would’ve eaten it up.

To his credit, Phillips refused to take that easy way. Rather than overtly give the people what they wanted, he chose to deliver a film that took Arthur’s journey where he felt it should go.

Which clearly didn’t resonate with the general audience or the critics. And I get it, partly because the movie’s ads did try sell Folie as the violent romp most expected.

Heck, WB still wants to promote Folie as something other than what the film actually gives us. A blurb on this package’s back cover claims that “upon their release, [Arthur and Lee] embark on a doomed romantic misadventure.”

Which doesn’t happen at all, mainly because… well, this might involve spoilers, so I won’t say more. But the blurb implies the “Joker ‘n’ Harley Rampage” theme I mentioned even though that never remotely becomes part of the film.

Phillips will need to answer for himself why he elected to send Folie down such an unusual path. Some believe he did it as an expensive “screw you” to the studio and those who loved the prior flick.

Which sounds nuts to me. Just because Phillips created a film that avoids the expected plot doesn’t mean he consciously attempted career suicide.

Honestly, I get the impression Phillips paid no mind to what Warner or the fans desired. Clearly that became a poor choice in terms of box office, but it paid off creatively.

Some accuse Folie of offered a plot-free affair, and to some degree, this proves correct. The movie definitely doesn’t bring a project heavy on story beats.

But not every film needs to have a strong and specific narrative. In this case, Folie focuses almost entirely on a character study, and it shines in that domain.

Folie completely follows up Joker in an appropriate manner. The first movie showed a man with serious problems who couldn't get help so when rejected by the system and society, he cracked.

Despite what many seem to believe, Arthur never existed as some ballsy anti-hero. He was a sad man who just lost it.

The second movie finds an Arthur picking up the pieces but stuck in place because so much of society doesn't seem to want him to get better. No one at Arkham seems eager to help.

The officers needle him and try to get jokes out of him, and then when he meets his theoretical soul mate, he eventually encounters issues there as well. Arthur’s lawyer (Catherine Keener) becomes the only person who appears to show a genuine interest in his well-being, but she winds up rebuffed by a system that just wants to see him fry in the electric chair.

Arthur starts to buy the Joker mythos and get into the larger than life role society casts upon him, as he never really was Joker as his legions of fans wanted him to be. However, he gets a slap in the face when he truly sees all the damage his actions caused, at which point Arthur goes full circle and accepts his responsibility.

Sorry if this veers too far into spoiler territory – hopefully it doesn’t spill too many beans. Suffice it to say that Folie takes Arthur on a rich character journey, albeit not the one so many fans wanted.

But for this fan, it works and makes Folie a richer and more evocative experience than the more crowd-pleasing first film. Phoenix offers an even stronger performance here, as shorn of most of the role’s showier aspects, he digs deep into Arthur’s damaged psyche.

Gaga also gives us an uncompromising turn as the slippery Lee. The part asks Gaga to change tone on a dime and she handles the shifts with aplomb. Gaga never asks the audience to love – or even like – her, as she forms a complex character despite semi-limited screen time.

And then there’s the decision to make Folie a musical, one that I thin the movie’s critics overstate. Yes, we get a fair number of songs – and some dancing – along the way, but this doesn’t turn into a film with non-stop production numbers.

All of these moments serve the story, as they depict the fantasies that surround Arthur. They convey his mood well and blend seamlessly with the rest of the film.

Oh, and then there’s the ending, one that received massive derision. No spoilers here, but I think the finale works perfectly for the story and ends on the appropriate note.

Ultimately, Folie creates a thoroughly involving and impactful character drama. I won’t guarantee that the film will eventually receive a positive reappraisal, but I suspect it will. Once Folie gets separated from the deceptive advertising hype and the poor box office, it seems ripe for discovery by those who skipped it the first time or simply refused to take it on its own terms but try again.

Joker: Folie à Deux appears in a varying aspect ratio of 1.90:1 and 2.20:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a terrific Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness always appeared solid. No softness emerged in this precise and tight image.

The movie exhibited no signs of jagged edges or moiré effects, and it also lacked edge haloes. Print flaws failed to manifest.

Colors leaned heavily toward green/teal, with a fair amount of amber/orange as well. A few segments that involved fantasies invoked a broader range of hues, but these remained rare.

Despite the nature of the choices, the disc reproduced them as intended. HDR allowed added impact to the colors, especially during those rare moments of brighter tones.

Blacks seemed deep and rich, while shadows brought solid clarity. Whites and contrast enjoyed extra power via HDR. Everything about the image satisfied.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack didn’t dazzle, but that made sense given the nature of the story. As a character tale, Folie didn’t need a big and brash soundscape.

The spectrum broadened music around the room well, and it created a good sense of the different settings. On the handful of occasions louder and more violent elements arose, these packed a punch, but they didn’t show up frequently.

Audio quality seemed positive, with speech that consistently appeared natural and concise. Effects brought accurate and rich elements.

Music became a major factor, and both score and songs enjoyed bold, dynamic reproduction. Across the board, the mix suited the movie.

When we go to extras, we launch with a four-part documentary entitled Everything Must Go. All together, it fills 44 minutes, five seconds and brings comments from writer/director Todd Phillips, producers Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Joseph Garner, production designer Mark Friedberg, art directors Lauren Polizzi and David Meyer, set decorator Karen O’Hara, director of photography Lawrence Sher, chief lighting technician Rafael Sanchez, key grip Ramon Garcia, makeup designer Nicki Ledermann, costume designer Arianne Phillips, choreographer Michael Arnold, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, accompanist to Lady Gaga Alex Wesley Smith, editor Jeff Groth, unit production manager Georgia Kacandes, stunt coordinator Brian Machleit, visual effects supervisor Ivan Moran, 1st AD David Webb, and actors Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Jacob Lofland, John Lacy, Terrance Polite, Mac Brandt, George Carroll, Tyrone Kennedy, Dan Aulier, Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Leigh Gill and Harry Lawtey.

Through these four segments, we learn about the development of the sequel, story/character domains, cast and performances, sets and locations, photography and visual design, music and choreography, costumes, editing, stunts and effects, and general thoughts.

At times, “Go” comes with too much praise for the project and those involve. However, it still gives us a pretty good look at the production and the creative choices made along the way.

Four featurettes follow. The Character of Music goes for eight minutes, 20 seconds and involves Lady Gaga, Todd Phillips, Garner, Phoenix, Smith, Guðnadóttir, music supervisor George Drakoulias, arranger/composer David Campbell, executive music producer Jason Ruder, engineer/mixer Francesco Donadello and sound mixer Steve Morrow.

As expected, “Character” covers the musical aspects of Folie. We get a reasonably useful overview of these topics.

Next comes Crafted With Class. It lasts seven minutes, 21 seconds and presents notes from Sher, Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Friedberg, Koskoff, Arianne Phillips, Meyer, Garner, Garcia, scenic artist Ed Strang and set designer Al Hobbs.

“Craft” discusses sets, locations and production design. Some of this seems intended simply to impress us with the detail and size involved, but we still find worthwhile insights about the work.

Colors of Madness runs six minutes, 22 seconds. We find info from Todd Phillips, Sher, Sanchez, Lady Gaga, Garner, Koskoff, Webb, Gleeson, Keener, and Phoenix.

With “Madness”, we learn about the movie’s palette and cinematography. It becomes another mix of facts and fluff.

Finally, we find Live! With Joker. In this five-minute, 16-second reel, we hear from Todd Phillips, Ruder, Campbell, animation director Sylvain Chomet, animation executive producer Antoine Delesvaux, and animation producer Aton Soumache.

“Live” informs us about the movie’s opening animated sequence. It works fairly well.

After weak reviews and poor ticket sales, Joker: Folie à Deux seems fated to go down as a massive bomb. The movie doesn’t deserve that fate at all, as it delivers a deep and provocative character journey. The 4K UHD boasts excellent visuals, very good audio and a decent mix of bonus materials. Ignore all the bad press and give this memorable project a look.