“ Folie A Deux’s review scores collapse before release ”

While the new Joker sequel, Joker: Folie a Deux, originally seemed to fall slightly short of the original with 61% critic reviews compared to 69%, that has now changed drastically as more reviews are coming in for the sequel.

The film’s score plummeted to 44% on Rotten Tomatoes a day before its official release on October 4th. It’s rare for scores to drop The Although more reviews are coming in beyond the first printing, critics don’t seem to really like what they see.

The film has been criticized for its story, its musical interludes and its extremely controversial ending, but above all for giving the impression that it doesn’t need to exist at all. Here is a selection of that criticism:

• New York Post – “For nearly two and a half hours, director Todd Phillips’ pathologically unnecessary film cycles through so many possible reasons for existence…ultimately never finding a satisfying one.”
• Indiewire – “Folie à Deux simply dances in place for most of its listless running time, stringing together a series of disappointing musical numbers that are either too on-the-nose…or too vaguely related to the characters to convey anything at all.””
• Times (UK) – “Phillips and Co. rushed back into the closed world, shook everything out onto the carpet and… tried again.” The result? Chaotic, lifeless, derivative and exactly what you would expect from a film that simply doesn’t want or need to exist.”

That low figure means it’s far, far below the majority of DC’s offerings over the last decade or so. Here is the top ten list in this regard:

1. Aquaman – 65%
2. The Flash – 63%
3. Wonder Woman 1984 – 58%
4. Man of Steel – 56%
5. Joker: Folie a Deux – 44%
6. Justice League (Whedon) – 40%
7. Black Adam – 39%
8. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom – 33%
9. Batman v Superman – 29%
10. Suicide Squad – 26%

So yeah, that makes it the sixth worst film in DC’s recent history, behind some of the DCEU’s worst films like Shazam: Fury of the Gods and Wonder Woman 1984. And behind the original “Joker” (69%) and “The Batman” (85% of these are now DC “Elseworlds” projects.

When the sequel to Joker starring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn was announced, it just didn’t seem necessary. Now that seems to be abundantly clear, and again it will have a lower box office result even though it costs four times as much. It seems obvious that this should not have been given the green light in the first place.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, And Instagram.

Get my science fiction novels Herokiller series And The Earthborn Trilogy.