Joker: Folie a Deux

I am a huge fan of Joker so I was really excited to see its sequel, Joker: Folie a Deux, at an early access screening in IMAX with my nephew last night.  Unfortunately, it was a mixed bag for me (and a big miss for my nephew).  Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is now a prisoner at Arkham State Hospital where he is taunted by an abusive guard named Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson).  He meets fellow patient Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who is obsessed with him, during a music therapy class and they often retreat into a world of fantasy to cope with the grim reality of their situation.  However, Fleck's trial is looming large and the newly elected district attorney Harvey Dent (Harry Lawley) is seeking the death penalty.  His lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) wants to use an insanity defense arguing that Fleck created the Joker as a completely separate personality in order to cope with the abuse he suffered all of his life and that it was the Joker, not Fleck, who committed the crimes.  However, Lee is enamored with the Joker 's celebrity and views him as a hero to the downtrodden of Gotham so Fleck thinks he should embrace the Joker persona to impress her.  The visuals are gorgeous (I loved the use of silhouettes) and the score by Hildur Gudnadottir, which is haunting and melancholy, really adds to the atmosphere.  I also really enjoyed the musical dream sequences (my favorite is "Gonna Build a Mountain" in the club where Fleck suffered his greatest humiliation) because they allow Fleck to fully express himself as the Joker.  Phoenix and Gaga are incredibly compelling as broken people who enable each other's madness and I was particularly impressed with how Gaga changes her vocal performance from hesitant as Lee to powerful as Harley Quinn.  My biggest problem is that the narrative takes a big swing by allowing the Joker to take center stage but then it doesn't commit to it in the third act (a recurring problem with many movies this year).  The ending, particularly the final scene between Fleck and Lee, returns to the theme that Arthur is merely a victim of societal decay, which is already thoroughly explored in the first movie, thus making this sequel completely unnecessary because it doesn't ultimately add anything new to the character.  It is very disappointing because the set up is there (my nephew explained how it should have ended and, honestly, I would have rather seen his edit).  Ugh!  There are elements that make this worth seeing but I think a lot of people might be disappointed with it.