What first came from a movie praised for its societal messages and its clever twist on a beloved comic book villain, fans and critics soon turned on the film after the sequel came out. 

On Oct. 4, “Joker: Folie à Deux” made its theatrical debut. However, once the reviews started coming in, it was curtains for this show. Fans not only bashed the movie for not living up to the first one, but also for the director’s choice of making it a musical. 

“Ho boy Joker 2? I hope this one finally wraps up Joker as a character resolving his inner conflict rather than doing some cliche like Harley Quinn,” sophomore Dexter Barr said. 

To begin with, the movie wasn’t all that terrible. It perfectly showed the declining mental state of Arkham Asylum patient Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, just two years after his outrage in the first film. The film follows Arthur as he tries to state his case in his court trial for his actions, but takes a turn after Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, played by Lady Gaga, is introduced into the story. 

The two meet in a music class organized by the institute as a form of rehabilitation, which also acts as a way to justify making the movie a musical. There are times where it works, showing the audience that Arthur‘s mental state has worsened with him making fake scenarios in his head in which he bursts into song and dance, singing horribly about his trauma. 

Many viewers felt as if the musical elements were forced. 

“This shouldn’t have been a musical, or it should have been drastically toned down,” sophomore Wyn Fry said. 

The director could have done things differently or just not at all such as giving Lady Gaga any screenwriting influence, as it’s very clear that that’s the only reason the movie is a musical. Gaga did a great job acting out the character, but the forced musical elements break the film, and without them the film could have succeeded far more. 

”They made it a musical. Joker doesn’t work as a musical,” Barr said. 

After the second act, the story began to plummet. Arthur became hopelessly in love in a span of less than a week, claiming that he and his lover will “build a mountain from a small hill,” although it’s never stated in the movie what they meant by that. 

In all fairness, the story isn’t halfway bad.  It opens up many sequel possibilities if the director wants to go back on his word and return to the franchise to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans. There were many scenes that could have been done differently, or removed entirely, that would fix up the story. One being when it was implied that Arthur had been molested in jail by three guards, which was the reason the “Joker” personality is beaten out of him, despite him having sexual trauma from earlier in his life.  

Regarding the movie’s enjoyability and overall quality, it’s decent. There’s enough elements in it that make it seem humorous at times, especially in a group.

“[I liked] getting to be there with my friends to watch it as we made jokes,” Barr said. “I also liked that one song where Arthur imagines himself wrecking the courtroom and its inhabitants.”

If you want a serious story about your favorite killer clown; this isn’t the movie for you. Personally, this movie has only gone to prove that no actor can top Heath Ledger’s performance as the villain in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight”.