Bad news, Joker fans – it is not looking good for the film’s sequel out this weekend.
While the film’s reviews have been mixed thus far, social media reactions are beginning to release from fans attending early screenings this week, and it has been predominantly negative.
Joker: Folie a Deux was a shocking sequel as many expected Joker to be a stand-alone film.
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This was never a likely outcome however, as the first film made over $1 billion (roughly £752.8m), and earned Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award for his performance as Arthur Fleck.
Early reactions to the second film, however, have not been good from fans.
One tweeted: “If you liked the first Joker, you will not like the sequel.
“If you did not like the first Joker movie, you will outright hate and despise Joker 2.”
Another said: “Joker 2 is the first movie I’ve seen in years where the audience booed during credits. Both Phoenix and Lady Gaga are horrible in this!
“Watching Joker 2 was the equivalent of having food poisoning & kidney stone at same time.”
A third quoted a picture of them at a screening saying: "it is so, so much worse than you could ever imagine".
Another posted a scene from towards the end of Joker, where Arthur Fleck stands on top of a taxi surrounded by adoring fans of his.
The viewer claims that the sequel has ruined this now-iconic scene.
They tweeted: “Honestly this is why I was disappointed in Joker 2. It literally ruins this scene for me.
“This scene was phenomenal and watching it for the first time in the theatre was an experience but now it means absolutely nothing.
“There should have never been a sequel. One and done.”
The film is sitting at a 59 percent on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, as well as a 6/10 on IMDb.
Kevin Maher of The Times agreed with the view that the sequel was needless, saying in his two-star review: “Phillips and co smashed back into the self-contained world, shook all the contents out on to the carpet and... had another go.
“The result? Messy, lifeless, derivative and exactly what you’d expect from a film that simply doesn’t want, or need, to exist.”
In Ben Rolph’s review of Joker: Folie a Deux for DiscussingFilm, however, he gave the movie four stars, saying: “Joker: Folie à Deux is an enchanting follow-up that boasts some bold risks and surprise twists that will leave fans speculating for days.
“Love it or hate it, it’s looking like this one-of-a-kind interpretation of Joker and Harley Quinn’s romance will have a tight grip on the public zeitgeist for the foreseeable future."
Joker: Folie a Deux will officially release in the UK on October 4.
Topics: Joker, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, TV and Film, Film
Michael Slavin