Joker: Folie à Deux review: Nothing about this sequel touches on the theatrical extravagance that characterized the first film

Here's a sequel we didn't need.

It seemed like a hot idea to add Lady Gaga and music into the mix, while Joaquin Phoenix returns to the role that deservedly won him his first Oscar as Arthur Fleck, a failed standup comedian who plays Joker, the Clown Prince of the Crime, infamous This included the appropriate clown makeup, whose supporters cheered as he shot a disgusting TV talk show host (Robert De Niro) live on television.

The music isn't exactly a new idea, as 2019's Origin story featured Joker memorably rocking out on a staircase to Gary Glitter's “Rock and Roll Part 2,” contorting his face, body, and greasy red lip gloss into physics-defying contortions . An encore was definitely in sight.

What we get, however, is a static, claustrophobic mood piece that follows Arthur to a mental asylum where he is placed in order to save society from his murderous, manic episodes. Director Todd Phillips once again works with Scott Silver on a script that leaves us wondering how much of the story is real or just the wild fantasies floating around in Arthur's overcrowded head.

Unlike the justifiably popular first film, which borrowed outrageously and constructively from two of Martin Scorsese's classic films, “Taxi Driver” and “King of Comedy,” the sequel frustratingly flounders in search of an original landing spot. Unfortunately the search is in vain.

What's even sadder is that the sequel reduces Lady Gaga to a supporting role. “Folie a Deux” is a French expression meaning “madness for two.” We all know that Gaga could have done this concept or idea. Instead, she's become a Joker groupie who's all adorably misty-eyed since she saw a made-for-TV movie about his life. Even Jackie (the great Brendan Gleeson), a sadistic guard at Arkham State Asylum, thinks Arthur is a celebrity.

Still, the incredibly watchable Gaga – a true star in any medium – makes the most of her role as Lee Quinzel, a fellow inmate and convicted arsonist who introduces herself as Harley Quinn, Joker's accomplice and lover from DC Comics. Why not? At least this fever dream gives her something to delve into and sing about (“If My Friends Could See Me Now”).

Incidentally, the film wastes a lot of time watching Arthur's trial over and over again. His lawyer (a criminally wasted Catherine Keener) tries to save him from the death penalty on the pretext of insanity. But Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) insists that Arthur is not a split personality, but a desperate loser looking to save himself.

The litigation stuff is shockingly banal. No wonder Phillips incorporates music to break up the monotony. The director says the pair's duets on songs like “Get Happy” and “For Once in My Life” were recorded live to emphasize emotion rather than sophisticated vocals. The songs are intended to feel like oldies that the abused child Arthur listened to with his mother, whom he later murdered.

It's a devastating disappointment that there's so little emotion on screen other than whispered song fragments, although the way Arthur and Lee dance in the rain and pale moonlight is genuinely moving. It is a shared romantic illusion that actually constitutes Folie à deux. And it's over in a dreamy breath of what might have been.

Nothing about this sequel can match the theatrical extravagance and gut-wrenching pain of the first film. Phoenix still captures Arthur's longing with a striking, wounded tenderness. And Gaga shows that her star shine really can't be dimmed, no matter how hard the film tries.

Nevertheless, “Joker: Folie à Deux” seems to be punishing itself for the misguided criticism that the first film was an incitement to violence. This time there is hardly any mischief or madness. Talk about sucking the life out of a party. During an onstage fantasy sequence, Lee says to Arthur, “Come on, baby, let's give the people what they want.” I'm still waiting.