Joker 2 Reviews Lead to Mixed Rotten Tomatoes & Metacritic Score

Despite Joker 2: Folie à Deux still being almost a month away, its Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores are in with multiple early reviews. Since the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, its review embargo has lifted already. As per aggregates, Joaquin Phoenix’s semi-musical sequel has got mixed scores from the critics.

Joker 2: Folie à Deux reviews call it an ‘excruciatingly boring’ sequel

While certain reviewers have praised Phoenix and co-star Lady Gaga’s performances, many share the opinion that Joker 2 does not live up to its predecessor.

Deadline’s Pete Hammond stated:

“Phoenix knows this character inside and out and in what others might say is a risky proposition, tap dances, sings, and sells this role like no other, if not topping his Oscar winning turn in Joker, at least finding a way to take him in different, wholly surprising direction. Gaga is smartly low key, not the Harley Quinn we associate with Margot Robbie, but her own person, dressed down and believably showing affection and connection with Joker, and more important, the man behind the makeup.”

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney also appreciated Phoenix’s “riveting performance” and Gaga’s “compelling live-wire presence.” But overall, he gave the film a negative review, calling it an “uneven sequel” for “neutralizing” the Joker after what happened in the first film.

IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote on X that Joker: Folie à Deux is “excruciatingly boring.” He stated that the movie “feels like it’s bad on purpose. A fascinatingly lifeless troll of a movie designed to anger fans and bore everyone else. Its complete waste of Lady Gaga is worse than any of Joker’s crimes.”

On the other hand, Empire Magazine’s Josh Nugent submitted a positive review, writing:

“In a cinematic climate saturated by superheroes, supervillains, and even Jokers (there were at one point three actors simultaneously in the role), Phillips, Phoenix and now Gaga have fashioned a genuinely original narrative, even in its obvious magpie’s-nest borrowing.” 

However, Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson called the sequel “startlingly dull, [and] a pointless procedural that seems to disdain its audience.” 

Joker 2 has average Rotten Tomatoes and Metascore

With 43 reviews at the moment of writing, the Rotten Tomatoes score for Joker 2: Folie à Deux stands at 60%, that is 9% lower than the first film. Meanwhile, the Metacritic score for Joker 2 is currently at 54 with 23 reviews, which is just 5 points lower than the original.

Both these aggregates will change for better or worse by October 4, 2024, when the movie becomes available for the rest of the world to watch, and more reviews come in.