This much-maligned sequel finds a broken Arthur Fleck/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) incarcerated and signed up for a music therapy group where he meets Lee (Lady Gaga), the proto-Harley Quinn, and goes to trial, all in the form of a bizarre mix of psychological drama and jukebox musical. In this classic case of the audience not being given what it thought it wanted, most of the vitriol has been aimed at the choice of quasi-musical format, which does indeed deviate a step too far from the much-lauded grounded take on the mythology used in the first film, but it does fit the classic central love story and Arthur's dissociation from reality. The trial is compelling enough, and Phoenix and Gaga are of course very strong indeed, with a nicely-judged performance from Catherine Keener as Arthur's world-weary lawyer, but the film never escapes the feeling that the lead characters could have been developed more and that it might have worked better as a straightforward drama, of which there are frustrating flashes of potential throughout.
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