Joker: Folie à Deux Flopped—Venom: The Last Dance Is The Better Musical

I didn’t have this on my bingo card for 2024. However, it’s hard to deny it. Venom: The Last Dance has musical numbers that worked so well on screen. Joker: Folie à Deux, on the other hand, had none. Not one single dance number or song was memorable. But I bet everyone sang along as the Symbiote sang David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Face it: Venom: The Last Dance is a better musical than Joker: Folie à Deux.

An Underwhelming Sequel: Joker: Folie à Deux Falls Short

It’s hard to explain just how underwhelming Joker: Folie à Deux was. Coming from the near-perfect drama that was the first Joker, any sequel would have to significantly up the ante if it wanted to stay in the same league as its predecessor. When fans first heard the sequel would be a musical, it raised more than a few eyebrows. As we now know, not only did Joker: Folie à Deux fail to live up to its prequel’s expectations, but it also permanently damaged the image of Joaquin Phoenix’s iconic Joker. To make matters worse, the poor reviews have nothing to do with Folie à Deux being a musical. The issue here is that Todd Phillips doesn’t understand how to direct a good musical.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel gave us the perfect comic book “musical” a few months later with Venom: The Last Dance.

The Misunderstood Relationship of Harley and Joker

A crucial part of Joker: Folie à Deux‘s part is the relationship between Lee and Arthur. After all, this is the most iconic villain couple in comic book history, Harley and the Joker. However, as it does in many other aspects, Folie à Deux misses the mark on what makes Joker and Harley’s chemistry so unique.

There’s been a recent move to separate Harley and the Joker in all forms of media, but Folie à Deux never attempts to bring them together in the first place. We see a relationship that feels forced, only existing for the necessities of the script.

On the other hand, Venom: The Last Dance has more going for it than just a catchy name. The film had two previous entries to build the relationship between Eddie Brock and the Venom Symbiote. The result is an exceptionally well-made bromance dynamic that fans love to see – one that hits you right in the feels as soon as you notice that the “Last” part in the title might be pointing at their separation.

Music with Purpose

One of the most common complaints I’ve heard regarding Joker: Folie à Deux is that the songs come out of nowhere. Usually speaking, musical numbers serve a narrative purpose within a musical. Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables introduces Jean Valjean’s plight in a musical number, and the director even managed to make us care for Inspector Javert’s moral problem, even if we had to deal with Russell Crowe’s singing voice.

A musical tells a story through song. The musical numbers in Joker: Folie à Deux rarely serve a narrative purpose. The movie also sabotages itself with its musical numbers: arguably, the best scene in Joker 2 is the courtroom moment with Gary retelling the trauma he suffered after Arthur’s actions. That emotional moment is unceremoniously cut short by Lady Gaga performing ‘Gonna Build a Mountain’ and Phoenix’s tap dancing.

Memorable Musical Moments in Venom: The Last Dance

Venom: The Last Dance rarely takes itself as seriously as any of the two Joker movies. Director Kelly Marcel knew she was working on a buddy film about antiheroes and aliens and made the tone fit the source material perfectly.

With a name like The Last Dance, we couldn’t expect the movie to not have its fair share of musical numbers. While those wanting to see Venom show off his golden pipes will be sorely disappointed, we do get to see an extremely unexpected dance number between Venom and Mrs. Chen.

Even the smaller moments, like when Eddie is stuck with a family of alien-obsessed drifters, add some more character to him and Venom. In that particular scene, the family sings a rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. It’s cheesy, and Tom Hardy’s Venom voice isn’t exactly made for singing ballads – and yet, that tiny moment feels more meaningful than the entirety of Folie à Deux.

Critics might not love Venom: The Last Dance, but for fans of the series, the movie offers an excellent final adventure for Eddie and Venom. One thing is for sure: Venom: The Last Dance is the best rom-com of 2024 and a much better musical than Joker: Folie à Deux.

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