Prepare yourself for a Bad Romance as Joaquin Phoenix reprises his Oscar-winning role as the titular deranged villain the Joker opposite Lady Gaga as the queen of chaos Harley Quinn.
The inevitable sequel picks up with Arthur in jail, heavily medicated and jovially bullied by the chief prison guard, played with whistling nonchalance by Brendan Gleeson. A patient in a neighbouring psychiatric ward, Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), is obsessed with Joker. But Arthur’s lawyer (Catherine Keener) argues that Joker is a part of his split personality, basing his defence on this.
The first film channelled Martin Scorsese and the cinema of the ’70s. Here, Todd Phillips is inspired more by Band Wagon, with numbers performed by Gaga and Phoenix to express their unhinged flights of fancy. It’s like Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven but written by Alan Moore.
