You may be wondering, have I seen the controversial movies du jour, “Megalopolis” and “Joker: Folie à Deux?”
Indeed I have.
You might then ask - And? Should I see them?
Okay, “Megalopolis” first.
I admire Coppola’s hardheaded determination not to be beholden to storytelling rules, to try something new. I love a big swing.
Aubrey Plaza is great, and as you’d expect from Coppola, it has some outstanding visuals and moments. It also has the immortal line, “What do you think of this boner I got?”
The rest is a bit perplexing.
I feel like a lot of the revelations of the movie have come a few decades too late, which would stand to reason, he reputedly wrote the first draft in the early 80s. There’s a subplot about an influencer being not quite what they appear… WHAT? NO. The whole Roman Empire metaphor has something to it, but it doesn’t gel.
Honestly, I think Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” from a few years ago touches the same subject matter, and hits closer to the mark.
Should you see it?
Maybe?
This is possibly the last film Coppola will have in theaters, and that in itself perhaps demands a watch. Some folks think it’s a breakthrough. And the defenders aren’t wrong, Coppola’s been underestimated before - even his misfires usually have more interesting ideas than most successes. Much shit has been slung about “One From the Heart,” and I didn’t mind that one when I finally saw it. So, might be worth it to say you saw it on the big screen. At the very least, perhaps we owe the price of a ticket to the man who changed cinema a couple of times single-handed.
Okay, well, speaking of big swings - “Joker 2.”
I feel like this one should come with a flow chart or a questionnaire…
a) Did you like the original “Joker?”
• NO - probably shouldn’t see this one.
• YES - next question
b) Do you like musicals?
• NO - probably shouldn’t see this one.
• YES - next question
c) Are you likely to shoot up a school if you have a bad day, or swat someone who mildly disagrees with you?
• YES - don’t see this one
• NO - next question
And so forth…
The movie has already been declared a “flop” by the powers that be, as it’s “only” made $120 million over the weekend. I’ve read a few reviews, both professional and amateur, and they read quite similarly to the “Megalopolis” reviews - those that love the film declare it a masterpiece that’ll be studied in film schools for generations, those that hate it declare it a troll job, the director shitting on his fans, etc.
Shocking, but I don’t know that it’s either.
I quite enjoyed the first “Joker.” I thought it was a clever redo of “Taxi Driver” and “King of Comedy,” with a DC comics skin. I don’t know that it was revelatory, but it was well-done, thoughtful, and asked a little bit more of the audience than the average comic book movie.
This one maybe asked a lot.
You may have heard, the sequel is a musical. It is, sorta. A non-traditional one, but at this point, do they make traditional musicals anymore? The musical stuff is done to represent the fragile state of mind of the lead character/s, which is an interesting choice after the first movie got so deep into first-person mental illness. Some of the musical numbers choose to mix the vocals under the music, as if even the characters aren’t sure they should be singing. I enjoyed that stuff.
I also enjoyed Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, they both gave their hundred percent. And the look of the film is great.
The biggest complaints I’ve seen seem to be -
• It’s not like the first one (I disagree the most with this - if I had any quibbles, and I don’t think I do, it’s that thematically, it feels a lot like the first one)
• The Joker isn’t the “real” Joker - the first one got this complaint too, and all I can say is… there’s a real Joker? (I suspect the note behind the note here is that people are mad that Batman doesn’t show up to beat up the Joker. And thank Christ, we’ve seen that movie at least four or five times.)
• Musicals suck - disagree, but even if they do, so? Mightn’t there be, dare I suggest, a point to them using a musical structure?
• This one shits all over fans of the first one - I feel like this one says more about the complainant than anything else. I’m a fan of the first one, and I feel fairly secure that my manhood wasn’t threatened by this one.
• Harley Quinn wasn’t what I wanted her to be - well, okay. But… you know that character’s in dozens of movies & TV shows, right? There’s at least two animated series with her prominently featured, and Margot Robbie did a fantastic Harley Quinn in three different movies, I think we can stand to see a more subdued take.
Look, I’m a comics nerd, and far from it being a “betrayal” of the characters, I feel like this movie does an outstanding job imagining what a “grounded” Joker and Harley Quinn would be like. In previous interpretations, these two maniacs were always in a world all their own, so going the extra step and having them imagine their lives as a musical really isn’t a stretch.
I feel a little weird going to bat for this one, because I don’t feel that strongly about it - and yet, I do feel strongly about artists taking those big swings. Yeah, this movie is trying something different. Thank you for that. But I bet after its big “failure” this weekend, they’re not going to do another comic book movie like this one. Then, oh, joy, we can get more superhero slugfests with bonus CGI diarrhea, where good beats up on evil, and wins because violence always works.
So, should you see it? Well, if anything I’ve said sounds remotely interesting, I would hope the answer’s yes. Just, y’know, keep in mind the things I said, and act accordingly.
(By the way, am I the only nerd who’s really happy there’s both Joker movies and a Penguin TV show?!)
(This one is for Josh, who dared me.)
My new short story, “Bastards of a Lesser God,” is in the latest issue of Guilty Crime Story Magazine! Click below to get issue #12 at Amazon, in either print or ebook form.
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