Joker 2 Teaser Trailer analysis

‘Joker’ might perhaps be the most celebrated comic book nemesis of all time itself. Not only within the panel constraints, the character has attained quite a huge universal appeal in the entertainment field. Its safe to say that Joker in today’s world scenario is almost as or peehaps even more famous than his archrival and the hero of his world itself – the mighty Batman. Whether its the interpretations crafted by Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson or even the recent Barry Keoghan version from The Batman, the character and his laugh as well as his dialogues got showering praises from fans across the globe and through different mediums. In fact when Joker came out in 2019, no one expected it to gross over a billion dollars, despite having no release in China and the fact that its R- rated. Its also speculated that Joker’s presence is quite instrumental in bringing some good return at the box office for the critically failed 2016s Suicide Squad, even though the performance of Jared Leto received largely negative reviews. We can clearly say that in the modern day environment, Joker has become quite a superstar who could rival even some of the actual movie stars when it comes to bringing the best ROI to studios.

So when the teaser trailer of Joker: Folie à Deux came out last day, star power of Joker got showcased once again after a long period. After his winning at the Oscars for portaying the title character in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix is set to make another memorable appearance as the same person in this sequel project. The film which also stars Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, Joker’s partner in crime is said to be a musical project along with strains of romance and psychological thriller. The teaser trailer is worth an analysis and here is ours after making careful scrutiny of it.

Harley Quin

Harley Quinn is the notorious partner in crime of Joker in the Batman lore. She is quite considered as zany herself. Everything about Harley ranging from her catchphrase “Hello puddin” which she uses to address Joker, and her immense flexibility which could help her combat even Batman and Batgirl, is now considered iconic within the comic book world. The role of Harley Quinn was previously performed by actress Margot Robbie in the dismantled DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

Harley Quinn was originally a psychologist named Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, who while during her internship at Arkham got manipulated by the Joker and joined arms with him in his criminal pursuit. However, it seems like this origin story got quite altered or removed, just like it happened with the clown prince of crime. The opening shot shows Harley as someone who happened to saw a glimpse of an incarcerated Joker while she herself was attending an evangelical like session. But there is also a shot in the end of the teaser trailer where she tries to talk to him from the otherside of a closed glass panel. It could possibly imply that Harley isn’t an inmate at the Arkham but someone who has limited access inside. While Harley was initially crafted as someone naive who got easily influenced by the incredible abilities of the Joker, this time it implies that she was already aware of the person before meeting personally. Possibly she was someone who got heavily inspired by the frenzy imbued by him in the first film.

The Manipulator

The shot in the end where she tells Arthur Fleck aka The Joker that she want’s to see the real him, could be the whole crux of the film itself. She draws ‘smiling lips’ on the glasses using a red lipstick,through which Fleck tried to make his classic smile. It is hinted that its Harley Quinn playing the role of the manipulator here. She might be possessing the same level of neurotic attraction towards her ‘Mr. J’, just like her alternative in comic books and animated shows. A storyline where the partner falling in love with the more animalistic side and discarding the tormented soul is seriously hinted throughout.

Bonnie & Clyde

What made a Harley who was only supposed to end up as a cameo character, into a popular icon within the lore was the kind of chemistry she shared with Joker. In the classic animated series Batman the Animated series that was the case with her as her presence all drew chances for Joker to fall into humorous situations. While the kind of love Harley has towards is something truly passionate and unconditional, it wasn’t the kind Joker had for her. He would beat her and mock her uncontrollably, even though she blindly tries to forgive him and wait for the final day where she could start a family with her ‘puddin’.

Joker : Folie à Deux appears to have different shade to it. Rather than suppressing the psychotic guy within, Harley appears to have idolized the criminal shades within him. With Joker: Folie à Deux, director Todd Phillips make it look like he wants to make Joker and Harley Quinn in his film a lot closer to the infamous real life bandit couple Bonnie and Clyde. Like Bonnie and Clyde, we have signs of protagonist couple relishing in their status as a pair of wanted criminals or public enemies. Joker is celebrating each and every moment in the film with Harley by dancing, playing the piano, harmonising over their makeups. Perhaps the title ‘Mad Love’ of the one shot storyline might suit this film a lot worser than the original plot itself. They are dancing snd romancing while causing havoc to the city. Harley definitely wants to go with Joker and join in his world of ‘pure imagination’.

La La Land or One From the Heart?

There have been a lot of comparisons with La La Land over the amount of blue tints present in the frames of Joker: Folie à Deux. However, the original source of inspiration for the latter’s visuals as per the cinematographer Lawrence Sher is the 1982 Francis Ford Coppola directed musical film One From the Heart. One From the Heart is a work of the legendary Coppola which attained some cult status after years back after its initial failure. It was indeed a passion project of the legendary director and he made his best effort to make the film despite suffering through a lot of mishaps in the middle.

Since La La Land itself is an ode to the old musicals of Hollywood, the chances of its blue tints being inspired from One From the Heart, can’t be ignored. Both the films have monochromatic blue tints with couple dancing in between. The same happens with Joker: Folie à Deux where the couple dance within the similar blue monochrome frames by wearing clothes which discords with the major color scheme. One From the Heart also deals with a couple with a love story considered so toxic and idiosyncratic like Joker and Harley. Its also one such film where the main characters won’t sing but the people around do. While we are too early at the moment to make a connection, the shot where Joker and Harley holds together in the middle of lot of people, could be one such moment inspired from this film. Moreover, the sets within the Coppola film were largely constructed on sets for creating its own aesthetic value and the upcoming Joker film also looks like it’ll have its own fair share of artificially erected sets. There are so much ways in which we could find parallels and make interpretations between the two films.

Casting

While the presence of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga itself is an eye-catcher for the movie lovers, the casting overall sparks an essence of curiosity within. While a large part of the film are new, some of the previous characters like Sophie Dumond (portrayed by actress Zazie Beetz), the woman who Arthur Fleck imagined to be his lover because of his apparent Schizophrenia, Gary (portrayed by actor Leigh Gill) a friend of Arthur and Debra Kane (portrayed by actress Sharon Washington) Arthur’s social worker, are also making appearances in it.

Brendan Gleeson’s presence seems bit enigmatic and confusing as we still aren’t sure what he is going to pull out in the film. One suitable character for him would be James Gordon from the Batman lore. Steve Coogan’s shot sparked a lot of discussion among fans and cinema lovers wondering what role he is pulling out with his new American accent. His surprise presence still remains an enigma for the lot. By the looks of it, he is portraying a talk show host. Its not even sure whether he is actually portraying someone similar to Murray Franklin portrayed by the veteran actor Robert De Niro in Joker.

A lot of Joker: Folie a Deux still remains an enigma yet to be sorted out. Perhaps the upcoming trailers, teaser and tv spot could give further clarity on the picture. After all, nearly 6 months and we’ll get to watch the film on theatres, after a long tiring wait. Joker: Folie a Deux is set to release on theatres on 4th October, this year. Only then we will get to decide whether it will be as good as its predecessor or succeed well like it.