By Thomas Butt
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In a post-Barbenheimer world, it seemed evident that mainstream audiences would flock to personal, ambitious films by prominent directors. The dual release of Barbie and Oppenheimer in July 2023 was an unthinkable triumph for cinema, an ephemeral period where movies of the non-franchise variety vaulted back into the monoculture. While not released on the same weekend, many people are partaking in a similarly unusual double feature in Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola's long-awaited, self-financed passion project, and Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips' continuation of the stand-alone Joker saga. The portmanteau "Megajokeropolis" certainly doesn't have the same ring as Barbenheimer, nor does it have the quality of its predecessor. This time, audiences are quite indifferent — or downright mad — about these respective auteur swings.
Megajokeropolis Fails to Live Up to the Success of Barbenheimer
Barbenheimer, two films by clear visionaries, Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, both of whom crafted populous-minded blockbusters with artful sensibilities, was the perfect storm. What began as a running joke highlighting the disparity between a historical epic about the creation of the atomic bomb and a broad comedy featuring Mattel dolls organically morphed into a seismic cultural event. It may have seemed cheesy, but the passion behind this double-feature phenomenon inspired the Oppenheimer audience to check out Barbie playing at an adjacent screening, and vice versa.
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While not entirely a one-to-one, Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux had the makings of a similarly mutual partnership. Megalopolis, like Oppenheimer, is written and directed by a master filmmaker and operates in the loose genre of the "great man" movie. Folie à Deux follows Barbie's approach of working in the IP sandbox to create something uniquely personal and devoid of any noticeable studio interference. Where they drastically begin to divert is in their audience and critical reception. Barbie and Oppenheimer held strong in theaters throughout the summer, as people couldn't get enough of them. Megalopolis and Joker have already become punchlines.
'Megalopolis' and 'Joker: Folie à Deux' Represent the Failings of Personal Expression
Granted, in Megalopolis' case, the prospect of Coppola's film becoming a box office sensation drawing in a four-quadrant audience was implausible. Because these films were released in the fall compared to the heart of the summer, their financial expectations should've been tempered. However, Phillips' sequel to the 2019 Best Picture-nominated, billion-dollar-grossing comic book adaptation was ripe for commercial and cultural viability. When pitting the two pairs of films against each other, the stark drop-off in quality from the 2024 films blatantly outlines why Megajokeropolis does not have America buzzing. For some, there was no need to subject themselves to these auteur whiffs, as both films entered their theatrical windows with poor word-of-mouth from the festival circuit.
The contrast between Barbenheimer and the recent releases of Megalopolis and Joker crystalizes the fine line between exciting personal expression on a grand stage and pure self-indulgence. For Coppola, crafting a deeply personal story went hand-in-hand with the film's production, as The Godfather director funded his audacious fantasy/sci-fi epic himself. Receiving $200 million and IMAX cameras from Warner Bros., Phillips was miraculously left to his own devices to make a strange, punitive sequel that sees the director apologizing for inspiring a toxic fanbase. Creative autonomy is all anyone asks for, and Nolan and Gerwig's distinct authorship of their respective films was one of the many appeals of last year's phenomenon.
While Coppola and Phillips' films were as (if not more), personal than Nolan and Gerwig's, their semi-autobiographical nature became a detriment to their commercial and critical viability. Despite our longing for more distinct directorial control at a big-budget level, Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux are perhaps too personal. Rather than connecting with audiences, their visions feel insular. The former's lack of narrative clarity and tonal balance suggests that the film is still ostensibly trapped inside Coppola's mind. The latter is so myopic in its interests, denouncing the people who glorified Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), that it is purposefully dull and shapeless in order to discourage further worshiping of the titular sociopath.
With Barbenheimer, Hollywood caught lightning in a bottle, and any effort to manufacture the original passion behind it is futile. On their own, each film struck a once-in-a-generation kind of balance of intimate expression and big-budget spectacle. Francis Ford Coppola thought Megalopolis' futuristic vision would be cutting-edge, but it was Christopher Nolan's old-school, tactile grandeur in Oppenheimer that hearkened back to Hollywood epics of the past that were lost in an era of empty CGI. Unlike Todd Phillips' act of penitence in Joker: Folie à Deux, Greta Gerwig didn't apologize for Barbie's existence, but rather, she gleefully tapped into contemporary culture's relationship with brands and how we adopt sentimentality to commercial entities. While big personal swings are welcomed, we learned they're not automatic home runs.
Joker: Folie a Deux
R
Drama
Crime
Musical
Joker: Folie à Deux explores Arthur Fleck's ongoing struggle with his dual identity as he unexpectedly discovers love and unleashes his hidden musical talent. Set against a backdrop of societal unrest, Arthur's journey intertwines personal transformation with chaotic encounters, leading to profound shifts in his life and the world around him.
- Release Date
- October 4, 2024
- Director
- Todd Phillips
- Cast
- Joaquin Phoenix , Lady Gaga , Brendan Gleeson , Catherine Keener , Zazie Beetz , Steve Coogan , Harry Lawtey , Leigh Gill , Jacob Lofland , Sharon Washington , Troy Fromin , Bill Smitrovich , John Lacy , Ken Leung
- Runtime
- 138 Minutes
Joker: Folie à Deux is in theaters now.