Tarantino defends "Joker" sequel despite box office woes
Quentin Tarantino admired the film "Joker: Folie à Deux" directed by Todd Phillips, even though the sequel received a lukewarm reception from critics and performed poorly at the box office.
During an appearance on the "Bret Easton Ellis" podcast, Tarantino praised Joaquin Phoenix's performance, calling it one of the best he's ever seen. "I really, really liked it, really. A lot. Like, tremendously, and I went to see it expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking. But I thought it was going to be an arms-length, intellectual exercise that ultimately I wouldn’t think worked like a movie, but that I would appreciate it for what it is," the director said.
Tarantino admitted that he particularly enjoyed the musical sequences. "I didn’t find it an intellectual exercise. I really got caught up into it. I really liked the musical sequences. I got really caught up. I thought the more banal the songs were, the better they were," he added.
The director also noticed similarities between "Joker: Folie à Deux" and his script for "Natural Born Killers," highlighting the motif of killer lovers. He noted that the director, Todd Phillips, is a true rebel who, in a way, tells everyone to "screw off." "He’s saying f(...) you to all of them. He’s saying f(...) you to the movie audience. He’s saying f(...) you to Hollywood. He’s saying f(...) you to anybody who owns any stock at DC and Warner Brothers. And Todd Phillips is the Joker. Un film de Joker, all right, is what it is. He is the Joker," Tarantino stated.
The film's failure
Despite Tarantino's praise, "Joker: Folie à Deux" did not achieve box office success, earning just over $201 million worldwide, compared to over a billion dollars that the original "Joker" brought in in 2019. The film is currently available in theatres and on VOD platforms.
