Todd Phillips' Joker: Folie à Deux was not a popular movie (32% on Rotten Tomatoes and just $206 million at the global box office), but several notable names have come out in defence of the sequel, including Quentin Tarantino.
During an appearance on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast back in October, the Once Upon a Time In Hollywood director told the host that he very much enjoyed the film, and commended Phillips for being like the Joker himself by saying "f*ck you" to the audience and the studio.
“I really, really liked it, really. A lot. Like, tremendously, and I went to see it expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking,” Tarantino said. “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. And I’m just nihilistic enough to kind of enjoy a movie that doesn’t quite work as a movie or that’s like a big, giant mess to some degree. And 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. I find myself listening to the lyrics of ‘For Once in My Life’ in a way I never have before.”
The internet's response was about as reasonable and balanced as you'd expect, with a lot of people calling the director out for his opinion. Tarantino evidently took notice, and addressed the backlash on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.
“I go on a show and I say that I like Joker 2. Now there’s 150 articles on it. One person listens to the thing and writes an article about it and there’s 150 ripoff articles on that. And then you read the comments: ‘Quentin is a f*cking asshole. That movie f*cking sucks. He’s a f*cking asshole for saying that.’ Why am I a f*cking asshole? I liked the f*cking movie! That makes me a f*cking asshole? You either like the movie or you don’t. I’m not plugging the movie. I’m not doing anything. I’m just saying I like it. Who gives a f*ck what I like? What do you care what the f*ck I like?”
Tarantino also weighed-in on the response to his recent comments about having no interest in watching Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies.
“Then they say I’m a f*cking asshole for not seeing something,” the director continued. “What the f*ck do you care what I see or don’t see? Someone will say, ‘Well I think he’s missing out.’ Well, I am sure there is a lot of shit I could say you’re missing out on and I don’t care if you miss out on.”
Tarantino does have a point, of course, but he also seems to be getting a bit too worked up over some online negativity. Was this his first time reading a comments section?
From acclaimed writer/director/producer Todd Phillips comes Joker: Folie À Deux, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Academy Award-winning Joker, which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office and remains the (second) highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
The new film stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar winner Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born). The film also stars Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Catherine Keener (Get Out, Capote), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from Joker.
The movie is rated R for “some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.”
Have you watched the Joker sequel yet, or did the reviews put you off? Let us know in the comments section down below.