It is an unarguable fact that one of Joaquin Phoenix’s best performances to date is none other than that of Joker in his titular blockbuster from 2019. If anything, thanks to that iconic portrayal, the actor even got the sequel Joker: Folie à Deux greenlit. This film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival, but only to a slew of mixed critical reviews.
However, as much as these reviews may have fallen terrifyingly short for a film that is expected to be as massive of a blockbuster as the first one, there’s a very justifiable reason why fans should take these with a pinch of salt. This is because even the deflatingly underperforming Blue Beetle seems to hold a much better rating than Phoenix’s original movie as the character in 2019!
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker: Folie à Deux Ratings May Not Be That Accurate
At the currently ongoing Venice Film Festival 2024, Folie à Deux was premiered, but only to unexpected reviews from critics. Besides the mixed initial critical reactions it received, it currently stands somewhere close to the edge with a 61% rating on the Tomatometer – an average derived from the aggregated reviews of 44 critics. And yet, there’s a possibility this rating may not be all that accurate.
This is justified by the comparison of critical reviews for two previous movies from the DC Universe: 2019’s Joker and 2023’s Blue Beetle. As fans already know, the 2019 movie was an absolute masterpiece that not only crossed the $1 billion mark on a $55 million budget – breaking records – but also granted Phoenix his first Oscar. In comparison, the 2023 film fell more than just short of delivering up to fans’ expectations.
However, when it comes to the reviews of these two wildly differently performing movies at global box offices, the comparison is truly baffling. For one, the 2023 film holds a staggering 78% critical review on Tomatometer along with a 91% rating on the Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, being verified off – which is odd, because the film more than just critically underperformed, barely even recouping its budget.
On the other hand, Joaquin Phoenix‘s 2019 film was met with a much worse critical score as compared to its actual star-studded performance. Not only does it currently hold a 69% score on the Tomatometer, but even the Popcornmeter fell just a bit short to justify its outstandingness as it settled on an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
That said, this is indeed a glaringly fishy matter that makes Folie à Deux‘s current score on the Tomatometer questionable for accuracy.
Fans React to RT’s Confusing Reviews on These Two Widly Differently Performing Movies
Of course, after coming to terms with how Rotten Tomatoes seems to be rating two movies that differ extravagantly in terms of their box office performances, even fans are unsure what to believe and what not to. If anything, while some of them are labeling the critical reviewing site as being anything but accurate, others are having some of the most sarcastic reactions to the same.
All in all, here’s how some of the fans are reacting to this situation on X:
To say the least, all of these fan reviews further seem to justify the fact that the reviews those two DC movies have on Rotten Tomatoes are anything but fairly justified. That said, for the upcoming Folie à Deux, fans just might need to go and see the movie for themselves to decide if it’s good enough and worthy of spending 138 minutes of their lives on or not.
Joker (2019) and Blue Beetle (2023) are available to be streamed on Hulu while Joker: Folie á Deux will be hitting the theatres on October 4, 2024.
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