Fans of the first Todd Phillips Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix were apprehensive to learn that its sequel, Joker Folie À Deux, would be a musical co-starring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. Phillips himself tried to mitigate the worries by downplaying the importance of music to the plot, but now that Lady Gaga has shared Harlequin, the film’s companion soundtrack, it’s clear: Her Harley Quinn goes full-on Broadway on “Get Happy” and “Good Morning,” embracing all the camp inherent to the concept with some good, old-fashioned show tunes.
“Get Happy” opens with a suitably dramatic overture before kicking into the same jaunty, jazzy mode as the 1950 Judy Garland version from Summer Stock. You can check it out above.
Meanwhile, her take on the 1939 standard “Good Morning” similarly starts off cool and heats up quickly, just like a summer day. In terms of the composition, it’s closer to the version from Babes In Arms than the one from Singin’ In The Rain, and how you feel about that just might depend on your preference between Garland and Debbie Reynolds. You can check it out below.
So, there you have it: Joker Folie À Deux is 100 percent a musical, borrowing from classics of the past rather than composing original material to suit the dark and zany mood of the first Joker. We’ll find out how audiences feel about that on October 4 — although the early returns don’t look too promising.
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