“Folie à Deux” does neither. Taking a cue from the last scene of “Joker” — a psych evaluation where Arthur hears Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” in his head and starts to sing along — the film is basically one long drawn-out courtroom drama, interrupted by musical numbers (old standards, most of them sung in Arthur’s head).

Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips’ sequel includes even fewer references to DC Comics than 2019’s ‘Joker’ did

Viewers have been left disappointed by the ‘Joker’ sequel ‘Folie a Deux,’ which deliberately deconstructs the mythos of the first film.

Maybe it's not the punchline we deserve, but Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix danced through a messy delivery to land on a pretty killer joke.