#entertainment

After 2019's "Joker" nabbed $1 billion box office dollars and a Best Actor Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix, a sequel was certain.

What form that sequel would take, however, was less certain.

In the risk averse entertainment landscape that is 2024 Hollywood, one would have expected a continuation of Joker's reign as Gotham City's most unhinged agent of chaos.

Well, no one will accuse director Todd Phillips and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga of being risk averse.

For better and for worse, "Joker: Folie à Deux" mixes romance and show tunes with law and order in what may be the bleakest jukebox musical ever made.

Question is: Is the risk worth the reward?