In Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux,” conservative comic Tim Dillon has a really temporary cameo as one of many guards at Arkham Asylum. It is virtually actually a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, and Dillon has even admitted that, when he lastly watched Phillips’ movie, he did not see himself.
The explanation he did not see himself is as a result of he was on his cellphone, posting on social media how a lot the movie sucked. Dillon hated it that a lot.
Dillon, for these unfamiliar, is a queer standup comic who is maybe finest identified for mocking Millennials and Gen-Z for being whiny and privileged. He additionally, nonetheless, pokes enjoyable at Boomers for “refusing to retire” (squarely giving him a traditional Gen-X disaffected tone) and friends round with right-wing pundits and bro-doggs like Joe Rogan, having described himself as right-leaning (though Dillon claims he has turn into too bitter to vote). Past that, Dillon has been doing standup comedy professionally because the early 2010s and launched his first particular, “A Actual Hero,” in 2022. His newest particular, “This Is Your Nation,” was put out by Netflix in 2024.
His position in “Folie à Deux” is virtually a walk-on, however Dillon was desperate to see the movie. Afterward, he was invited onto the questionable “Joe Rogan Experience” interview show, and he was pleased to say that it was the worst film ever made. Not only a dangerous DC Comics film, or a nasty film typically, however the literal worst. It is a daring assertion, seeing as DC Comics has additionally supplied the world movies like “Black Adam,” “The Flash,” “Catwoman,” “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” and “Jonah Hex.” In Dillon’s eyes, this one out-stunk all of them.
Tim Dillon thinks Joker: Folie à Deux is not merely dangerous, however the worst film of all time
Dillon, after all, remembers the discourse surrounding the primary “Joker.” Some may recall that Phillips’ unique movie was feared earlier than its launch, because it gave the impression to be — judging solely by its promoting — an apologia for violent loners and self-pitying incels. The movie ended up being way more toothless, telling a fairly easy story of a metropolis’s lack of psychological well being infrastructure resulting in supervillainy. It was then wrapped in a Martin Scorsese-inspired aesthetic, and offered as one thing darkish and deep. It wasn’t deep, nevertheless it was successful.
“Folie a Deux,” nonetheless, is nearly intentionally dangerous, ripping aside all of the myths that the primary movie arrange. The movie demystifies the Joker, and, by extension, implicates superhero followers for partaking with a vapid, ridiculous fantasy. Quentin Tarantino loved its temerity. Dillon hated its premise, stating:
“It is the worst movie that has ever been made. It is truly not ‘so dangerous.’ It is the worst movie ever made. I feel what occurred, after the primary ‘Joker,’ there was numerous speak like, ‘Oh, this was liked by incels. This was liked by the mistaken varieties of individuals. This despatched the mistaken form of message. Male rage! Nihilism!’ All these thinkpieces. After which I feel, ‘What if we went the opposite approach,’ and now they’ve Joaquin Phoenix and Woman Gaga faucet dancing, to a degree the place it is insane.”
Dillon is not mistaken. One may argue that it was the purpose of “Folie à Deux” to go the opposite approach, because it have been, however that did not essentially make it entertaining to look at.
Tim Dillon thought Joker 2 would bomb, even when he was on the set
Dillon, after all, had a sinking sensation from the beginning. He remembers chinwagging with the opposite actors and extras who performed the movie’s Arkham Asylum guards, and agreeing that they have been baffled as to the very plot of the movie. The comic continued:
“It has no plot. We might sit there, me and these different guys have been all wearing these safety outfits as a result of we’re working on the Arkham Asylum, and I’d flip to certainly one of them, and we might hear this crap, and I would go, ‘What the f*** is that this?’ They usually’d go, ‘That is going to bomb, man.’ I’m going, ‘That is the worst factor I’ve ever.’ We have been speaking about it at lunch, and we might go, ‘What’s the plot? Is there a plot? I do not know, I feel he falls in love together with her within the jail?’ It isn’t even hate-watchable. That is how horrible it’s.”
/Film’s own Bill Bria felt that the “Joker” sequel functioned well as a legitimate genre deconstruction, however most audiences felt the identical approach as Dillon, staying away from the would-be blockbuster in droves. The movie has, ultimately measure, misplaced Warner Bros. anyplace from $125 million to $200 million, making it one of many largest bombs of all time. It is easy to dogpile on a film that’s critically combined and already failing, and Dillon was pleased to take action.
Dillon, after all, is a comic, and the oafish host of “Expertise” tends to talk in extremes, so it is potential that Dillon was exaggerating his outrage. But it surely’s additionally potential that he actually feels “Folie à Deux” is the worst film of all time.
As a critic, I’d say that he ought to contemplate himself fortunate if he hasn’t seen any movies worse than “Folie à Deux.” There are so, so many movies which might be so, a lot worse.
