Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
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Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (more)
Directed by:
Cathy YanScreenplay:
Christina HodsonCinematography:
Matthew LibatiqueComposer:
Daniel PembertonCast:
Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Ewan McGregor, Ella Jay Basco, Chris Messina, Daniel Bernhardt, Charlene Amoia (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
You ever hear the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the mafia princess? Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down. (Warner Bros. US)
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Reviews (22)
As much as I’ve been getting used to praising the casting of films lately, here it is just bad. Forgotten ’90s comedian Rosie Perez as a serious cop? Ewan McGregor as a bad guy holding a knife to a little girl’s throat? And that bland Birds of Prey team, overshadowed by the weaker characterization? Another very bad thing: the combination of deliberately childish “playfulness” that doesn’t elicit laughter, with serious tones that in some cases are almost chilling (the undressing of the girl in the bar). And the constant sloppiness of the creative vision and dumb, insensitive directing.
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Birds of Prey turned out tragically financially, and the movie itself is nothing to write home about. I may be one of the few who liked Suicide Squad, but this spin off with Harley Quinn was too feminist and girly for me and it irritated me for almost the entire running time. There's a difference between listening to the dialogue of a group of tough mercenaries versus a group of women, where the humor doesn't come across as funny at all, at times I was almost embarrassed. What elevates the film to the average is the nice color comic book visuals and decent over-the-top action, but I hardly noticed any violence apart from a few nice fractures. Compared to Deadpool, where guts and brains were flying in all directions, this was very tame, and Ewan McGregor as the villain overacted too much for my taste. Somewhere around 20 minutes before the end I was wishing for the ending and that's always a bad sign. It's okay for one viewing thanks to Harley Quinn and the decent action, but there wasn’t anything else I enjoyed. PS: Jurnee Smollett-Bell in gold leggings, however, was not to be missed! 5/10.
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When Harley Quinn appeared in the Suicide Squad, I perceived her as the best thing the movie had to offer. However, a standalone film is, in my opinion, too much of an exaggeration. Too much madness, too much craziness, too much lunacy all at once. Margot Robbie plays the character of Harley incredibly and I have to say, she nailed it in every way. But since the film has a lot of decent action and that girl power feeling, I ultimately stayed and gave the film three stars. Fine, expressive action extravaganza.
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After all of those painfully generic, would-be serious comic-book movies abounding with pathos and artificial CGI sequences, we finally have a properly entertaining flick from the superhero universe. Let’s just admit that only Nolan has managed to deal with superheroes in a truly complex way and everyone else is merely pretending to bring depth to the genre. And that clownish Deadpool, with its insipid “bloody R-rating” mythos is not an alternative, but just the other side of the same coin. Fortunately, salvation has come in the form of Harley Quinn’s solo movie, which is everything that comic books have traditionally been, without being what comic-book movies have been for the past twenty years. Here we again finally have a trashy, colourful and superficial farce with crackpot characters in a maniacal world. Furthermore, after those decades of CGI blockbusters (especially comic-book flicks) pushing action movies out of cinemas, Birds of Prey marks the return of proper kinetic and physical action spectacle (thus capping the trend started by the Mission: Impossible and John Wick franchises). Whereas other comic-book blockbusters have completely superficial action that is never memorable, Birds of Prey offers up several imaginatively designed and magnificently executed sequences with astonishing choreography by Chad Stahelski – the police station sequence is the highlight, but the carnival fun-house passage at the end is also great. This film does not entirely refrain from indulging in some tediously shallow CGI scenes, though fortunately only at the level of simulated exteriors. On the other hand, the film’s main virtue consists in the good, classic analogue work done by the people in the make-up, costume, set and action-choreography departments, as well as in the casting, of course. I very much hope that the incel whiners don’t win and that Harley Quinn gets another movie, because this is exactly what the contemporary bland production of comic-book flicks needs: A cheeky girl who isn’t saving the world in another dull spectacle, but just saving her own ass in a playfully trashy and boldly colourful fairy tale, a girl who knows how to swing a baseball bat and fire a grenade launcher, and who mainly loves an egg cheese sandwich (which, incidentally, is an essential defining moment for the character, as well as a great contribution to the home recipe book).
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Far from being as predictable and tired as the trailers or first reactions suggested, the film is even enjoyable, thanks to the compelling performance of the titular heroine. However, the biggest plus remains that, unlike its predecessor Suicide Squad, I was entertained. Margot Robbie embodies the Harley Quinn standard, occasionally going a bit overboard, leaving little space for the other characters, but most of the time her unrestrained madness is just right. The only criticism is that she still falls short of the comic book character, as Harleen Quinzel's essence is not just about laughter and bat-wielding. I also consider the main villain a success, despite unnecessarily calling himself Black Mask, Ewan McGregor is always good enough to take on a worthy role in a film that will become widely known. It's a pity that his sidekick, played by Chris Messina, has nothing in common with the menacing Victor Zsasz he's supposed to be representing. The movie is full of such inconsistencies. Huntress is amazing but hardly given any screen time. Some lines are good, but others are almost lame. In short, I expected everything except a unoffensive one-trick pony, running the gamut from A to B, and once again, there will be no follow-up. 50%
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