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)
When Harley Quinn showed up in Suicide Squad, I thought she was easily the best part of the film. But giving her a solo movie? That’s where it felt like things went overboard. Too much chaos, too much craziness, too much of everything all at once. Margot Robbie really goes all in with Harley, and I have to admit, she kind of got on my nerves the whole time. But the action scenes are solid, and it’s got that strong girl-power vibe going for it, so I stuck around and ended up giving it three stars. A fun, over-the-top action flick.
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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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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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The proclamation of girl power and kicking someone in the balls are not the problems of the film at all. In my opinion, there could be more of them in an ideal world and they could hit elsewhere than the obvious targets, such as ruined demented sidekicks and a generic villain (does Gotham really need another sadistic mobster with daddy complexes?). Harley is a guide. Narratively and self-reflexively, the film copies Deadpool, including unreliable detours and chaotic bloopers. Unfortunately, before the film gets going in any direction, these moments of "let's start again" slow down the pace considerably. The film is accompanied by cheeky and imaginative choreographies by Chad Stahelský, in which there is more sparkle and playfulness than in the entire screenplay by Christina Hodson. He has trouble telling a trivial story with a hint of tension and turning photogenic emancipation figurines into characters. The impression that the DC universe suffers from a brutal fragmentation of personality is not helped by this tolerable and completely useless film. When it comes to Batman ... girls, damn it, I don't even know who this is about. But it doesn't matter. Let’s paint our nails, have margarita and feel satisfied that the straw-men got kicked in the balls.
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I really don’t know if Birds of Prey wants to be a "sharp, even controversial film” or anything else, but I enjoyed it for what it really is – a fresh, uncomplicated, deliberately trashy-in-places, playfully over-the-top and infantile post-breakup action comedy with an intentionally chaotic narrative that, like the main protagonist, gradually settles down and becomes more focused. Girl power is not so obviously on display as in Wonder Woman or certain Marvel movies (e.g. the painfully forced and TERRIBLY unnecessary “don’t say that name” scene in Avengers: Endgame). Feminism is a natural part of the fictional world. All of the men are malicious betrayers or dangerous, violent swine (which, however, does not mean that the heroines are saintly, not even a little – they are imperfect, but they don’t care) and we want them to die a horrible death. This film is based more on female friendship than on the antagonism between Harley Quinn and Sionis, which in the end is rather just a MacGuffin contributing to “female bonding”, an obstacle preventing the protagonist from enjoying an egg sandwich or watching Tweety in peace. This is where Birds of Prey differs from standard comics-based films, where a villain must be eliminated in order for the world to be saved. I surely would not mind if there was greater anarchy and more derisive mockery of all of the macho comic-book universes in which women serve merely as sidekicks, baddies and ornaments in guy adventures, but Birds of Prey is too radically feminist (er, lol) for some viewers, so for now it’s perhaps not possible to expect more from a major-studio genre film. 75%
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