Birds of Prey Review

Call it Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey or Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Neither is a great title, although one is significantly better than the other, but they both convey precisely the strange concoction that is this movie. While it is largely about Harley Quinn and the (admittedly poor) way she deals with a breakup, the movie also serves as an origin story for the Birds of Prey. Because of this, it is often unfocused and unsure of what to do with some of the, nominally, star characters. Having said that, this movie is a fucking blast.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know what happens, bookmark this page and come back once you have.

Let’s start where it all began: Margot Robbie and Harley Quinn. This is a role that allows Robbie to do so much that her other roles do not. Harley Quinn is funny, quite strange, but, most importantly, physical. And Robbie gives a tremendous physical performance. From her posture at any given moment to the way her eyes pop when she’s excited to the phenomenal roller skate action scenes. It’s clear why she wanted to attempt a salvage of this character. And it’s mostly successful. Harley Quinn is not just the sexy woman on the team. Look, Harley is gorgeous, and she uses that to her advantage a few times in the film, but she’s also incredibly resourceful, very smart (She rarely fails to remind people she has a PhD), and a legitimate badass fighter.

The only issue is that she has character progression that we don’t actually see. After taking Cassandra Cain from the police, the pair go grocery shopping and then chill at Harley's place. Why? Why doesn’t she just turn the kid over Black Mask and end the film? Because she’s secretly had this kind heart? Breaking up with Jared Leto caused an emotional awakening inside her? I honestly couldn’t tell you. But the movie ends with Harley taking Cassandra under her wing so something must have happened.

Cassandra is also at the heart of my other large grievance. You see, this is not Cassandra Cain. Which is unfortunate because it would have been supremely easy to give her the Huntress role and make Huntress the girl everyone was chasing after, this time due to her family. Sure, she’s an alright character, but the graceful assassin from the comics, she is not. She also doesn’t have that pathos. Comics-Cassandra is raised in relative seclusion and only thought of as a tool for violence. She can barely even speak because why would she need to? Of course, Batman and the gang show her the error or her ways and bring her into the family. She is constantly trying to redeem herself and it is a real struggle. There's not a chance for that kind of development in this movie though. Because Cassandra is a quippy McGuffin that doesn't actually do much. But she should be the heart of this endeavor that the others want to rally around and protect. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

That brings us to the titular Birds of Prey, Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya. Montoya is a police detective that mostly speaks like an '80s movie cop. It’s a pretty good bit that’s subtle enough to never become annoying. Dinah Lance (Who is called Black Canary once and then never again) is the singer at Black Mask's club. She’s a badass fighter with sonic screaming powers that are used, and no one addresses it again. It’s strange. But her fits and hair are dope and she has a good sense of humor. And Huntress (As she would like to be called) is an assassin that has a version of comics-Cassandra's character arc. She doesn’t do much, which is unfortunate because Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays her with this home-schooled kid going to school for the first-time awkwardness that is absolutely adorable and perfect. And that’s about all there is to say about these characters. They’re only a little more than skin deep because, ultimately, this isn’t their film. The next one is for them; this one is to convince audiences they want that movie and studio executives that audiences want it. Montoya and Lance get some development, but it mostly has to deal with them realizing the patriarchy is bullshit and they could help people better on their own. Which, look. They’re not wrong. But it doesn’t feel like they reach their endpoints naturally. Just like Harley. It’s a real problem.

But it’s ok! Because Ewan McGregor is here as Black Mask! He’s also a flat, static character. He just wants to be the kingpin of Gotham. But McGregor is doing the absolute MOST. He's kinda charming, but not so much that you like the character. He's an eccentric douchebag with amazing fits that steals every scene he’s in. The way he talks about his shrunken head collection is the way I talk about Tetsuya Nomura, maybe too fervently and with a little too much love. It's great.

But that's the characters, what about everything else? Well, it's a mixed bag. The entire aesthetic of this movie is a more focused version of Suicide Squad’s look. It's not my favorite but it's well executed. The entire soundtrack would be a top tier playlist. As a soundtrack to this movie, it's mediocre. Can we get a badass moment starring a woman that isn't set to Barracuda? That’d be swell and way less predictable. Most the needle drops are like that.

Let me tell y'all about the action scenes in this movie. They're the best a superhero movie has seen since…. Captain America: Winter Soldier? And they're honestly better than several of that movie's. There's a lot of longer shots that create a clear sequence events that keep the viewer completely immersed. There is a scene in the police station where Harley alternates between shooting officers and beating them with the gun itself. A later scene features Harley bouncing a metal bat off the ground, into a mercenary dude, and then back to herself as though it was Captain America’s shield. It's so sick. I want more fight scenes like this. Good job, Cathy Yan.

And then there’s the presentation. This movie has an almost Deadpool-esque amount of narration. Harley is always popping in to disrupt the flow of the movie and deliver a hit-or-miss joke. That ungodly amount of narration starts at the very begging. Because this movie starts with a charming animation that runs us though Harley’s story thus farm. Its great I find it extremely funny that the Joker here looks like the Batman: The Animated Series version and not Jared Leto. It’s unfortunate that Harley explains this all to Cassandra later in the movie, rendering this scene redundant.

The story is also told in a non-linear fashion. Its very clear what is happening when and what order events actually occurred, but if you’re one those people that were confused by the two timelines in Little Women, you might struggle with this one. Also, please go watch Pulp Fiction and let me know what you thought, my twitter handle is on the About Me page.

There has been a recent surge in celebrating movies that are neither excellent not atrocious, simply fine, mid tier affairs. Birds of Prey is the latest in a long list of movies that fit that billing. It's also one of the better ones that's been released recently. So, go see it if you have the time. You won't be floored, but you will have a good time with some funny characters and cool action scenes. Also, there's a funny bit with a hair tie that has been talked about to death. It's very good and you'll probably enjoy it.