Birds of Prey Packs A Punch (And A Trigger Warning)
After finally realizing that there is no point in trying to replicate the success of their biggest competitors, the conglomerate of Warner Bros. Studios and DC Comics made one of their smartest moves in focusing on standalone films. And Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is the embodiment of that very direction. By taking one of the only worthwhile things from the first Suicide Squad film, they managed to turn that one brick into a sound foundation.
Birds of Prey takes place after the events of Suicide Squad. Joker and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) have fled back to Gotham. In the midst of their abusive relationship, the Joker breaks up with Harley and kicks her out of their house. Seeking to find a new purpose in life, she crosses paths with Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) aka The Huntress, Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) aka Black Canary, Cassie Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez). Unfortunately, her reckless, soul-searching journey puts her on the bad sides of Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) aka Black Mask and Victor Zsass (Chris Messina).
The first thing I will say is that it’s way better than Suicide Squad but your mileage may vary on that statement.
Robbie’s production company financed this flick, and it made very good use of its resources, with slick fight choreography, stunning visuals, some solid acting talent and a healthy amount of fanservice.
Seeing Jurnee Smollett-Bell mopping the floor with bad guys was surprising, but she looked damned good doing it. Same with Perez and Winstead, with both showing off a great deal of variety in their combat styles.
I feel that the cast as a whole was represented well here, but the MVPs here are Winstead, McGregor and Messina. Ewan McGregor captured the petulant nature of Black Mask perfectly, Winstead brought her usual quirky bubbly awkward charm to Huntress and Messina almost got Zsass perfect but leaned in too hard with the cheese.
The locations were amazing, especially Amusement Row which is a DC staple.
Music was comparable to the caliber of Guardians of The Galaxy, with lots of awesome classics and some dope new songs.
But I can’t talk about this movie without a trigger warning. Cathy Yan thought allusion to rape was appropriate for the narrative. I personally was uncomfortable with the three scenes in question but I can’t recommend Birds of Prey without bringing this up. Survivors should absolutely be mindful of this.
All in all, I liked this movie — it’s not perfect but it definitely made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
I give Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (DC Entertainment; R; 1hr 49mins).
