Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn Review

Score 7/10

Directed by: Cathy Yan

Written by: Christina Hodson, Paul Dini, Bruce Timm

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ella Jay Basco

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After the disaster that was Suicide Squad, no-one expected or particularly wanted, to see a return to this failed universe or its characters - most of whom were underdeveloped and uninteresting. There was one exception, though. Margot Robbie’s excellent turn as Harley Quinn – which was almost lost in the ocean of mediocrity that was Suicide Squad – showed a lot of promise. So much so, that when Robbie presented the idea of a female-lead, R-rated superhero movie centred around Harley Quinn to DC and Warner Bros, the project was greenlighted. And, I for one am thankful it did, because Birds of Prey is the (vastly superior) sequel to Suicide Squad I never knew I wanted.

After the long-time-coming epiphany that her relationship with the Joker has been entirely one-sided, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) ditches her “ex puddin’” in the most public, symbolic, and undoubtedly reckless way possible. By blowing up the ACE chemical lab. Unfortunately for her, this alerts Gotham’s criminal underworld to the fact that she’s no longer under the Joker’s protection, and everyone she’s ever wronged – which, as it turns out, is a lot of people – comes gunning for her. Chief amongst these vengeful mobsters is Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), who wants nothing more than to have his right-hand man, Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), remove her face. If she wants to survive, she’ll need team up with a group female anti-heroes - all searching for emancipation and brought together by fate.

Bird of Prey’s superb female-centric cast is indisputably the heart and soul of this movie. Margot Robbie’s boundlessly energetic performance is now paired with meaningful character development and much-improved dialogue, making for a far more vibrant character overall. And while Perez (Renee Montoya), Winstead (Huntress), Smollett-Bell (Black Canary) and Basco (Cassandra Cain) all give outstanding performances in their own right, it’s the close-knit chemistry between the group that makes this all work so well. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to not mention the villains of the film (McGregor and Messina), both of whom are fantastically acted - with McGregor’s theatrically unhinged and intense performance being a delight to watch. It’s abundantly clear that everyone involved here had a brilliant time making this movie.

With DC’s penchant for dark and gritty environs and storytelling, the using of almost carnivalesque bright, loud colours is always a risky move - it possibly reminds us too much of the travesty that was Batman & Robin. However, Birds of Prey wields it superbly and without fear; whether it’s the glitter confetti bullets used by Harley or the fantabulous costumes – from the extraordinary talents of Erin Benach (The Neon Demon, A Star is Born) – adorning the cast.

But for me, Birds of Prey succeeds because it knows exactly what it wants to be. It never tries to break the mould or do anything revolutionary, instead, focussing on bringing sheer action-filled entertainment to its viewers. Something it delivers by the bucketload. The other thing the film offers is inclusion. For all their faults, there’s one thing DC movies do considerably better than Marvel, and that’s LGBTQ representation. And Birds of Prey is no exception, with several openly, or at least strongly hinted at, gay or bisexual characters in tow. But more importantly, is how this is handled. There’s no crass exploitation of the fact here, just well-placed inclusion.

This film could have been awful. But not only is it NOT awful, and thanks to the concentrated efforts of director Cathy Yan, writer Christina Hodson (who also penned the thoroughly enjoyable, Bumblebee) and Margot Robbie (as lead and producer), it’s also actually pretty damn good. In the end, Birds of Prey doesn’t offer anything new to the superhero genre, and it certainly isn’t the best that either DC or Marvel has to offer. But then, it was never going to be a masterpiece. What it does offer, however, is pure, unadulterated fun within a crazily entertaining and visually-stunning, female-lead action romp.

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