The one redeeming quality of Suicide Squad was Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn. It was a no brainer that Warner Brothers would want to capitalize on her popularity. As well they should. Unfortunately this film wasn’t it. Warning, spoilers ahead….
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is the official title of this way over the top and often disjointed mess of a film directed by Cathy Yan. Anyone familiar with the character knows how quirky and zany she is. She is after all the Joker’s girlfriend for heaven’s sake. Well, she was until she wasn’t but I digress. And so does this film.
After an explosive breakup, literally, with the Joker it is now open season on Harley Quinn for reasons that never gets fully explained. Which is one of the many, many issues with BOP. Every low class thug in Gotham wants her dead including crime boss Roman Sionis aka Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Then there is officer Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) who wants her in cuffs and behind bars. Throw in a precious diamond, a teenage thief, a vengeful assassin with a moniker issue and a burlesque singer with a killer vocal range and you should have an interesting recipe for a story. Instead there was too much exposition to bring the audience up to date. It felt rushed. Feeling rushed is something that plagues the DC Cinematic Universe more often then not.
By it’s very nature comic book stories tend to be over the top and colorful but usually they also contain a measure of social commentary. They are representative of our world. As I sat in that ice bucket of a theatre I was trying to figure out what exactly BOP was striving to be? Two days later, I’m still wondering.
Directed by: Cathy Yan
Starring: Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ella Jay Basco and Ewan McGregor
R 109 MINS
BIRDS OF PREY *1/2 (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
