Birds of Prey review

Margot Robbie portrays a likable maniac as Harley Quinn in her new film with a long-ass title “Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” in the opening credits but for all intents and purposes it’s shortened to “Birds of Prey”. Anyways Harley Quinn is an eccentric, foul mouth character if you came across you wouldn’t mind hanging out with and blowing stuff up. Add to that she is vibrant as is the entire film is, but the dangerous activities she enjoys doing throughout the film wouldn’t be as compelling without the performance by Margot Robbie. Introduced onto the big screen in the lackluster film Suicide Squad (2016) as the dutifully violent girlfriend of the clown prince of crime Joker, Quinn proved to be a charismatic maniac that fans wanted to see again and in this film, she’s the headliner so to speak with a crew that aids her in the destruction and survival against enemies that will do everything to end her and her crew particularly Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) and his goons. Director Cathy Yun combined elaborate action sequences with intriguing character development and showcased a daylight Gotham city that isn’t seen too often in the Batman films. Even though Harleen “Harley” Quinzel was introduced in the Batman animated series the film does detail her origin but not too in-depth which I would have liked to seen more of, but that was forgiven with the humorous and disorganized narration from Quinn throughout the film. And when I mean disorganized I mean her narration isn’t linear as the film jumps from one scene to the other because she has to explain who, what, and why the situation we’re witnessing came to fruition. I thought that was clever because it added to her wild personality.

As stated before Margot Robbie shines in every scene she’s in so there’s no filler and to further commend Robbie she overcame the demanding physicality for this role because there are numerous fight scenes where she doesn’t have her weapon of choice (a baseball bat) and has to fight hand to hand combat. She is no means, Batman in terms of fighting skills, but she gets the job done and the choreography is acceptable showcasing all the athleticism and artistry from all the Birds of Prey women. Speaking of women the “Birds of Prey” seems to demonstrate “girl power” and the downplay and disgust of a character like Black Mask who would be a good representation of a punching bag for the #MeToomovement due to his misogynistic ways. As with any villain, he was easy to dislike but there was an intrigue about him every time he was on screen. He was volatile towards everyone around him as he did whatever it took towards obtaining what everyone was after and that’s was a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the fortune of the Bertinelli crime family. The plotline isn’t it strong suite since it wasn’t too interesting or complex for my liking but the atmosphere, melted Starburst looking colors on the screen accompanied by confetti, and enthusiasm from all the “Birds of Prey women was something I enjoyed. Birds of Prey did have its funny moments but is in no means funnier than another R rated anti-hero as in Dead pool that was a mixture of over the top grotesque action scenes and situations with humor. Birds of Prey is genuine in its commitment to nihilism but relaxed about the implications of that commitment. Unlike “Joker,” this R rated fan-flattery allows itself and the audience to enjoy the chaotic, messy, and self- conscious attitudes on the conventions of comic-book based entertainment. Birds of Prey for sheer entertainment is a visual treat but lacks a strong storyline that I believe a lot of these comic – book based films have presented these last few years. In addition, the character development could have been more fleshed out more especially characters like Detective Renee Montaya (Rosie Perez) and Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) to name a few. Before I end this post I want to mention the musical score was one the highlights on the film, especially Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) high pitch ballads. In conclusion, this film is entertaining and I came into this film with low expectations after watching the debut trailer, and as of now I believe it’s a solid film, not great but I did enjoy it for what it was and accomplished. Leave a like and comment if you feel the need too and follow my page for future posts. As always, peace and keep it real.

My rating of the film : 3/5, B-