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

Starring: Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Ewan McGregor, Ella Jay Basco, Chris Messina, Ali Wong
Directed by: Cathy Yan
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After her breakup with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) struggles and meanders before running afoul of a dangerous gangster (Ewan McGregor).

Review:

Tim: I was cautiously optimistic about Birds of Prey (I'm not writing the whole Emancipation thing because it's stupid and eventually dropped from advertising). Suicide Squad was a bad movie, but Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was one of the few bright spots in that film. I was intrigued to see what would happen when she got her own movie. While there's some clear strengths here, this is yet another disappointment for the DC Extended Universe. It's a decent movie and it's better than Suicide Squad, but it's nothing to write home about.

I have quite a few issues with this film, but I want to start with it not being especially well made. Cathy Yan did some interesting things as director, but it didn't feel like her voice really came through. The movie buckles under the weight of the script. It's okay, but it meanders, doesn't focus on the main characters enough, and overall just feels like a second tier effort. It's not a good movie.

One of the challenges with giving Harley Quinn her own movie is that she doesn't really deserve that. She's far better as a supporting character. The script gets around this by making it a Birds of Prey movie. This is actually a good idea- it allows Quinn to once again be part of a group. The ensemble is essential because her deranged character isn't compelling enough to carry a movie by herself. Indeed, she's a villain, which makes it just a little harder to root for her as our protagonist. I generally like this idea, but Quinn gets too much screen time and the rest of her group is shortchanged.

Robbie is once again strong as Quinn. You cannot fault her for putting her all into this role. You know she has fun with the role and bringing this character to life. The problem is that she needs to be more supporting and less lead. We just get too much time with her. Mary Elizabeth Winstead's The Huntress was super cool, but just doesn't get enough time. I like Winstead a lot and while her performance here often felt forced and unfunny, I generally thought she was at least decent in this role. I really like Jurnee Smollett (she's doing great things on "Lovecraft Country") and thought she was solid here. She gives one of the film's stronger performances. Her character gets a decent amount of screen time and she utilizes it effectively. Rosie Perez adds in a worthwhile supporting performance. While her character isn't nearly as interesting as the others, her performance helps make up for this. While this cast is fairly good, it takes far too long for the four women to come together. It takes an eternity, which hurts the movie. It needed to get them together faster so we got more time with them. It's so much fun to see these women together, but we don't get nearly enough time with them. The buildup just took too long.

Ewan McGregor made a solid villain. I like McGregor and he's a talented actor, so he does fairly well in the part. However, his Black Mask is never going to be on anyone's list of the best villains. He makes a surprisingly small impact on the overall film. His performance is good, but his character is forgettable. Ella Jay Basco was a bit of an unlikely casting choice, but her performance was enjoyable. She makes the movie better.

I suppose there's some decent action scenes, but they are often plagued with issues. The idea of Harley Quinn attacking the police station is cool, but the execution is lacking. It doesn't feel believable for even a moment. The scene in the evidence room is really well done, though- that was a highlight. The climactic battle has some nice moments as well. As a whole, though, this movie doesn't do a great job crafting action scenes. They were fine, but needed to be much better.

I've been consistently underwhelmed by the DC Extended Universe. This movie should have been better. If you're looking for positives, it's at least an improvement over Suicide Squad. Unfortunately, it's not a good movie, and it had every reason to be. Birds of Prey couldn't even manage to get its title right (IMDb lists it as "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey"). This is a movie that didn't know what it wanted to be, and the film suffers as a result.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Suicide Squad, Shazam!