Film Review: “Birds of Prey”

Harley Quinn returns in the latest DCEU movie, “Birds of Prey”!

“Birds of Prey” Poster

Harley Quinn is on her own now.  Following “Suicide Squad”, the Joker breaks Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) out of prison and escape together to Gotham.  There they continue their life of committing heists and creating anarchy, returning to their status as the power couple of crime.  However, their relationship is underlined by Joker’s abuse towards Harley Quinn.  She is constantly abused, taken advantage of, and frequently break up only for them to get back together soon after.  One day, the camel’s back finally breaks and the two split up for good, leaving Harley emotionally wrecked.  Finding solace in booze, Harley continues to go to clubs run by gangsters and criminals to maintain appearances.  To everyone else, they’re just having another one of their usual fights and because of that, everyone in the crime world treats her like royalty that could do no wrong, because to wrong her would mean incurring the Joker’s wrath.  But now the news breaks out when Harley blows up the acid factory where Harley and Joker declared their love for each other; an explosive symbol marking the official end of their relationship.  Suddenly, every petty criminal, gang member, and criminal mastermind wants a piece of her for revenge for all of the things she did to them.  In particular, Roman Sionis, a sadistic gang leader also known as the Black Mask, is out for her head.

“Birds of Prey” is a lot of fun to watch.  The humor and insane antics continually keep you intrigued.  Harley Quinn is a lot better in this movie.  She has a lot more depth and while some of her jokes are kind of corny, she is much funnier this time around.  Also, in usual Harley Quinn fashion, everything she does is over the top, which adds to the comedy.  From buying a pet hyena to robbing a police station with a shotgun that shoots red and blue smoke canisters to even doing an entire car

Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) breaks into a police station with a smoke canister launcher

chase sequence on roller blades, everything she does is overtly wacky.  The movie itself even points this out when someone questions how she was able to change from boots to rollerblades during the middle of a fight.  The rest of the all-female protagonist ensemble, Black Canary, The Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain, are all great as well.  Each character has their own story arch throughout the movie which all coalesces in the final act.  Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), the teenage pickpocket who steals a precious diamond and has a huge bounty on her head, is a funny and lovable petty criminal as well as a realist who is constantly shocked by the absurdity of each situation she is thrown into.  Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) is a fierce fighter with a beautiful voice who teeters on the edge of her morality as she questions working for Roman Sionis and helping the police.  The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is an assassin who trained her whole life determined to exact revenge on the gangsters responsible for killing her family who hilariously struggles to be intimidating and operate outside of her goal for revenge.  Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) a detective who had the credit for solving the biggest crime in her career stolen from her, became disillusioned with the police force and is forced to continue solving crimes as a detective without any recognition only to have another big case present itself in the form of Harley Quinn’s official breakup with the Joker.  When the final act arrives and all of these characters come together, the chemistry between them is excellent.  They each play off and balance each other’s personalities well and they all thoroughly enjoy beating down the gangsters that are after them.

Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) and Victor Szasz (Chris Messina) interrogate Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie)

On the other side is Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), a sadistic gang leader who owns and operates a night club as a front for his criminal activities.  Roman is on the trail of a precious diamond that is the key to a vast fortune; enough to make him the most powerful criminal in Gotham.  Roman displays these bi-polar tendencies, switching from a bubbly and friendly person, to fiendishly intimidating and abusive, all of which makes him even scarier.  He is also accompanied by Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), an equally sociopathic serial murderer who handles all of Roman’s dirty work.  He is also his right-hand man and seems to be able to know Roman well enough to manipulate him, playing into his sociopathic behavior so he can greenlight whatever he needs.  Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina both do an excellent job playing these sadistic characters in the film.

Another aspect of the movie that was particularly great were the stunts and action sequences.  The movie utilizes very little CGI compared to most superhero movies since almost everyone in the movie does not have any superpowers.  Instead, the action and stunts are done through beautifully executed choreography.  The fights were well-paced, creative, and sometimes enjoyable brutal.  There is a great balance of over-the-top theatrics and grounded fight scenes.  The brawl in the prison, as well as the entire final act, were my favorite parts of the movie because of this, so huge props to the stunt and action choreographers on the movie!

From left to right: Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), and Dinah Lance/Black Canary (Jurnee Smollet-Bell)

Warner Bros. and the DCEU have been stepping up their game over the course of the last few movies and “Birds of Prey” continues that strong improvement.  The movie is a lot of fun to watch, features a great cast, and has some great action and fight sequences.  I highly recommend checking this movie out when it hits theaters on Friday, February 7^th.