Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

As much as I’ve been getting used to praising the casting of films lately, here it is just bad. Forgotten ’90s comedian Rosie Perez as a serious cop? Ewan McGregor as a bad guy holding a knife to a little girl’s throat? And that bland Birds of Prey team, overshadowed by the weaker characterization? Another very bad thing: the combination of deliberately childish “playfulness” that doesn’t elicit laughter, with serious tones that in some cases are almost chilling (the undressing of the girl in the bar). And the constant sloppiness of the creative vision and dumb, insensitive directing. (09/03/2020)

I really don’t know if Birds of Prey wants to be a "sharp, even controversial film” or anything else, but I enjoyed it for what it really is – a fresh, uncomplicated, deliberately trashy-in-places, playfully over-the-top and infantile post-breakup action comedy with an intentionally chaotic narrative that, like the main protagonist, gradually settles down and becomes more focused. Girl power is not so obviously on display as in Wonder Woman or certain Marvel movies (e.g. the painfully forced and TERRIBLY unnecessary “don’t say that name” scene in Avengers: Endgame). Feminism is a natural part of the fictional world. All of the men are malicious betrayers or dangerous, violent swine (which, however, does not mean that the heroines are saintly, not even a little – they are imperfect, but they don’t care) and we want them to die a horrible death. This film is based more on female friendship than on the antagonism between Harley Quinn and Sionis, which in the end is rather just a MacGuffin contributing to “female bonding”, an obstacle preventing the protagonist from enjoying an egg sandwich or watching Tweety in peace. This is where Birds of Prey differs from standard comics-based films, where a villain must be eliminated in order for the world to be saved. I surely would not mind if there was greater anarchy and more derisive mockery of all of the macho comic-book universes in which women serve merely as sidekicks, baddies and ornaments in guy adventures, but Birds of Prey is too radically feminist (er, lol) for some viewers, so for now it’s perhaps not possible to expect more from a major-studio genre film. 75% (07/02/2020)

Ignore it. Birds of Prey wants to be an edgy, perhaps even controversial film full of gritty and dark humour, bold directorial choices, strong characters and uncompromising atmosphere. But for that to work, the film would have to be made by someone more skilled than Cathy Yan, who gives it a pretty interesting visual look, but has absolutely no idea how to work with the characters and how to build relationships between them. And given that this is pretty much what Birds of Prey is supposed to be about, it's quite a problem. But she may also be a problem in that when Harley goes solo, she turns out not to be a very interesting character. This team-up wants to be something like Deadpool, but the the tough girls of Gotham can’t even hold a candle to the verbose mercenary. They're still good in the action scenes, but once they start talking and building relationships, it becomes apparent how boring these heroines are and how all that toughness and grit only works on paper. Behind the R-rating and the wild colours, there is a film can’t hide the fact that it has no ideas and is boring most of the time. (05/02/2020)

The proclamation of girl power and kicking someone in the balls are not the problems of the film at all. In my opinion, there could be more of them in an ideal world and they could hit elsewhere than the obvious targets, such as ruined demented sidekicks and a generic villain (does Gotham really need another sadistic mobster with daddy complexes?). Harley is a guide. Narratively and self-reflexively, the film copies Deadpool, including unreliable detours and chaotic bloopers. Unfortunately, before the film gets going in any direction, these moments of "let's start again" slow down the pace considerably. The film is accompanied by cheeky and imaginative choreographies by Chad Stahelský, in which there is more sparkle and playfulness than in the entire screenplay by Christina Hodson. He has trouble telling a trivial story with a hint of tension and turning photogenic emancipation figurines into characters. The impression that the DC universe suffers from a brutal fragmentation of personality is not helped by this tolerable and completely useless film. When it comes to Batman ... girls, damn it, I don't even know who this is about. But it doesn't matter. Let’s paint our nails, have margarita and feel satisfied that the straw-men got kicked in the balls. (07/02/2020)

I wanted to write that everything is bad, but that wouldn’t be true, because the overall impression is multiplied by the fact that a lot of what was wrong didn't have to be. The choreography is imaginative, playful and built on honest stunt action, but doesn’t have any zest. As 1980s glitter-pop wannabe punk stylings go, it's an inconsistent "ten minutes of nothing and then two minutes of 110%", which goes hand in hand with an incongruously alternating overdriven tone and an almost serious attitude. On paper, the narrative is fast-paced, full of flashbacks, just like Ritchie, but that may have been the case on paper, because when translated into practice the effect was lost. And then there’s the casting… It's no match for the cultishly bad casting of Schumacher's Batman, but not a single role is well-cast, including Margot Robbie. Harley here is more over-the-top, ditzy and stylised into a Deadpool/Gwenpool concoction. It doesn't have much in common with the more restrained version of the same character from Suicide Squad (where she played second fiddle) and Margot doesn't deliver it. At the same time, scenes like the "egg sandwich" could be sold in a funny way (Deadpool and the animated Harley Quinn are founded on such scenes). Ditto the two villains and others; led by the casting of the nearly 60-year-old grandmotherly Rosie Perez in a gritty "written for Michelle Rodriguez, but she didn't exactly have time" role – the casting flop of the decade. Then there’s the artlessly disguised in action through constant back-taking with a wig. That would be frowned upon in an amateur fan film, let alone a blockbuster production. And no, it's not a disruptive element, plus, with the right casting, the character could have worked. And so it is with everything else. It could have worked, but it doesn’t. Unfortunately, not to the point where it would be unintentionally funny. So it's just the essence of boring dullness. (28/02/2021)

Birds of Prey turned out tragically financially, and the movie itself is nothing to write home about. I may be one of the few who liked Suicide Squad, but this spin off with Harley Quinn was too feminist and girly for me and it irritated me for almost the entire running time. There's a difference between listening to the dialogue of a group of tough mercenaries versus a group of women, where the humor doesn't come across as funny at all, at times I was almost embarrassed. What elevates the film to the average is the nice color comic book visuals and decent over-the-top action, but I hardly noticed any violence apart from a few nice fractures. Compared to Deadpool, where guts and brains were flying in all directions, this was very tame, and Ewan McGregor as the villain overacted too much for my taste. Somewhere around 20 minutes before the end I was wishing for the ending and that's always a bad sign. It's okay for one viewing thanks to Harley Quinn and the decent action, but there wasn’t anything else I enjoyed. PS: Jurnee Smollett-Bell in gold leggings, however, was not to be missed! 5/10. (10/02/2020)

Far from being as predictable and tired as the trailers or first reactions suggested, the film is even enjoyable, thanks to the compelling performance of the titular heroine. However, the biggest plus remains that, unlike its predecessor Suicide Squad, I was entertained. Margot Robbie embodies the Harley Quinn standard, occasionally going a bit overboard, leaving little space for the other characters, but most of the time her unrestrained madness is just right. The only criticism is that she still falls short of the comic book character, as Harleen Quinzel's essence is not just about laughter and bat-wielding. I also consider the main villain a success, despite unnecessarily calling himself Black Mask, Ewan McGregor is always good enough to take on a worthy role in a film that will become widely known. It's a pity that his sidekick, played by Chris Messina, has nothing in common with the menacing Victor Zsasz he's supposed to be representing. The movie is full of such inconsistencies. Huntress is amazing but hardly given any screen time. Some lines are good, but others are almost lame. In short, I expected everything except a unoffensive one-trick pony, running the gamut from A to B, and once again, there will be no follow-up. 50% (11/02/2021)

After all of those painfully generic, would-be serious comic-book movies abounding with pathos and artificial CGI sequences, we finally have a properly entertaining flick from the superhero universe. Let’s just admit that only Nolan has managed to deal with superheroes in a truly complex way and everyone else is merely pretending to bring depth to the genre. And that clownish Deadpool, with its insipid “bloody R-rating” mythos is not an alternative, but just the other side of the same coin. Fortunately, salvation has come in the form of Harley Quinn’s solo movie, which is everything that comic books have traditionally been, without being what comic-book movies have been for the past twenty years. Here we again finally have a trashy, colourful and superficial farce with crackpot characters in a maniacal world. Furthermore, after those decades of CGI blockbusters (especially comic-book flicks) pushing action movies out of cinemas, Birds of Prey marks the return of proper kinetic and physical action spectacle (thus capping the trend started by the Mission: Impossible and John Wick franchises). Whereas other comic-book blockbusters have completely superficial action that is never memorable, Birds of Prey offers up several imaginatively designed and magnificently executed sequences with astonishing choreography by Chad Stahelski – the police station sequence is the highlight, but the carnival fun-house passage at the end is also great. This film does not entirely refrain from indulging in some tediously shallow CGI scenes, though fortunately only at the level of simulated exteriors. On the other hand, the film’s main virtue consists in the good, classic analogue work done by the people in the make-up, costume, set and action-choreography departments, as well as in the casting, of course. I very much hope that the incel whiners don’t win and that Harley Quinn gets another movie, because this is exactly what the contemporary bland production of comic-book flicks needs: A cheeky girl who isn’t saving the world in another dull spectacle, but just saving her own ass in a playfully trashy and boldly colourful fairy tale, a girl who knows how to swing a baseball bat and fire a grenade launcher, and who mainly loves an egg cheese sandwich (which, incidentally, is an essential defining moment for the character, as well as a great contribution to the home recipe book). (08/04/2020)

If there's anyone in the American film industry who is irresistible, it's Margot. I don't care if Harley Quinn has a strong enough story or personality to pull off her own movie, because Margot Robbie does. And her Harley is damn watchable, cool enough, and cute to boot. Plus, she's not exactly on her own. In comic book movies, it's always the same script anyway, good guys versus bad guys, backstory, big final brawl, boom, ending, promise of a sequel. Whether any comes about in this case, I have no idea. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie, I'm happy with the cast, the editing was great, the music suited me. They’re weaker ones, but there are five of them. Stars, I mean. (05/02/2020)

Chaotically told banality about a girl who needed to take a shit. Although the role of Harley fits Margot like a glove, the solo stories about her do not work in the comic book, let alone in a film. The affected wisecracks and vain attempts to generate humor just aren’t funny. On top of that, the whole film is wrapped up in some sort of weird girl-power package, which is getting more and more annoying in films these days. Luckily, the action scenes are very well filmed and are original, so there is still something worth watching. In this film, McGregor looks a little like Bono and his “I want it and it’s mine" approach is a fairly refreshing interpretation of a villain. You totally forget the other would-be heroines even before you begin writing your review on FilmBooster. Crime pays. (24/03/2020)

Formerly, it was Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and now it’s Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and it’s a thoroughly entertaining action comedy. The set of posters and the great trailers alone made it clear how much of a fun ride it was going to be. I found the trailer for Björk's classic song "It's Oh So Quiet" absolutely brilliant. Margot Robbie was apparently the sole survivor of the infamous first Suicide Squad, and to keep her from getting bored, she was given another team to play with. This time it’s a girl's Birds of Prey line-up. The villain is the excellent Ewan McGregor and there is plenty of reminiscences of such hits as the classic song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." I don't need to explain that in comics the characters work differently, that cartoons work differently, etc. This is a classic action formula about how a former villain slowly becomes a good character. Those are the ones I enjoy most. It plays nicely with genre, winks at sequential art readers, and comfortably handles everything that needed to be put to rest and locked back in the closet for a while in the DC movies. (15/02/2020)

Rough and tumble fun, right in the spirit of the comics, with Harley on a rampage, torn from the Joker's chain. A lot of comparisons will probably be made to Deadpool, and partly justified, but for me Birds of Prey is a cut above Deadpool, which was spoiled by too many adolescent jokes. Here, everything is in the right proportion, the film is very colorful, rich in everything from glitter to broken legs, and yet it holds together nicely and nothing sticks out. The queen, of course, is Margot Robbie, who gives her all to the role and enjoys it as much as I did. But besides the fine psychohumor, I have to highlight the direction and especially the perfect choreography of the action scenes, because the last time I saw something so hilarious was probably in John Wick 3. I predict that this film will be one of those that are much more loved by audiences than critics, and in one breath I would add: So Chad Stahelski was involved in the action scenes? That explains it all! (05/02/2020)

A surprisingly well built narration that, mostly in the first half, portrays the unpredictable nature of its protagonists in an original way. Margot is always nice to look at and the maniac version of the likeable McGregor was innocently entertaining, rather than cringe or annoying. Having compared the motivations and set a clear goal, the narration quiets down and the film loses its momentum and progressive ideas – the action scenes become more routine (with the exception of the final chase on roller skates) and the feminism that was smartly pushed at first now becomes too forced. Also, the secondary characters aren’t interesting enough to be a valuable complement to this eager one-woman-show, which is the biggest shame because, formally speaking, I was quite satisfied and I also appreciate the fact that after some point I forgot this was supposed to be a super-hero movie. 65% (25/03/2020)

Wow, another unbelievably low-energy action movie, which tries to juggle a bare-bones storyline, zero character development, undynamic “action" scenes, and frankly execrable ideas to balance with a colourful wannabe "cool, jerky style", and is riding on the modern “girl power” wave (it’s pushed to the limits here because all the male characters are scummy low-life criminals, dirty rotten scoundrels, despicable traitors). After a completely brainless Suicide Squad, I went into this with zero expectations. The fragmented plot jumps awkwardly around here and there, lacking any real atmosphere, and is a disparate nuisance. The characters at best represent typical clichés of what we've already seen a million times (the under-appreciated policewoman, the vengeful daughter of a mafia boss). In the worst case, a couple of characters are just simple props not really doing that much, occasionally used in a scene (the bar singer and the thief with a diamond in her gut). Most of all, I didn't understand the pair of antagonists, the theatrical effeminate male villain who is quite a bastard, and a childish drama-queen heroine who kills people and is quite a bitch, leading to the question of why we should cheer on Harley Quinn. Just because the movie demands it of us? Perhaps it's only because we have only been acquainted with Harley for two movies, compared to slack-jawed villain Black Mask, an uninteresting character Ewan McGregor endeavours in vain to make interesting or at least counterbalance with some crazy overacting. One might say that the screenplay gave McGregor little else left to work with. I would say that there was another option for him - just not to take part in this movie at all. And further, I would advise you not to watch this movie at all. (26/03/2020)

Birds of Prey (and Harley Quinn herself) is like a drunk prostitute strewn with glitter with a thick layer of make-up, at first evoking attraction, but upon closer inspection ending up repulsive and sticky. The film masks its banal flat plot with a complicated narrative style, whilst the mostly insufficiently detailed characters act annoying, and the action scenes are seldom able to break free from their chain. At least the pompously flashy visual stylization matches how the film’s crazy and ostentatiously corrupt anti-heroine is presented. Through the combination of its impressive façade, immediacy and all-enforced playfulness with the aesthetics of dirty streets and crumbling, gross locations, it's about as much fun as going to a disco, drinking one shot after another and then furiously vomiting into your purse (which also happens in the film). Some people like this type of entertainment, no doubt about it. (06/02/2020)

With Birds of Prey, I have to say (for the umpteenth time) that it is sometimes difficult to properly rate a film on a five-star scale. In fact, the girl version of Deadpool isn't as bad as other films from the DC universe. It offers a decent amount of brisk action, doesn't shy away from dark humor or gory scenes, and works with some interesting visuals and storytelling. On the other hand, though, I did feel that more could have been made of it. The humour felt very much pushed to the limit and the characters were rather bland (Huntress and Cass could certainly have been fleshed out better). In the cinema, the film passes by like water, no question about it, but to put it in a silly and slightly chauvinistic way, Birds of Prey lacked balls, unlike Deadpool. (09/02/2020)

Cheaply grotesque, shallow, and childish all the way down, certainly so. Still, it's a wickedly cool washout that, through an unreliable narrator (let's face it – could it be otherwise?), makes it pretty blatantly clear that it simply wants to entertain and has no wider ambitions. Therefore, I find any discussion of the feminist message of this film slightly laughable, as Harley is primarily fighting for her own neck here and not for women's rights (which I'm sure some would have liked). As for Margot Robbie herself, she really was born for this role and represents one of the few DC casting hits. The choreography of the action scenes (that Chad Stahelski guy is simply undeniable) and the very imaginative use of the environment in the fight sequences add up to make Birds of Prey one of the more watchable pieces from the DC universe. If there’s any prominent hero from the DC stable whose fate I will be happy to follow in multiple sequels, it's Harley Quinn. (09/07/2020)

Just like Kick-Ass 2 tried to emulate the success of number one, Birds of Prey wants to emulate the success of Deadpool, and it is a similar flop. What I can praise is the style and Margot Robbie, who clearly enjoys playing Harley and the role of an unreliable narrator really agrees with her. Otherwise, it's pathetic. You can tell they have put a lot of work into choreography, but good ideas alternate with ridiculous ones almost reaching the level of parody (the fight at the end is not far from the ending of Hot Shots! Part Deux). The worst thing about this movie by far, however, is the cast, where none of the actresses fit into the team that was supposed to be the core of the movie. For example, Rosie Perez is synonymous with boredom. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, as much as I liked her in Scott Pilgrim, is probably showing the worst performance of her career. And Ewan McGregor? Though an excellent actor, he should be praying that the next Star Wars movie with his Obi-Wan will succeed. Otherwise, he should really change agents, because everything he’s appeared in recently blew up like the Death Star, which is something to consider. But back to Birds of Prey. It's great that thanks to the girl power movement an unknown female director and screenwriter got a chance to shoot a blockbuster, but they managed to make a movie where the relationships between the girls in the team don't work, story twists don't work either, some of the dialogues are downright terrible and it’s all sloppily narrated. The result is a movie that may be a little better than the disastrous Justice League but grossed less than Green Lantern ten years ago! In short, not everyone has the comedic and storytelling talent of Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool, and not every comic book gets supervised by a genius the likes of Matthew Vaughn. (17/07/2020)