by Daniel Andrade
Courtesy of DC Films
Four years ago, DC wanted to try something different for their Extended Universe and show viewers a funnier, more light-hearted side of their vast catalog, the villain-centric Suicide Squad. The trailers showed a colorful, bombastic, insane look into the lives of some of Gotham’s notably odd nemeses. While the movie didn’t perform as well as anticipated, one of the better things to come out of it was Margot Robbie’s (Bombshell, The Wolf of Wall Street) interpretation of fan-favorite character Harley Quinn. Halloween parties and Comic-Cons around the nation became flooded by Harley impersonators, breathing new life into the iconic character and pretty much guaranteeing that we would see Robbie take on the role again in the near future. So when a Harley Quinn-led Birds of Prey was announced as a spiritual sequel to Suicide Squad, many were excited to see if the popular character could carry the film on her own. After my viewing of the film, I think the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Birds of Prey retains all the best parts of Suicide Squad and delivers them in a more satisfying way. The fight scenes are visually stunning and so much fun to watch. They are still colorful, over-the-top, and beautifully choreographed. While they can be incredibly visceral and graphic at times, they never lose their wow factor. The team dynamic that made Suicide Squad fun remains in this film as well and actually works better, in my opinion. In fact, one of my few gripes of the movie is that the time the Birds of Prey actually spend together is very limited, but once they do team up and share the screen together it’s an absolute delight. Perhaps this was to set up future Birds of Prey sequels or spin-offs, either of which I would gladly watch. The plot makes much more sense than that of Suicide Squad, even though Harley Quinn’s telling of it isn’t straightforward. Her unorthodox narration is actually one of my favorite aspects of the film. Lastly, one of the highlights of Suicide Squad was its excellent soundtrack, and this movie is no different. Featuring a lot of female empowerment ballads by some of music’s most iconic female artists, the music fit perfectly with the theme and the overall feel of the movie while not being too on-the-nose, which led to some amazing action scenes.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the acting in the film. Robbie continues to be charming and captivating as Harley Quinn, and has more of an opportunity to let loose and really explore the character. Her facial expressions are wonderful and fit well with the personality of Harley. I especially liked seeing her switch between being a therapist and a terrorist at the drop of a dime, which helped to emphasize her intelligence. Seeing her go from emotionally devastated by her breakup with the Joker and chaotically joyful in causing mischief and mayhem on her own was a blast because she was able to effectively portray a wide range of emotions. She is absolutely the star of the film and for good reason; you can’t help but pay attention whenever she’s on-screen. While it might seem like her trademark accent would get tiresome after a while, I always enjoyed hearing her pop in to tell us something she thought we needed to know. Much like Deadpool, she’s not afraid to break the fourth wall and talk directly to us, which made me feel more invested in the story. Plus, the way she told the story, in random sporadic chunks that didn’t always flow chronologically, made sense for the character and made it more believable.
While I could have easily enjoyed this film with just Harley Quinn, I’m happy to say her co-stars are excellent as well. Rosie Perez (Do The Right Thing, White Men Can’t Jump) is great as the tough, jaded cop Renee Montoya who uses her excellent detective skills and her persistence in pursuing justice to ground the group. Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Friday Night Lights, True Blood) shows off her incredible vocals and impressive mixed martial arts skills to defend the others in her role as Black Canary. The hilarious Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, 10 Cloverfield Lane) is probably my second favorite character, The Crossbow Killer a.k.a. The Huntress, and is witty yet awkward, while also still being the fiercest of the bunch due to her assassin upbringing. Ella Jay Basco (Veep, Grey’s Anatomy) makes her big-screen debut as the pickpocket Cassandra Cain who has excellent chemistry with Robbie that is delightful to watch unfold. The main antagonist of the film, Roman Sionis a.k.a. Black Mask, is portrayed by the versatile Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, Moulin Rouge!), and he gives a creepy and disturbing, yet compelling, performance. Everyone goes all-in on their performances here, embracing the wild and wacky yet intense nature of the movie, which makes it that much more fun to watch.
CONCLUSION: After the lackluster reception from both audiences and critics for Suicide Squad, it would have been completely reasonable for DC to abandon the characters we were introduced to and never look back. Thankfully, they took a chance on delving deeper into the life of one of it’s more memorable characters and gave us a more exciting, humorous, delightfully odd look at the life of Harley Quinn, and introduced us to a set of characters that all blended well together. Though the Birds of Prey don’t actually work together for a majority of the film, seeing each of their individual stories slowly build up to that moment was an enjoyable ride that left me wanting to see more of their antics together. The movie is just as visually stunning as its predecessor with an incredible soundtrack that added to the fun of the film.
FINAL SCORE: 4/5
Comments