Ooh guys! Our first superhero movie of the year has broken new ground with a concept so original it has never been done before …… a team of all female superheroes. Plus Harley Quinn is in it!
I wasn’t expecting much from the Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn movie other than it being something I could talk about while I waited for the highly anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s pretty easy to top Suicide Squad and after enough trial and error DC are finally getting back on track thanks to films like Shazam and Joker. But what about this new film? Birds of Prey made me raise an eyebrow as it was surprisingly better than I thought it would be.
Despite what the title suggests this is a Harley Quinn movie first and foremost. She gets the most screen time and the rest of the team is just set dressing. Not that the other characters are bad, they’re just there so we know they exist and the rest of their story will no doubt be explored in a future solo movie. Harley only really bonds with the young girl who reminded me of Awkwafina’s character from Ocean’s 8 as she was good at stealing things except that this young girl is the queen of pick-pocketing combos. It’s so stupid that I love it.
What I liked most about this movie is that it’s very comical. Harley Quinn is almost DC’s Deadpool, which really fits her. She’s crazy, sticks out like a sore thumb, has a Brooklyn accent, talks to herself and is ridiculously good at beating the ever living hell out of goons. Her humour is a bit hit or miss, but she definitely works better in a goofy colourful over the top environment as it feels less cringey.
I like Cathy Yan’s direction as, when compared to the other DCEU films, this one feels like someone’s passion project. It’s a well filmed, well put together movie and I also really liked the action as when it gets cartoonish it’s really fun.
Negatives time! Some of the editing from Suicide Squad has carried over and I really could have gone without it. Ewan McGregor played the villain and whilst I enjoyed his out there performance he struggled to escape the blandness of his character. He felt like a discount Joker and I think the story would have been better served if Harley was facing The Joker instead of this random throwaway villain. The Birds were on the sidelines too often to leave any real impression, especially Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character who felt like an after thought as we don’t really meet her until about an hour in. She, like Harley Quinn, has the most promising backstory which is brushed aside so we can make fun of how stupid her need for revenge is.
I was immediately tired of the over explaining of everything and the constant need to make fun of how one dimensional our characters are. Just because you’re self aware that these characters are pretty weak doesn’t mean you have to be lazy about it. I’m only now just starting to like Harley Quinn in this universe, please don’t throw that away with your bad jokes!
I’m over talking about this movie so here’s a 7/10. It’s good, go and watch it if you like jokes, profanity, over sexualised women, fun violence and a mediocre story. I just hope this is supposed to be like the Wolverine of The Harley Quinn trilogy and maybe her next adventure will just blow my mind.
That’s a wrap. I’ll be back with a surprise post just before the Oscars and again next week for, of course, Sonic. I have been The Blog Complainer, signing out.
The Blog Complainer 