Birds of Prey (Harley Quinn) - Movie Review
Remember Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad? I don't blame you - despite some big names, Suicide Squad went off the radar quicker than a damp spot drying under the sun. But Margot Robbie has revived (executive producer) the most sparkling madcap from that bunch of murderous pyschopaths, namely Harley Fuckin' Quinn in this exuberantly unhinged (sort of) sequel - called Birds of Prey. Along with director Cathy Yan and screenwriter Christina Hodson of Bumblebee fame, Margot Robbie works hard to make Birds of Prey the most zany DC Movie ever made. And frankly, it was so much fun that I felt this was indeed the most enjoyable movie from the DC Labs. Someone's getting something right in there, huh. Irreverent to the core, giddy with inventive and explosive action sequences, the movie is a ride on the wild side of reason, almost true to the comic book glee. Smart script, terrific performances and fun violent action sequences. Do we need more of a reason to watch a superhero flick? Nope, sign me up for a sequel we need right away.
Despite it being called "Birds of prey" Margot Robbie aka Harleen Quinzel totally gets the top billing and she plays the lead role with such frenetically charged madhouse energy, cackling gleeful abandon and a winsome sadness (a nod to the off-screen break up with Mr. J ) She's the unreliable narrator of the storyline, blessed with the attention span of a pin-ball machine gone bonkers and a self-interest that spans taking care of a Hyena in a bath-tub and a kleptomaniacal kid with family issues. Not to mention, getting shit-faced in high-profile night-bars of the Gotham district, directly under the thumbs of the biggest crime-mafia lord in town, the Black Mask aka Roman Sionis ( played by Ewan McGregor reliable as always in getting that cartoonish evil man just right, with his affected mannerisms and berserker rage issues)
The storytelling is like a railgun gone crazy, going helter-skelter helped on miserably by the ADD addled-Harley. But the bare-bones plot involves a 30-carat diamond which holds the map for location of the fortunes of a mafioso family - that ends up swallowed by this young teen Cassandra Cain, who is a regular orphan on the streets of Gotham, slumming it out by stealing from the rich and foolish white-skinned people. Roman wants the diamond and thus the kid - and sets his singer/driver Dinah Lance to get the girl back alive. Also pressed into the service is hapless Quinn who ends up on tied to Roman's torture chair, with a leering Victor Zsaasz waving the knife, threatening to peel her face off. She makes that deal with the devil and promises to bring that diamond to save her own skin.
What follows is one of the craziest police-station breakout scene - armed with glitter bombs and colorful gas, Harley proceeds to KO the entire GCPD - establishing her as one of the most dangerous criminal minds around. The action is true to the comic-book spirit of the movie, demented bone-snapping chaos executed with a mind-bogglingly crazy cheerleading finesse by Margot Robbie. She's clearly having fun and it is so evident that we as viewers are carried away by her cackling sparks of mad giggling energy and are willing to forgive that those unbelievable confrontation scenes that involve roller-skates, a mallet, a 'killer' voice and a crossbow, lined up against hundreds of guns and pure brutal muscle. (It so ends up that the girl-gang still make it work!)
There is terrific chemistry among the empowered feminist fire-power leading hotshots who headline the birds of prey. But personally, for me while Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and Dinah Lance (played with a lot of spunk by Jurnee Smollet-Bell) bring frequent laughs, the Huntress/Crossbow Killer played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the stand-out, with her dead-pan humour. Sadly, she gets very little screen time. Lieutenant Montoya from the GCPD possibly was the pick of the lot. Looked up for promotion, frequently jibed for being not just a lady but being on the wrong side of the age-spectrum, Rosie Perez embodies this trope of a downtrodden hapless lady cop. I believe she deserves her own TV show spin-off as the Montoya Murder series or something. She was that good.
Smart quips aside, there is hardly anything super-heroic about this ensemble. Black Canary's 'killer' voice comes in too late, does too little. But their earnestness and their madhouse energy makes it work, investing us in this hectic, noisy, self-conscious riffing of comic-book sensibilities. It's an absolute blast, DC seeming to shake off its shackles a bit. There are obvious comparisons to Deadpool but I think a sequel to the Birds with or without Margot is definitely warranted. Sign me up, I am onboard!
Despite it being called "Birds of prey" Margot Robbie aka Harleen Quinzel totally gets the top billing and she plays the lead role with such frenetically charged madhouse energy, cackling gleeful abandon and a winsome sadness (a nod to the off-screen break up with Mr. J ) She's the unreliable narrator of the storyline, blessed with the attention span of a pin-ball machine gone bonkers and a self-interest that spans taking care of a Hyena in a bath-tub and a kleptomaniacal kid with family issues. Not to mention, getting shit-faced in high-profile night-bars of the Gotham district, directly under the thumbs of the biggest crime-mafia lord in town, the Black Mask aka Roman Sionis ( played by Ewan McGregor reliable as always in getting that cartoonish evil man just right, with his affected mannerisms and berserker rage issues)
The storytelling is like a railgun gone crazy, going helter-skelter helped on miserably by the ADD addled-Harley. But the bare-bones plot involves a 30-carat diamond which holds the map for location of the fortunes of a mafioso family - that ends up swallowed by this young teen Cassandra Cain, who is a regular orphan on the streets of Gotham, slumming it out by stealing from the rich and foolish white-skinned people. Roman wants the diamond and thus the kid - and sets his singer/driver Dinah Lance to get the girl back alive. Also pressed into the service is hapless Quinn who ends up on tied to Roman's torture chair, with a leering Victor Zsaasz waving the knife, threatening to peel her face off. She makes that deal with the devil and promises to bring that diamond to save her own skin.
What follows is one of the craziest police-station breakout scene - armed with glitter bombs and colorful gas, Harley proceeds to KO the entire GCPD - establishing her as one of the most dangerous criminal minds around. The action is true to the comic-book spirit of the movie, demented bone-snapping chaos executed with a mind-bogglingly crazy cheerleading finesse by Margot Robbie. She's clearly having fun and it is so evident that we as viewers are carried away by her cackling sparks of mad giggling energy and are willing to forgive that those unbelievable confrontation scenes that involve roller-skates, a mallet, a 'killer' voice and a crossbow, lined up against hundreds of guns and pure brutal muscle. (It so ends up that the girl-gang still make it work!)
There is terrific chemistry among the empowered feminist fire-power leading hotshots who headline the birds of prey. But personally, for me while Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and Dinah Lance (played with a lot of spunk by Jurnee Smollet-Bell) bring frequent laughs, the Huntress/Crossbow Killer played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the stand-out, with her dead-pan humour. Sadly, she gets very little screen time. Lieutenant Montoya from the GCPD possibly was the pick of the lot. Looked up for promotion, frequently jibed for being not just a lady but being on the wrong side of the age-spectrum, Rosie Perez embodies this trope of a downtrodden hapless lady cop. I believe she deserves her own TV show spin-off as the Montoya Murder series or something. She was that good.
Smart quips aside, there is hardly anything super-heroic about this ensemble. Black Canary's 'killer' voice comes in too late, does too little. But their earnestness and their madhouse energy makes it work, investing us in this hectic, noisy, self-conscious riffing of comic-book sensibilities. It's an absolute blast, DC seeming to shake off its shackles a bit. There are obvious comparisons to Deadpool but I think a sequel to the Birds with or without Margot is definitely warranted. Sign me up, I am onboard!
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