Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) – ★★★★✩

Certificate – 15
Directed By – Cathy Yan
Starring – Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Chris Messina.
Running Time – 109 Minutes (1 Hour 49 Minutes)

After a star-making turn in Suicide Squad, a movie like and enjoy despite being a hot mess, Margot Robbie has returned as the clown princess of crime Harley Quinn. This time she’s joined by a wonderful array of fantastic female DC Comics characters.

What Is Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) About?

Ever heard the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the mafia princess? BoP HQ is a twisted tale told by Harley (Robbie) herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis (McGregor), and his zealous right-hard, Victor Zsasz (Messina), put a target on a young girl named Cass (Basco), the city is turned upside down looking for her.

Harley, Huntress (Winstead), Black Canary (Smollet-Bell) and Renee Montoya’s (Perez) path collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down.

Is It Any Good?

Birds of Prey is a cracking time at the cinema and the perfect movie for many different occasions: get your know girl gang together, a date movie with Valentines coming up, comic book and DC fans and more.

A lot is down to Robbie’s incredible performance as Harleen Quinzel. She’s a delight whenever she’s on-screen delivering some brilliant comedic moments and proved what many comic fans knew was is this former sidekick is a megastar in her own right.

Furthermore, I’d happily watch a Harley and her Hyena movie.

However, it’s McGregor who steals the show as Sionis. I loved every moment when he was on screen and making Black Mask camp is a fantastic choice by whoever made that decision.

If you’re worried it won’t make him a good villain, you shouldn’t. McGregor has one genuinely terrifying moment. This scene alone, among others, are the reasons why the Scot now joins a great list of superb DCEU villains.

Back to the Birds, Winstead and Smollet-Bell are wonderful in their own right, and I can’t wait to see more from both in sequels, supporting roles and leads/co-leads of their own spin-offs.

In the case of Winstead’s Helena Bertinelli, she has the best comedic moment in the whole film, and her deadpan delivery always hits. In a lot of ways, Huntress has a lot of Ramona Flowers about her and I loved that.

As for Smollet-Bell’s Dinah Lance, she is so kick-ass and awesome seeing her journey to becoming a hero, without a certain Robin Hood rich boy. There many moments where she’s centre and Yan created the perfect moment to really showcase her abilities.

Black Canary has the most impact in the time she’s on screen.

This film wouldn’t be near as good if it weren’t for Yan, who’s able to show respect to what David Ayer did in Suicide Squad but made it her own badass film in a lot of ways it’s a spiritual sequel.

Additionally, it seemed that Yan wanted to give it an old school Guy Ritchie vibe while also bringing her vibrant colours from Dead Pigs and directs action fantastically. It also helps to have a killer script from Christina Hodson.

Bringing the folks from John Wick was a smart choice as the action was handled brilliant and creatively, especially in the third act.

Finally, the music is badass they follow in Suicide Squad example by having a killer soundtrack and cracking Daniel Pemberton score.

Anything Bad About The Film?

The issues I had were pacing and with the Ritchie vibe felt slightly all over the places.

Additionally, I would’ve loved to see more from the Birds, especially Huntress and Black Canary but I’m sure they’ll take shape in the sequel.

Verdict

A spiritual sequel to Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is a cracking, entertaining movie with incredible, badass action and fantastic performances from Robbie, Smollet-Bell, Winstead and scene-stealing McGregor.