Fun, Crazy, and Hilarious: BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) REVIEW

Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn who teams up with the likes of Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to protect Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from a sadistic Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) and his army of criminals.

Going into Birds of Prey, I was expecting a fun romp featuring everyone’s favorite crazy jester but I found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up loving this movie! This is easily one of the best movies that the DC films have had to offer and honestly, it’s one of the most fun times I’ve had with a comic book film.

Let’s start with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and I’m just gonna be frank about it: she has perfected this character. Most can agree that she was one of the best things about 2016’s Suicide Squad and she continues to shine in this movie. There are some actors born for certain roles like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and now you can add Margot Robbie as Harley to that list because from beginning to end, she is playing the character both physically and in personality to a tee.

And I really mean physically, there are certain action sequences where I could tell it was Margot doing the stunts much like she did in Suicide Squad and wow, props to that girl to nailing those moves in heels and roller skates.

Speaking of action scenes, this movie has some of the best choreography and cinematography I’ve ever seen from a comic book movie. The best things I can refer to the style is John Wick meets Netflix’s Daredevil. By far the best action scene comes at around the halfway point inside the G.C.P.D. where Harley is met with just waves upon waves of enemies and obstacles. Combine the insane fighting with a personal favorite song from my childhood and this easily became my favorite scene in the movie.

But the movie is not all action, there are other characters in the movie…and despite the movie being titled Birds of Prey, this is more of a Harley Quinn movie than anything but that’s not taking away anything from the Birds because they are all great. Black Canary gets the most screentime of the Birds and I think that Jurnee Smollett-Bell nailed enough of Canary’s iconic traits while still bringing a fresh new take on the character. Her fighting style is badass and without spoilers, all I can say is that her version of the Canary Cry is OFF. THE. CHAIN!

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is just so damned perfect as Huntress. I knew from the moment her casting was announced that I would love it but every single time she appears on screen, she steals the show. I’m not sure how much of the stunts were done by Winstead but Huntress’ fighting was all done beautifully…plus she happens to have some of the best jokes in the movie. My only issue with Huntress was that she had the least amount of screen-time of all the Birds of Prey and hope she gets a much bigger role in a sequel.

Renee Montoya gets her first big screen debut played by Rosie Perez and I think she did pretty well with the character. While not bad at all, I did feel that Renee was the weakest of the Birds mostly just because most of her screen time is just her running around and pointing her gun at people. It’s not until the last act where they make Renee into a real badass cop and I do look forward to see more from her….maybe even evolve into The Question? Hmmm….

Ella Jay Basco was my one and only concern about this movie going in as I am a fan of Cassandra Cain but I ended up really liking this take on the character. I can see her evolving and becoming someone like Orphan, especially since they revealed that she’s a foster child. Without possible spoilers for sequels to come: let’s just say that this little reveal could be hinting that her real mother could come by. Anyway, I found Basco to be funny and charismatic whenever she was on screen and her chemistry with Harley was just beyond adorable.

Of course, you can’t talk about the heroes without talking about the villains and this movie has two of them: Roman Sionis AKA Black Mask and Victor Zsasz. Zsasz in my opinion was just fine, he was a serviceable psychotic murdering henchman and even had a few moments of “yeesh this guy is creepy” but for the most part, I just felt that he didn’t belong in this super fun and crazy adventure. I saw Zsasz more as a character for a darker and more serious film like Batman or even a Nightwing movie.

Black Mask, however, was a fantastic villain in my opinion. Ewan McGregor has always been one of my personal favorite actors and he just commands the screen whenever he’s on it; he nails this dark and sadistic version of Black Mask from the moment he’s introduced. Let’s just say this movie tends to earn its R-rating whenever he pops on screen. When he finally dons the actual Black Mask? It is a spectacle to see as someone who has been waiting for years to see Black Mask done in live action form. Only shame is that he’s only in the mask for the third act of the film but I can understand why they made that choice. Is he on the same level as Ocean Master from Aquaman? Definitely not but he was a good starter villain for the Birds of Prey.

When I say this movie earns its R-rating, I am not kidding. This movie is BRUTAL and not just because of the villains: Harley breaks bones and skulls, Huntress stabs and shoots people, Canary wipes the floor with people, etc. In the aforementioned scene in the G.C.P.D., there is a sequence where Harley uses her baseball bat to break bones and it provided many, “OOOOOOH!” screams from me.

You know what else this movie provided? LAUGHS. For those of you that don’t know: I love insane yet quirky characters and since this whole movie is told from Harley’s point of view, you can imagine there is a lot of fun insanity to be had. Harley and the Birds all have jokes that had me cracking up, Harley has a tendency to break the fourth wall much like she does in the comics, and even Black Mask gets a few funny lines in there.

With the fourth wall breaking also comes a non-linear way of telling the story and this is done on purpose as a joke from Harley as the narrator but I also liked how it was done. It was, in my opinion, a clever way to introduce us to all of the Birds of Prey without using boring exposition….instead it’s very funny and insane exposition.

I also liked that despite the poor critical reception of Suicide Squad and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, this movie was not afraid to cement itself in that universe with different references to previous movies and expands upon that world. I was happy to see more of this Earth’s version of Gotham City with iconic locations like Amusement Mile, Founders Island, and the East End.

Overall, I had a blast with this movie. This is not Avengers: Endgame or even Aquaman levels of epic scale and story but rather a super fun action packed adventure featuring a bunch of kick-ass anti-heroines in Gotham City. It’s bizarre, it’s colorful, it’s out of its mind, it’s beautifully shot, it’s funny, it’s action packed, it’s just one hell of a fun ride to be on!

I’m going to give Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) a solid 8.5/10. If you’re looking for a fun time, take your loved one on a date night to this movie and you’ll have a great time!

I hope you liked my review! I’m looking forward to start posting here more often and if you want to keep up with my reviews and thoughts on various things, make sure to follow this blog or follow me on Twitter.

PATREON Become a Super Sweetie when you support my stuff!