Return Of Harley Quinn
Cast
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
Jurnee Smollet as Black Canary
Ewan McGregor as Black Mask
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress
Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya
Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz
Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain
Ali Wong as Ellen Yee
Francois Chau as Mr. Keo
Charlene Amoia as Maria Bertnelli
Sara Montez as Shallow Friend #1
Story
After saving the world and breaking out of Belle Reve prison, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is ready to start off with a fresh start and, understanding that her life is better without her beloved Joker by her side, decides to break up with the “Clown Prince of Crime” and destroying their “special” Ace Chemicals love nest. Unbeknownst to Harley, this action sends shockwaves through Gotham’s underworld by seeing Quinn no longer under the Joker’s protection, which spells retribution for many out there who want to see Harley Quinn dead. In time, Quinn comes into contact with trouble when club owner / gangster Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) is looking to settle his account with Ms. Quinn and is looking to retrieve a special diamond worth a fortune, sending loyal henchmen Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina) and driver Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollet-Bell) to collect the jewel and return to Roman’s possession. Making a critical error in target the diamond comes in the form of low-key pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), who lifts the diamond and swallows it, making her the focus of a citywide hunt. In the mix of the bounty and retrieving the diamond is Quinn, who’s also being chased by Detective Montoya (Rosie Perez), a driven cope, and shadowed by a rogue assassin named Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who’s seeking her own closure for crimes committed against her family.
Review
Birds of prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) Man… that is a mouth full of a title. With all the rumors that were swirling around Suicide Squad 2, there were rumors about saying that a Harley Quinn movie was gonna be soon in development, with Margot Robbie once again reprising the role as the film’s lead character. In time, that “rumor” turned into a feature film realization with Birds Of Prey being announced as well as the film’s cast selection.To me, it looked better than Suicide Squad, but it also kind of felt like a “female” Suicide Squad movie…. if you know what I mean; offering up a zany film with lots of acting talents and visual heavy representation of its story. I wasn’t holding anything against it or anything like that, but, giving the sort of “great division” as to what many thoughts about Suicide Squad, I had a lingering feeling that Birds of Prey might be a kind of disappoint. On the other hand, the DCEU, after the box office success of Aquaman and the critical praise from Shazam!, seems to be on the so-called “upswing” with their releases.Birds of Prey provides plenty of visual fun and wild nuances to make this superhero female-driven team-up endeavor entertaining from start to finish. It’s not the most “refined” DC superhero movie out there, but, much like Harley Quinn, it dances to its own drumbeat.
Birds of Prey is directed by Cathy Yan, whose previous directorial works includes several short films like Last Night, Down River, and According to My Mother as well as the 2018 film Dead Pigs. Thus, given her background, Yan makes her sophomore film (i.e. Birds of Prey) her most ambitious project yet, with the movie being crazy wild ride within the scenario of “what becomes of Harley Quinn after the events of Suicide Squad”. In this regard, Yan succeeds by creating a fun motion picture that, unlike a lot of other DCEU installments, projects a certain type of silliness and relaxed feel than the usual serious / gravitas that past entries have offered up. Of course, the movie isn’t completely devoid of serious moments and Yan doesn’t just make the film of goofball tomfoolery of female characters run amok through Gotham City, with Birds of Prey utilizing its R-rating stance for a endeavor that violence, swearing, and actions fights (more on that below). So, while the movie doesn’t take itself too serious, Yan still finds a balance between comedic levity, action entertainment, and story / plot point meaning to make Birds of Prey a more “tonally” well-rounded experience than say what Suicide Squad or even like Shazam! (I liked Shazam!, but it was had a difficult time balancing its darker moments within a more comedic premise undertone). All in all, Yan makes it clear what the movie is and what it wants to accomplish; showcasing that a DCEU film project can be both silly and R-rated within a superhero genre. It doesn’t surpass what was accomplished in 2016’s Deadpool (in style, R-rating flavor, and storytelling entertainment), but it’s the best thing in the DCEU in trying to “shake up” its established cinematic universe. Plus, with the exception of Wonder Woman, this movie showcases the female superhero characters in their own title, which is great to see. Basically, if you don’t think that too hard in judging this movie and just accept the “crazy” joy ride that Yan creates, you’ll enjoy the feature even more. To me, that’s the best possible way to view it.
Visually, Birds of Prey is a candy-coated / eye-popping fun presentation; finding the visual flair and assorted nuances utilized perfectly well within its storytelling tale. Almost every single scene in the film has plenty of pizzazz and bold on-screen visuals that buoy the feature in its entertaining narrative undertaking and presentation execution. Like Suicide Squad, this is where Birds of Prey is quite similar; making use of its silly overtones and toils around with some violent acts, but in a way that makes it fun, including a creative use of music song selection that’s peppered throughout the movie. Where this particular movie does what Suicide Squad didn’t was too keep the film more grounded and less CGI heavy oriented.
There were a few criticisms that I had with Birds of Prey that, while wildly fun, sees holds the movie back from being the best of the DCEU movie. For starters, the movie’s pacing is off and becomes wonky at times. With the movie presented in a sort of “off-beat” fashion (something akin to the narrative styles of 2016’s Deadpool), Birds of Prey has a non-linear storytelling progression, which certainly does change it up, but, more often than not, it just jumbles everything. Again, it worked in Deadpool, which utilized the narrative presentation in a amusing way, but in Birds of Prey….it seems a bit off-kilter; struggling at times when things that start to progress nicely and then backpaddles on a tangent in explain certain characters or events that lead up to the point. I do understand that the Yan probably wanted this style of approach to be something “fun” and to have almost in the “thought process” that character of Harley Quinn perceives events in storytelling (as she narratives the film), but the end results just seems tedious and does more “backpaddling” in throughout the movie than intended and just overstays its welcome.
What does elevate those critical points of criticism in Birds of Prey is in its cast, which seems to be having a ball throughout the movie and playing these characters in a more “broader and bolder” take on these respective characters. Naturally, the movie’s main lead character of Harley Quinn is front and center for majority of the film, with actress Margot Robbie reprising her character from the Suicide Squad movie. Robbie, known for her roles in Focus, Bombshell, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, easily slides back into the character she created back in 2016’s Suicide Squad; playing on the off-beat character with effortless grace, poise, and just sheer raw fun to the proceedings. Unlike last time whether she shared the screen with many characters, Robbie certainly carries the weight of Birds of Prey in her portrayal of Harley and she does a great job of her part. Plus, it’s great to see the character her own spin-off feature film, with Robbie adding more depth (and maniac zaniness) to her performance of Harley Quinn. As to be expected, Robbie is the beating heart of the film and, like her character, she’s having a blast in doing it.
The rest of main protagonist falls to the actual “Birds of Prey” group, with the characters of Helena Bertinell (aka Huntress), Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary), Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain filling in the roles. Some do get more of a “memorable” spotlight than others and the actual team, including Harley Quinn, doesn’t get to together until the film’s third act, but female acting talents that play these respective characters are solid in their overall likeability. Who gets the most “screen time” would have to be the character of Dinah Lance, a talented singer and current driver to Roman Sionis, who is played by actress Jurnee Smollet-Bell (Underground and The Great Debaters). Smollet-Bell is actually really good in the character of Dinah and is quite easy to root for her for most of the picture (more so than Robbie’s Quinn). I liked her in the movie as she was a fun spin on the whole Black Canary persona. Next, is actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as Helena Bertinell, a skilled assassin that goes by the name of Huntress. Although her character is probably seeing the least of these four Birds of Prey characters, Winstead certainly charms her way into the movie and makes the character her own as well as being quite the “scene stealer” in the film.
In the middle of the pact is actress Rosie Perez (The Road to El Dorado and White Men Can’t Jump), who plays the character of Renee Montoya, a cynical detective that goes searching for clues on various characters throughout the movie, including Harley, Roman, and Cassandra. Personally, Perez is fine in the role, but with a lot of the characters in Birds of Prey being wild, colorful, and a bit “eccentric”, the character of Montoya is the more “straight-laced” individual in the movie, which makes her the “uninteresting”. Still, for what its worth, at least Perez gets the job done. I just kind of wished that added more to her character. Lastly, actress Ella Jay Basco (Teachers and Veep) plays the character of Cassandra Cain, a young girl who accidentally gets caught in the greater power struggle with many of the film’s characters. Basco is “okay” in the role,but the character is quite simple and only acts the film’s “McGuffin”. To me, she is the weakest character of the female leads. Still, for all that, she’s not terrible, but just doesn’t have the best character build.
In the villain category, actor Ewan McGregor plays Birds of Prey’s main antagonist character of Roman Sionis, a ruthless crime lord boss that wants to Harley out of the picture and Cassandra’s possession of the diamond. Known for his roles in the Star Wars prequel trilogy as well as Doctor Sleep and Trainspotting, McGregor has become quite the seasoned actor throughout his career. While his involvement in Birds of Prey isn’t his most noteworthy, McGregor still makes the most of it within his performance of Roman; having a ball in playing the somewhat unstable and psychotic mob kingpin. Much like Robbie with her portrayal of Quinn, McGregor gives Sionis a “large than life” feeling that is fun, which sort of counterbalance that fact the character of Roman is pretty much a weak villain. His crazy and unbalanced, but he’s not a “viable” threat (at least to me). Still, McGregor is very much having fun in the role. Plus, it’s never explained why Roman Sionis wears his “black mask”. The other villain in the movie would be in the character of Victor Zsasz, Sionis’s psychotic right-handed man, who is played by actor Chris Messina (Sharp Objects and Live by Night). While Messina’s acting is fine in the role, the character of Zsasz (in his full extent) is a bit of letdown. Yes, he’s menacing and evil, but in a more “meh” type of way. Messina gets the job done for what the movie asks of him, but the character of Victor Zsasz feel quite one-dimensional and pretty forgetful of the movie’s cast of characters.
Lastly, there is an Easter egg (sort of) during the post-credits portion of the movie, but it’s more of a small bit and not something that’s setting up for a future installment.
Thus, my recommendation for this movie is a solid “recommended” as it will surely please fans of DC comics and Harley Quinn fans alike. Will there be a follow-up sequel of some kind? It’s hard to say, but I would welcome the idea of one materializing in the near future. For now, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is visual glitter bomb explosion of female DC superheroes done right and provides a zany offbeat entry in the DCEU that works well; offering a pleasant side-step diversion to its more serious installments.
Ratings: 4.1 out of 5
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