Step aside boys, it’s time for the women to take control. Harley Quinn and her crew are the new badass babes running Gotham City in the new film, “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).” No man is a match for the new and improved Harley Quinn and there is no keeping this bad girl down.
“Birds of Prey” had an uneasy start; the cartoon graphics explaining a story seemed too much like Marvel’s “Deadpool” series.
As the movie progresses, Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) voices over the film explaining different scenes and jumps around too similarly to Ryan Reynolds’s “Deadpool” character.
As the film progressed, it finally developed into its own story.
Robbie’s skill and dedication to the role made the film the best it could be. Its success is dependent on her killer performance.
Robbie portrayed Harley Quinn in the character’s debut in the 2016 film “Suicide Squad,” but is accompanied by a whole new cast of supporting characters this time around.
Harley Quinn is the embodiment of the modern woman: smart, strong, assertive and a little bat-sh*t crazy when needed. Director Cathy Yan and Robbie, who was one of the film’s producers, undoubtedly decided the character development.
Yan is the first Asian American woman to direct a “superhero” movie. Harley Quinn and her squad are more like antiheroes, but they stand for a heroic message: Sometimes it’s OK to stand on you own without needing to depend on others.
The “fantabulous emancipation” starts by Joker and Harley Quinn breaking up. Jared Leto, who played Joker in “Suicide Squad,” is nowhere to be seen, which is for the best, given Leto’s performance was a disappointment compared to the sensational Joker role Joaquin Phoenix portrayed in the eponymous 2019 film. Gotham doesn’t have room for two Jokers, and Phoenix played the part stupendously.
As Harley Quinn gets a grip on what life is like without Joker’s protection, she realizes that everyone is out to get her. The one exception is her adorable pet hyena, Bruce, named after “that hunky Mr. Wayne,” as Quinn says.
Jurnee Smollett-Bell stars as Black Canary, a feisty club signer with a killer voice. Canary crosses paths with Harley Quinn and Rosie Perez, who plays Renee Montoya, an under-appreciated detective trying to prove her worth to her male co-workers.
All three women are looking for Cassandra Cain, played by Ella Jay Basco, a teenage girl who picks the wrong pocket and finds a half million-dollar target on her head.
Cassandra stole a diamond, the key to an even larger fortune, that was on its way to an eccentric villain. Ewan McGregor plays Roman Sionis, a mafia don also known as Black Mask. Black Mask is a different role for McGregor than audiences know him for.
Nevertheless, he gives a fantastic performance worthy of his reputation as an actor.
“Birds of Prey” is not without an abundance of fight scenes. By the end of the movie they grow tiresome, and only two thoughts remain: “How are they able to kick so high in those tight pants?” and “How are they still alive?” However, it wouldn’t be a superhero movie without the main characters defying all odds.
All in all, “Birds of Prey” holds a higher rank than previous female superhero movies that are too predictable and traditional.
Robbie’s Harley Quinn is fantabulous in her own narcissistic but charming way that makes this film worth the ticket price.