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Sunday 9 February 2020

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) Review


I managed to get some time to myself to watch this movie, so I took full advantage. Although boasted as a Birds of Prey movie, I’m not too sure that was the correct title, as their combined screen time wasn’t close to Harley Quinn’s and it felt as if their characters were always last place to everyone else in the movie. This is further emphasised by Harley very rarely being off camera and even taking on the role of narrator too.



Another person who seems to get more screen time than the titular characters is the villainous Roman Sionis, played by Ewan McGregor. Now, I enjoyed his performance as the comic book gangster, however, one major failing for me was that he was never really referred to as Black Mask and he maybe wore the mask for about 3 minutes of screen time. Considering in the comics he is never really seen without it, this kind of bugged me. Despite that nag, his performance was probably one of the stronger elements of the film. His campish extravagant performance mashed well with a sudden flip to extreme rage.



One character which I felt was let down was The Huntress, initially made to look like a bad ass and this soon got knocked on its head. Made to look like a bumbling fool, which to me, lowered her danger level massively. In all honesty I found Rene Montoya a little forgettable too; I wasn’t getting the “ass kicking” detective vibe I was really hoping for. Again, another character thrown in, but ends up lost in the shuffle with very little development considering she is an actual Bird of Prey.



The use of the Cassandra Cain character was interesting, a far cry from the comic variant, who becomes the second Batgirl. Instead used as a teenage pick pocket. Which I understand they are well within their remit to do, yet I didn’t feel this was needed and they could have used any name for this character. Then added the actual Batgirl into the squad in a later movie, or even introduced this character at the end of this movie. 



It sounds like I’m being very down on this movie; but actually, I quite enjoyed it for what it was. I’m always interested to see how these movies play out and how they fit into the grander DCEU. Just remember this film is set in the same universe as Justice League, Shazam and Wonder Woman. The movie does still try to keep itself linked to DCEU, with a quick shot cameo from Jay Courtney as Captain Boomerang, one of my favourite Suicide Squad characters.



When going to see a comic book movie, people are now expecting that post credit scene. This movie doesn’t fail to deliver a post credit morsel. Yet if you were looking for anything other than a quick giggle, don’t feel obliged to stay in the cinema once those credits start. I wouldn’t say I regretted it, but could have lived without doing it.



The Black Canary was amazing in this movie, loved her look and how her character felt developed. Starting off as the lounge singer with a conscious, hiding her powers away and eventually embracing a more heroic persona. That, I liked. Also took me ages to figure out where I had seen Jurnee Smollett-Bell before, she was in an episode of the TV series House. Mystery solved. HA!



One big plus of this movie was the fight sequences; the big brawl at the end of the film is a great example of a good choreographed fight. Set in a whacky fun house, you see all sorts of random bits used in the fight, such as giant hands. This scene also does a good job of giving all the main characters some screen time, chance to shine and this felt lacking in the rest of the movie.



Outside of Ewan McGregor’s Roman Sionis, you had the sinister Victor Zsasz. A more less known member of the Batman rogue’s gallery, a serial killer who scars himself every time he kills someone and they kept this very close to the source material for the movie. Although demoted to a gang land hitman, he still came across as a legitimate psycho and this fit in well with the instability portrayed by Ewan McGregor.



I’m not one to disagree with my tag team partner (Luke), however, I think I preferred Suicide Squad to this movie overall. I believe the characters in that film had purpose and all fit into the narrative somehow. This movie didn’t feel that way to me; the Birds of Prey were just stage hands for the Harley Quinn story.



Yet this movie did what it needed to do, it gave a nice filler between Suicide Squad movies so that we didn’t forget about DCEU’s seedy underbelly. With big hero movies like Aqua Man, Wonder Woman and Shazam, folks may have forgotten about the hard working villains of the DCEU. I also hope it leads into an actual Birds of Prey movie, minus Harley Quinn.



So in conclusion, Birds of Prey, is well worth a watch. Doesn’t take much thinking on your part and delivers a fun paced comic book jaunt. 3 out of 5 fist rating for me I think.



I’m Big Boss.......... I’m out....... Peace!


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