Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

I wanted to write that everything is bad, but that wouldn’t be true, because the overall impression is multiplied by the fact that a lot of what was wrong didn't have to be. The choreography is imaginative, playful and built on honest stunt action, but doesn’t have any zest. As 1980s glitter-pop wannabe punk stylings go, it's an inconsistent "ten minutes of nothing and then two minutes of 110%", which goes hand in hand with an incongruously alternating overdriven tone and an almost serious attitude. On paper, the narrative is fast-paced, full of flashbacks, just like Ritchie, but that may have been the case on paper, because when translated into practice the effect was lost. And then there’s the casting… It's no match for the cultishly bad casting of Schumacher's Batman, but not a single role is well-cast, including Margot Robbie. Harley here is more over-the-top, ditzy and stylised into a Deadpool/Gwenpool concoction. It doesn't have much in common with the more restrained version of the same character from Suicide Squad (where she played second fiddle) and Margot doesn't deliver it. At the same time, scenes like the "egg sandwich" could be sold in a funny way (Deadpool and the animated Harley Quinn are founded on such scenes). Ditto the two villains and others; led by the casting of the nearly 60-year-old grandmotherly Rosie Perez in a gritty "written for Michelle Rodriguez, but she didn't exactly have time" role – the casting flop of the decade. Then there’s the artlessly disguised in action through constant back-taking with a wig. That would be frowned upon in an amateur fan film, let alone a blockbuster production. And no, it's not a disruptive element, plus, with the right casting, the character could have worked. And so it is with everything else. It could have worked, but it doesn’t. Unfortunately, not to the point where it would be unintentionally funny. So it's just the essence of boring dullness. (02/27/2021)

As much as I’ve been getting used to praising the casting of films lately, here it is just bad. Forgotten ’90s comedian Rosie Perez as a serious cop? Ewan McGregor as a bad guy holding a knife to a little girl’s throat? And that bland Birds of Prey team, overshadowed by the weaker characterization? Another very bad thing: the combination of deliberately childish “playfulness” that doesn’t elicit laughter, with serious tones that in some cases are almost chilling (the undressing of the girl in the bar). And the constant sloppiness of the creative vision and dumb, insensitive directing. (03/09/2020)

The proclamation of girl power and kicking someone in the balls are not the problems of the film at all. In my opinion, there could be more of them in an ideal world and they could hit elsewhere than the obvious targets, such as ruined demented sidekicks and a generic villain (does Gotham really need another sadistic mobster with daddy complexes?). Harley is a guide. Narratively and self-reflexively, the film copies Deadpool, including unreliable detours and chaotic bloopers. Unfortunately, before the film gets going in any direction, these moments of "let's start again" slow down the pace considerably. The film is accompanied by cheeky and imaginative choreographies by Chad Stahelský, in which there is more sparkle and playfulness than in the entire screenplay by Christina Hodson. He has trouble telling a trivial story with a hint of tension and turning photogenic emancipation figurines into characters. The impression that the DC universe suffers from a brutal fragmentation of personality is not helped by this tolerable and completely useless film. When it comes to Batman ... girls, damn it, I don't even know who this is about. But it doesn't matter. Let’s paint our nails, have margarita and feel satisfied that the straw-men got kicked in the balls. (02/07/2020)

After all of those painfully generic, would-be serious comic-book movies abounding with pathos and artificial CGI sequences, we finally have a properly entertaining flick from the superhero universe. Let’s just admit that only Nolan has managed to deal with superheroes in a truly complex way and everyone else is merely pretending to bring depth to the genre. And that clownish Deadpool, with its insipid “bloody R-rating” mythos is not an alternative, but just the other side of the same coin. Fortunately, salvation has come in the form of Harley Quinn’s solo movie, which is everything that comic books have traditionally been, without being what comic-book movies have been for the past twenty years. Here we again finally have a trashy, colourful and superficial farce with crackpot characters in a maniacal world. Furthermore, after those decades of CGI blockbusters (especially comic-book flicks) pushing action movies out of cinemas, Birds of Prey marks the return of proper kinetic and physical action spectacle (thus capping the trend started by the Mission: Impossible and John Wick franchises). Whereas other comic-book blockbusters have completely superficial action that is never memorable, Birds of Prey offers up several imaginatively designed and magnificently executed sequences with astonishing choreography by Chad Stahelski – the police station sequence is the highlight, but the carnival fun-house passage at the end is also great. This film does not entirely refrain from indulging in some tediously shallow CGI scenes, though fortunately only at the level of simulated exteriors. On the other hand, the film’s main virtue consists in the good, classic analogue work done by the people in the make-up, costume, set and action-choreography departments, as well as in the casting, of course. I very much hope that the incel whiners don’t win and that Harley Quinn gets another movie, because this is exactly what the contemporary bland production of comic-book flicks needs: A cheeky girl who isn’t saving the world in another dull spectacle, but just saving her own ass in a playfully trashy and boldly colourful fairy tale, a girl who knows how to swing a baseball bat and fire a grenade launcher, and who mainly loves an egg cheese sandwich (which, incidentally, is an essential defining moment for the character, as well as a great contribution to the home recipe book). (04/07/2020)

Far from being as predictable and tired as the trailers or first reactions suggested, the film is even enjoyable, thanks to the compelling performance of the titular heroine. However, the biggest plus remains that, unlike its predecessor Suicide Squad, I was entertained. Margot Robbie embodies the Harley Quinn standard, occasionally going a bit overboard, leaving little space for the other characters, but most of the time her unrestrained madness is just right. The only criticism is that she still falls short of the comic book character, as Harleen Quinzel's essence is not just about laughter and bat-wielding. I also consider the main villain a success, despite unnecessarily calling himself Black Mask, Ewan McGregor is always good enough to take on a worthy role in a film that will become widely known. It's a pity that his sidekick, played by Chris Messina, has nothing in common with the menacing Victor Zsasz he's supposed to be representing. The movie is full of such inconsistencies. Huntress is amazing but hardly given any screen time. Some lines are good, but others are almost lame. In short, I expected everything except a unoffensive one-trick pony, running the gamut from A to B, and once again, there will be no follow-up. 50% (02/11/2021)