If you are a fan of DC comics, shows and movies, then you know just how much pressure was on this movie to begin with. This movie is a direct sequel from Suicide Squad which featured the DCEU’s first introduction to Jared Leto’s Joker and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Suicide Squad was not received well by most fans and resulted in Jared Leto not reprising his role. So heading into this movie, many fans, like me, were nervous.
Walking out of the theater, I was pretty satisfied. Birds of Prey is one of the most fun movies that DC has put out in their slate. Was it the best in the DCEU? No. But was it a good movie? I think it was one of their better movies.
The Good
Margot Robbie’s performance was perfect. There are few characters that embody their roles. Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool, Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine, and for me, Margot Robbie was destined to play Harleen Quinzel.
Its R rating greatly benefited the humor. Is it necessary for Superman to drop f-bombs or Cyborg to curse up a storm during a fight? Not exactly. Harley Quinn and those she associates in the movie are some of the worst of the worst in the crime underworld. It makes sense for them to talk like a sailor because they are all terrible people.
They incorporated the humor with the violent Deadpool style. The rest of the Birds of Prey were all likeable and made me want to spend more time with them as well. I laughed a whole lot, and it might be the funniest DCEU movie contending with Shazam.
Ewan McGregor is great as the main villain, Black Mask. He brought so much life to him and demanded so much attention every time he had a scene. He made me like Black Mask even though he is one of the more ruthless individuals in Gotham City.
The music was fitting. The soundtrack felt perfectly placed and the song choices all made sense to me. It obviously helped with the humor and the violence because along with how colorful it looked, the music made it sound just as alive. Every sound and color bounced out of the screen and speakers, which is what I’m looking for in a Harley Quinn based film.
Lastly, the violence and choreography was so much fun. Jon Valera, who was the fight coordinator in John Wick, showed out in this film. The shots are all wide-angled and not shaky so we can clearly see what is going on throughout the crazy stunts.
The Oof
Harley does a lot of narrating which I didn’t really enjoy. We had to go back in time several times in the movie, kind of like how Suicide Squad did it. It ruined the pacing for me because right as a scene was about to take place, Harley would explain how we got to that point and it just turned me off a little bit from the story.
I felt like I did not have enough time to spend with the rest of the Birds of Prey. They were all really cool in their own way, and some had more screen time than others. At 109 minutes long, the shortest movie in the DCEU, they could have kept extra scenes that let us connect more with Huntress and Victor Zsasz.
The story was way too simple. A diamond and Cassandra Cain were the MacGuffin’s of the movie, which is the most overused plot in cinema history. For those that don’t know, a MacGuffin is an object that drives the story forward and is of equal importance to the protagonist and antagonist of the movie. The One Ring from the "Lord of the Rings" and the Ark of the Covenant from "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" are some of the most famous examples. For "Birds of Prey," it was a diamond that Black Mask wants to get rich.
Overall, this is a really enjoyable movie theatre experience. It had a couple of flaws , so it is not a perfect movie by any means, but it's a great popcorn and soda movie nonetheless. Definitely check this one out if you want to watch a fun Friday night flick. This one deserves a crisp 7/10.
