Summary
Literally blowing up the vestiges of the old DC Extended Universe, the comic book universe gets a 2-for-1 deal by introducing a fan-favourite team led by their biggest success story of the last few years.
If we’re being generous, and that’s always something this site has been a wee bit guilty of, then it’s probably fair to say that Warner has struggled to find its feet with the DC Comics properties. There’s been some highs and lows, some box office gold and even a couple of Academy Awards. BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) is both emblematic of this barely controlled chaos while breaking free from the formula that has dogged the Christopher Nolan/Zack Snyder led universes.
Based loosely on the Birds of Prey comics, the team was last seen on screen during a short-lived TV series in 2002. Created by Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Chuck Dixon, along with the later significant run from Gail Simone and a variety of artists, director Cathy Yan and writer Christina Hodson’s film is also a follow-up of sorts to 2016’s Suicide Squad. Yet it could also quite happily sit in its own continuity: aside from the presence of Margot Robbie, this could be any pocket of the DC Multiverse.
After dramatically breaking up with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Robbie), mob daughter Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), lounge singer Dinah Lance (Jumee Smollet-Bell), and cop Renee Montoya (Rose Perez) to save street urchin Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from Gotham City crime lord Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
As the elongated title would imply, there’s a lot going on here. Indeed, like the title, it’s clear that the film was developed as one thing before entire plot points were added in their own parentheses. Told in a fourth-wall-breaking motif, one that recalls Marvel’s Deadpool but also DC’s Harley Quinn comics from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, it initially struggles to find a balance between exposition and fanservice. Hodson’s script tries to build a team but also give significant solo time to the known entity of Harley, and the resulting collision may induce whiplash.
Yet once the film gets over a chaotic first (and let’s face it, second) act, there’s a ridiculous good time to be had here. The action is impeccably staged, especially that well-publicised police station sequence, but each set-piece pulls the scattergun approach together for a few minutes at a time. I would have liked to have seen more of the fledgling Birds of Prey in action together, but if the final few scenes are any indication, there’s a bright (and vividly Technicolor) future in store for them.
Robbie continues playing the part she was born to, gleefully launching a thousand new cosplay outfits and clearly enjoying a more rounded (and funnier) version of the character. McGregor is also having a great time making a meal of the scenery. His Black Mask may not be the most well-developed villain in DC history (after all, weak villains are normally Marvel’s problem), but the star’s charisma carries him through some of the rough patches.
Smollet-Bell is a ridiculous good find, and I sincerely hope to see her return to the role of Dinah Lance (especially if she teams up with a big screen Green Arrow in the future). Plus, there’s not a damn thing that can be said against the legendary Perez, who delivers a grizzled 80s cop while sporting a t-shirt that reads “I shaved my balls for this?”
That film about a misanthropic clown notwithstanding, the triple punch of Shazam, BIRDS OF PREY and the upcoming Wonder Woman ’84 light the way forward for DC’s cinematic universe. While this certainly doesn’t hit all the right marks, it hits just enough of them to leave a sloppy grin on your face by the time the credits roll. If this is generally where the DCEU is headed, who needs Mr. J anyways?
2020 | US | DIRECTOR: Cathy Yan | WRITERS: Christina Hodson| CAST: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor | DISTRIBUTOR: Roasdshow Films (AUS)| RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 6 February 2020 (AUS)
