Feathers fly in new Harley Quinn story
‘Fantabulous?’ Well, let’s not get carried away by these Birds of Prey
Say what you will about the Marvel cinematic universe — I’m talking to you, Martin Scorsese — but the bloated series always seemed to know where it was lumbering to, more or less.
Phase 1 (2008-2012), introductions. Phase 2 (2013-2015), adventures. Phase 3 (2016-2019), increasing mayhem.
Compare that to DC’S offerings, of which the breath-busting Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is but the latest. Superman meets (and fights) Batman, then Wonder Woman and Aquaman. But — time out — there was
2016’s Suicide Squad, due for a sequel (or is it a reboot?) next summer. Then the silly shenanigans of Shazam! And now Birds of Prey or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), which takes place in a Gotham City somehow devoid of both Batman and Joker.
Front and centre this time is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Joker’s badass, bat-crazy girlfriend from Suicide Squad. They’ve since split up, and the film opens with her nursing her wounded pride in the only ways she knows how — abusing substances and people in roughly equal measure. She also hasn’t told anyone about the breakup, since the relationship status keeps her safe on Gotham’s mean streets.
The film is a triumph of female-led filmmaking, with a screenplay by Christina Hodson, who also wrote the excellent Transformers movie — yep, I said those words — Bumblebee. It’s directed by Cathy Yan, who made the indie festival favourite Dead Pigs in 2018. And the Birds of Prey — a grizzled cop (Rosie Perez), a smoky-voiced singer (Jurnee Smollett-bell), a young pickpocket (Ella Jay Basco) and a crossbow-wielding assassin (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) are a strong and resourceful bunch.
But I wish they had a little more cohesion. They’re brought together by a shiny Macguffin in the form of a diamond that somehow holds the secret to an offshore fortune, as well as being immensely valuable because, you know, it’s a diamond. They’re thwarted at every turn by Roman Sionis (Ewan Mcgregor), a wealthy criminal mastermind who also goes by the name Black Mask. But this isn’t much of a branch on which to hang a handful of origin stories.
Mcgregor is easily the weakest link in the narrative chain. Every scene he’s in feels like it was overseen by a rotating series of guest directors. Is Sionis seriously unhinged? A mad genius? In love with his chief henchman, played by Chris Messina? Obsessed with money, or power or sex? You could make a case for all these explanations and more over the 109 minutes of Birds of Prey or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
And while some fans may thrill to the Deadpool-esque chatter from Harley Quinn — she swears, breaks the fourth wall and is forever interrupting her own narration to introduce some additional layer of flashback — I found it all a little tiresome.
It’s almost a relief when she has to pipe down and kick butt, although even here there are unanswered questions, like how does a police station’s jail cell and evidence warehouse not have more police officers in them?
And just how big is Gotham
City’s abandoned-amusementpark-and-spooky-pier quarter? You could dump the cast of Scooby-doo into this movie and they might never even run into the Birds of Prey.
In the end, Birds of Prey, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is best defined by what it’s not. Not as feminist-fantabulous as Wonder Woman. Not as annoying as Aquaman. Not as busy as Justice League, as juvenile as Shazam! or as pointless as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It’s squarely mid-level DC, and while I’m glad it emancipated Harley Quinn, I’m already eager to move on and see what she gets up to next.