'Birds of Prey...' continues DC’s streak of homeruns

by Mason Kupiainen It goes without saying that the DC Extended Universe started out on a bit of a rough patch. Personally, I’ve enjoyed every film DC has released, but the vast majority of audiences and critics have not shared my opinion. It wasn’t until Aquaman’s release that DC cut ties with Zack Snyder’s vision of the universe and did a quick pivot. I’ve loved Aquaman, Shazam!, and Joker, and have looked forward to seeing where DC’s new direction would take us with Birds of Prey.   One of my absolute favorite movies from the Snyder era of DC movies was Suicide Squad. The best aspect of that movie was the insane and destructive relationship between Harley Quinn and the Joker. It was definitely the most fascinating part of the movie and Margot Robbie’s performance proved that she was born to play the role. She stole the entire movie, even outshining talent such as Will Smith’s Deadshot. Now, she gets to star in her own spinoff movie where we get to see her dive deeper into the character. Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn follows Quinn after her most recent break-up with the Joker. Wanting to prove to the world that she and the Joker are finished for good, she explodes the chemical plant where their love blossomed. Now, without the protection from the Joker, this puts a metaphorical target on her back from every criminal she’s ever wronged in Gotham, most notably Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Along her journey to freedom, she crosses paths and eventually teams up with Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), who all have their own issues with Black Mask. 

Blatantly bonkers storytelling

Being possibly the only fan of Jared Leto’s take on the clown prince of crime, I was disappointed when the news broke that he was hanging up his purple suit and forehead tattoos to move on to new things. I thought he and Harley Quinn worked well together, and didn’t know if Quinn would be able to handle being in her own film. Yet, they crafted a unique and crazy story to match her personality. Just like Quinn’s hyper-active personality, this movie is all over the place and opens it up to being one of the funniest movies in the DCEU. To further separate it from the rest of the universe, they stuff the movie with dark humor that fits with the characters and story. Similar to fellow R-rated comic book movie, Deadpoo l, the movie is told out of order and cut together in a quick fashion that never leaves you bored. The movie is also told from Quinn’s point of view - narrated by her - which gives it a more unique and cartoony feel.  The story is surprisingly well done. We see each character's relationship with Black Mask and understand each of their motives. How they are all brought together is also crafted well and doesn't feel forced. However, a rather big problem is how they handled Winstead's Huntress. She was one of the standouts of the movie, but doesn't come into the story until well into the third-act. The movie really hones in on Harley Quinn and Black Canary’s story, which then leaves Huntress out for a large majority of the movie. The movie also lacked a satisfying ending; how Black Mask’s story ended was very underwhelming and lackluster for such an iconic and popular Batman villain.

Stellar casting

Another surprising element to this movie is the fantastic cast. From Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, and even Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the cast is phenomenal and each get to play up their characters. Margot Robbie is as great as ever playing Harley Quinn, and gets to play a different side of her character since Quinn is no longer with the Joker. This movie also gives us the chance to explore her character and see things from her perspective. Huntress and Black Canary each make their cinematic debut after being fan favorites in the "Arrow" television universe. Their characters work well with the rest of the Birds of Prey and bring an extra layer of depth to the movie. Both of their characters deal with serious personal issues that helped to ground the movie a little amongst the mayhem. They’re each also able to keep up with the hyper-active nature of Harley Quinn and stand out on their own. Ewan McGregor as Black Mask is an example of nearly perfect casting. He’s able to bring the cartoony campiness the character required, while also showing his character’s dark and dangerous side. He works extremely well with Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), his psychopathic henchman. Zsasz has a disturbing nature, always itching to get the chance to torture people, and is constantly pushing Black Mask to allow him the chance to cause harm to others. Their dynamic throughout the movie is disturbing, yet interesting to watch. However, the movie hardly dives deep into his character; we know he’s a crazy psychopath and that’s about it. We never get a reason or motivation for why he does what he does, but this is strangely satisfying. If we saw a motivation, it would risk the loss of that dangerous and mysterious element that worked so well with his character. 

High octane action

Birds of Prey goes full-throttle with the action as many of the scenes are some of the best choreographed since John Wick Chapter 3 . With this being the first R-rated movie in the DCEU, they filled it with violent and brutal action scenes. Similar to the action in a movie like 300 , there’s a stylish way to which the action is handled, with plenty of slow motion shots that distinguish it from other DC films. To enhance the brutality of the action scenes, slow motion shots were used to show the characters breaking the limbs of their victims. There is no shortage of action as fast-moving, bone-breaking, skull-crushing scenes seem to appear every few minutes. While this movie seemed to move quickly, it also showcased Harley’s eccentric personality. As a fan of these characters and an action junkie, the final product was an incredible hit.

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