Review by Joshua Baker
In the wake of the revelatory success of Joker (2019) a film I thought was a very legitimate character study of a mentally disturbed anti-hero (the luster of which was lost by both a toxic fanbase and the disappointing 2024 follow up Joker: Folie a Deux) all signs pointed to the DCEU upping their sophistication and moving away from the B-League Marvel-style films, such as the unfortunate cinematic stillbirths Justice League (2017), Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Suicide Squad (2016) (three of the worst edited mainstream, big-budget films of the 21st Century.)
I remember watching the trailers for Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, or Birds of Prey, or Birds of Prey: Something, Something, Etcetera (this film has the Edge of Tomorrow problem of not being able to decide what it’s title should be) before the film’s release in February 2020, which definitely seemed to indicate the franchise going in a more idiosyncratic direction.
The anarchy and oddball visuals conveyed in the trailer left me hopeful. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice in particular was one of the biggest pieces of shit I’d ever seen in my life, so I had no qualms about DC moving away from the Zack Snyder mould and trying something more offbeat.
Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey featuring Harley Quinn looked like it could be a comic book A Hard Days’ Night; the loosest of plots holding together the anarchic experience of spending two hours with psychotic anti-hero Harley Quinn; what’s not to like from that premise?
Margot Robbie gets another swing at the bat at the role of Harley Quinn (pun intended) and while she is again wonderful in the role, her dedicated performance is unfortunately brained by a cookie-cutter script by Christina Hodson.
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey (2020)
This film very much is not inspired by the steps forward in Joker (2019) and is definitely a sequel to the woeful Suicide Squad (2016).
Harley is even in the middle of reeling from a recent breakup from her “puddin’” Joker (Jared Leto is suspiciously absent from the film.) In addition to Leto not appearing, the faux-punk aesthetic of Suicide Squad (2016) has been junked in exchange for something more colourful.
Hell, the movie even opens with a Looney Tunes-style sequence explaining the aftermath of that ‘film’ (a sequence I personally find a bit hackneyed, even if it is well animated.)
Unfortunately, the creativity of that animation is not in the story: what we are given is a plot revolving around a search for a missing diamond; a plot device as old as the dawn of cinema.
It is so old and mouldy, the last time I remember it being used was in the Jackie Chan actioner Rumble in the Bronx. Yes, this film from 2020 uses a similar plot line as an action film from 1995, and even that film had the dignity to only have it come into play in the third act!
Sometimes, a loose plot like this can let the anarchy of the characters run riot for the movie’s runtime; instead, for the most part, all of the main actresses become trapped in this highly restrictive narrative; a vast majority of the motley crew Harley Quinn ends up being with, who comprise of comic book fan favourite characters such as Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett) don’t really stand out that much, stapled with the same character motivations you’ve seen in a thousand action screenplays before, everything feels so done to death, dour and familiar.
The stale nature of the screenplay is not helped by a miscast villain; the role of Black Mask was apparently originally written with Sam Rockwell in mind; this is, unfortunately, unbelievably obvious in McGregor’s performance, who, at times, comes across like he is doing a half hearted impression of Rockwell’s screen persona.
His lack of impact comes across during a scene which is supposed to solidify his villainy, his torturing of a female nightclub guest. To others who have seen the film, this was a highlight, solidifying the character’s scumbaggery. To me though, it just comes across as a bit whiney and pathetic rather than threatening.
Maybe this was what they were going for? But despite the comic accuracy of his costume and persona, to me, Black Mask lacks menace; his threat can’t come across to me as anything more than anti-social drunken debauchery.
The non-linear structure seems like another decision to copy the success of Deadpool with its fresh take on a non-linear plot; all it does is make a wafer-thin plot even more convoluted than it has any need to be.
The look of the film, however, is generally good and does well to emulate the design of Harley’s world from the comics, through the various uses of bright neon pinks and greens; the Funhouse is gorgeous and visually stimulating in its postmodern garishness, but Black Mask’s apartment by contrast is very bland, looking like something out of a Hallmark TV movie- four walled beige room with black statues plonked on the side for good measure.
The action also faces similar unevenness in execution, which, although well filmed and stylishly executed, were clearly done under the auspices of another director.
The fights were rumoured to be directed by Chad Stahelski, who, conveniently, is the director and main creative lead of the John Wick films- the very successful and often imitated John Wick franchise, which many films since have strived to emulate…including this one.
The choreography is larger-than-life and acrobatic, which to me doesn’t ring true within the internal logic of the character of Harley Quinn.
I thought she should be swinging that bat around like Al Capone from The Untouchables, braining bad guys in with no grace or style whatsoever. Here, however, she seems to have been trained at the Peking Opera School. She uses her bat like Jackie Chan did in the 1999 film Gorgeous; twisting, turning and flipping it around, and executing intricate techniques with it, as if she were using a bo staff in a Wushu competition- this is all whilst doing 540 spinning back kicks to her enemies at the same time.
I have been racking my brains as to whether I am being too unfair with this criticism- it has led me to thoroughly research the history of the character and see if she indeed has black-belt level skills in martial arts.
Apparently in the comics, Harley Quinn DOES have a background in gymnastics (I don’t remember this being mentioned in the film) but I just found her having 3rd Degree Black Belt Taekwondo expertise a bit of a hard pill to swallow. Whether the filmmakers were bending the ability of Harley Quinn to ape the action style of a film series revolving around an eccentric mutant cancer patient, I can’t say for sure.1
The moments of style and joi-de-vive in the film generally feel shoehorned in rather than organic, one of the only exceptions being a scene early on, where Harley jumps on a guys’ legs and friggin’ disintergrates them.
Apart from this, they only account for only minor moments in the film sporadically through its runtime; it almost feels like they were inserted after the fact. In fact, a lot of the film feels a bit grim and dour. The music doesn’t help this; it’s the usual wallpaper paste you expect from modern blockbuster filmmaking.
The “”””Birds of Prey”””””
Fallout
In the sprawling forest fire of the deceased DCEU cinematic universe (2013-2022) it seems strange that something as offbeat and ‘wild’ as Birds of Prey got lost in the mix. Yes, it was a box-office disappointment, it grossed $200 million off of a nearly $100 million budget (barely breaking even in Hollywood box-office numbers) but I think the problem was that the movie delivered almost none of the offbeat charm and thrills the marketing promised, barring a couple of exciting action moments here or there.
At least films as terrible as Aquaman (yes, fight me, I don’t like that movie) delivered wild visuals and nonsense to keep the audience engaged, this film however feels like a cinematic jungle cruise to exotic and undiscovered locations, but what it got instead was a package holiday to a 2 star hotel in Ibiza- the opposite of exotic.
James Gunn’s attempt to salvage the mess of the Zack Snyder- era Harley Quinn related movies resulted in THE Suicide Squad (2021) (not to be confused with just Suicide Squad (2016)) and while that film also bombed, it represented Gunn successfully making something competent out of the disparate scraps he was given by the DCEU films.
In retrospect, Birds of Prey is probably a high-ish mid-ranking entry in the DCEU (not high praise). It is mildly watchable for Margot Robbie’s performance, the colorful cinematography and some occasionally fun action setpieces, but does too little with the story for it to be particularly memorable.
- I’m talking about Deadpool! ↩︎
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