Review of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) by Mcgillotine — 16 Feb 2020

To most people contemplating Watching Birds of Prey they wish to know whether or not this film is better than Suicide Squad. To that I answer which is better a heart attack or a stroke? The truth of the matter is, this movie is bad, really bad. I could go on how this is a massive missed opportunity for a Harley Quinn/Posion Ivy film or female lead superhero film but for this review I won't. Often with movies like this it's hard to begin to note the serious underlying issues within a film but in this case it's quite easy and that is the films screenplay.

This films screenplay has to be one of the worst scripts ever written for a movie. I honestly think that if you made a film about how this screenplay managed to get green-lit and filmed it using a potato you would instantly have an infinitely better film. The number of plot jumps, tonal shifts, lack of regard for continuity, awful dialogue, overuse of tropes and forgettable characters should be reason enough to burn the script and blacklist the writer (Who was also responsible for 2017's Unforgettable). What you ultimately have in this film is an inferior gender swapped DC version of Deadpool 2 mixed with elements of Suicide Squad. Anti-hero protagonist takes on juvenile criminal orphaned ward. Said ward is wanted by the films villain, anti-hero realizes they care for the kid, anti-hero assembles a team of unsung heroes to save kid, etc. Its borderline insulting to audience.

Next up we have characters. Each character in this film is presented with some form of backstory Huntress, an orphaned assassins who hunts down the men who killed her family; Montoya a middle aged detective overlooked by her male counterparts; Black Canary, a nightclub singer bound in service to Black Mask; Cassandra Cain, a criminal foster child with slight of hand; and Harley Quinn the ex paramour of the Joker. They are rivaled by C tier Batman villain's Black Mask, a woman hating mob boss; and Zsasz, a psychopathic killer who marks his kills on his body. All of these however are very valid backstories supported by decade long comic runs, however every single one of these characters have no ark at all and are completely one dimension and insulting to their source material such as Montoya and whatever constitutes as Victor Zsasz in this film. I had no enjoyment watching any of them and for as good as Margot Robbie is as Harley Quinn there is just too damn much Harley and it gets exhausting. Ewan McGregor who has really shined recently is just sad to watch as Black Mask, and I also feel for Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was just wasted.

The films direction is also questionable if you loved the tacky and hideous set and costume design of Suicide Squad you'll probably be okay with Birds of Prey. Once again the cast look like homeless people and the sets pumped with more than enough neon and dark colors. Fight sequences offer little that is new and feel crammed into the movie to wake up the audience. The stakes in this movie are low and I found I really didn't care about the plight of the heroes.

I definitely recommend not watching this movie. If you're after spectacular screenplay watch Parasite or Marriage Story or if you wish to see a great movie co-written by a woman watch 1917. But this is a definite missed opportunity.