Review of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) by Compi24 — 11 Feb 2020

A peculiar experiment in reaping the fruits from a plant that was born from two seeds with very little to do with one another. Those two seeds obviously being the undeniably prolific and popular Harley Quinn character and the slightly more esoteric Birds Of Prey comics. Both are Batman-related, yes, but the lore surrounding these two entities crossing paths in the past is scant, to say the least. So what did we end up getting in this de facto first attempt at bringing these characters together in any form, let alone on the big screen?

It's alright. A tad scatterbrained and lopsided, but an enjoyable film, nonetheless.

Margot Robbie is having a blast, but it's almost futile to think the powers-that-be cared about anything other than a chance to capitalize on the Harley Quinn craze (see Harley Quinn's contributions taking up three-quarters of the title & Warner Bros. recent, post-release rebranding of the film). Ewan McGregor is a welcomed face. Though, I couldn't help but notice that his character was a bit of a mishmash of other Batman villains, rather than being an entirely accurate portrayal of "Black Mask." Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli is quite inspired, but supremely underutilized. Again, lopsided, scatterbrained, but enjoyable. The fight scenes are a smash, the set design is interesting to look at, and even the cinematography is sleek and eye-catching. However, I'm not sure I can ever justify these characters all being in the same movie together. Did Harley Quinn really need the Birds Of Prey in order to succeed in her own movie? Why even include the Birds Of Prey, when a Harley Quinn solo film was what was so obviously teased at all along? These questions will rattle around upstairs for only the next few hours, sure, but I can't blame myself for doing so in an attempt to get closer to what exactly went wrong, what could have been and what might yet still be.

For now, though, I still think it was simply alright.