BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Suicide Squad was one of the most anticipated films of 2016, unfortunately, it was disappointment. While I liked it more than most people after my first watch, I can definitely see its flaws following a recent rewatch. While the film isn't that great, I think everyone can agree that Margot Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn was the stand-out aspect. Now, she has her own film, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn, however, is it better than Suicide Squad?

Birds of Prey is a twisted tale told by Harley (Robbie) herself, as only she can tell it. When Gotham's most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz (Chris Messina), put a target on a young girl named Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smolett-Bell) and Renee Montoya's (Rosie Perez) paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down.

Birds of Prey is a significant improvement over Suicide Squad. Director Cathy Yan fixes some of the issues that people had with the latter and has created a film that is fun, full of energy and thoroughly entertaining. A common criticism with Suicide Squad was its dull visuals and poor cinematography, which meant it was hard to figure what was going on at times. In contrast to the dark and gloomy looking Suicide Squad, the scenes in Birds of Prey are bright, colourful and vibrant. Every scene pops out with eccentric art direction, costume design and effects.The film is like a comic book crossed with graffiti art. The fact that this is Yan's fiirst big-budget production makes Birds of Prey's visual style all the more impressive. I can't imagine fans of the comic books being disappointed with Birds of Prey.

Robbie's portrayal of Quinn was one of the few highlights of Suicide Squad, however, in Birds of Prey, she improves and successfully captures her character's eccentric and quirky personality. Since the release of Suicide Squad in 2016, Robbie has portrayed a wide range of characters and prove she's one of the most talented actors working today. She's received two Academy Award nominations, one for her portrayal of ice skater, Tonya Harding in I, Tonya and she's currently nominated at this year's Oscars for her performance in Bombshell as Mikayla. She has also delivered memorable supporting roles as Queen Elizabeth I in Mary, Queen of Scots and as the late Hollywood actress, Sharon Tate, in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Her portrayal of Quinn in Birds of Prey further proves there's no end to Robbie's talents. Quinn isn't a perfect individual, however, she is a lot of fun to watch. While it is Robbie who stands out as Quinn, the rest of the cast all leave a lasting impression with their performances, including Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance/Black Canary, who is Sionis' driver, however, she teams up with Quinn in order to protect Cassandra; Winstead as Helena Bertinelli/Huntress, who is a vigilante and seeks revenge on the mobsters that murdered her family and Perez as Montoya who is a detective working at the Gotham Police Department and is building a case against Sionis. While I think that these characters would have benefited from more screen time in order to develop their characters, they each deliver a solid performance and I would like to see more of them in a future sequel. Known mainly for his leading roles and for playing the 'hero' type, especially in the Star Wars prequels as Obi-Wan Kenobi, McGregor plays against type as the main villain, Sionis who is also known as Black Mask. While he's not a scary or menacing villain like the Joker, he still proves to be a threat to Quinn. 

Featuring exciting action and violent fight sequences throughout, there's hardly a dull moment to be found during Birds of Prey's 109 minute runtime. A problem with Suicide Squad was its PG-13 rating which prevented the characters from being too violent and the action scenes were generic and failed to excite. Fortunately, this isn't the case with Birds of Prey. While the violence isn't graphic, it is still quite intense, which makes it unsuitable for the faint-hearted and those who are squeamish. The climatic sequence is where Birds of Prey is at its best as we see Quinn fight alongside the titular Birds of Prey. All four characters show off their fighting skills and prove that they work well as a team. Fans of the comic books will be happy to know that the Birds of Prey's fighting gear make an appearance, with Quinn using her famous baseball bat and mallet and she also uses other insane weaponry, like a grenade launcher that shoots beanbags and confetti. The fighting gear that Black Canary, Huntress and Montoya all use throughout the film are in line with their source materials.

While there's been a lot of praise towards Birds of Prey, prior to watching it, I did notice a lot of people having issues with the story and the frequent flashbacks in order to develop certain characters. While I can understand why many had an issue with this, I liked it as the story is being told from Quinn's point-of-view and she narrates throughout. The narrative structure works for Birds of Prey and, because Quinn's mind is unhinged, it makes sense that her story would jump around. While she isn't the most focused narrator, the plot and motivations are never incoherent. Even when Quinn backtracks to explain someone's back story, she does it in such an entertaining way it's hard to complain.

A problem with Suicide Squad was that it was too dark and its attempts at humour failed as they felt out of place. This isn't the case for Birds of Prey which couldn't be less serious and features several amusing and witty one-liners from Quinn.  The tone is similar to Deadpool so fans of that film will find something to enjoy in Birds of Prey.

While Birds of Prey probably won't appeal to everyone, it's still worth seeing for a lot of films, mainly the all-female ensemble team, both on-screen and off-screen. Unfortunately, it's rare that a film like this, one that features female main characters, a female director and a female writer, is successful at the box office. While there have been female led action films in the past, including the Ghostbusters remake, Ocean's 8 and last year's Charlie's Angels, they failed to impress at the box office. Even if Birds of Prey doesn't look appealing to you, it's worth giving it a watch as you may be pleasantly surprised. You don't necessarily need to have read the comic books in order to enjoy Birds of Prey.
An improvement over its predecessor, Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is an energetic, lively and fun follow-up that benefits from Margot Robbie and her unforgettable portrayal of Harley Quinn.
7/10