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

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Prior to its release, Mary Queen Of Scots was expected to be a major contender at this years Academy Awards, unfortunately, after a mixed reception from critics, it was overlooked but still received two nominations for Best Makeup & Hairstyling and Best Costume. I was very surprised by the critical reception as I thought that, judging from its trailers, Mary Queen Of Scots looked quite good and better than your average historical dramas. I mainly wanted to watch the film as it featured Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as they're both talented actors and I thought that they were interesting choices to portray Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I.

Mary Queen Of Scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart (Ronan). Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I (Robbie). Each young Queen beholds her "sister" in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth's sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones - and change the course of history.

While I can understand why a lot of people were disappointed, I still enjoyed Mary Queen Of Scots. Most feature films based on historical events can feel like a history lesson and are boring, however, I didn't think that this was the case for Mary Queen Of Scots. I think that the main reason why people were disappointed was that it wasn't 100% historically accurate. Many historians will know that Mary and Queen Elizabeth I never actually met in real life and will probably be irritated by a scene featuring both characters where they meet face to face. The reason why director, Josie Rourke, wanted to include this scene was because it was based on the 10th century Friedich Schiller play, Maria Stuart, in which Mary and Elizabeth talk face to face on stage. She stated that she "really wanted to have our version of the scene, with these two women looking at each other and being confronted with their choices". In my opinion, this was one of the best scenes in Mary Queen Of Scots as it was interesting to see both Mary and Elizabeth meet for the first time. I also think that Ronan and Robbie were at their best here, in terms of their performances. Those looking for a film that is 100% historically accurate are better off looking elsewhere, however, I think for the most part, I think it's remained mostly faithful to its source material which is John Guy's book, 'Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart". The story covers Mary's marriages to Lord Darnley (Jack Lowden), the father of her son, Edward, and the Earl of Bothwell (Martin Compston) and ends with her execution. The majority of the film focuses on Mary's life and her decisions and cuts to Elizabeth's reactions. While I'm not the biggest history fan, I was pleasantly surprised and found Mary Queen Of Scots to be a compelling watch. 

The strongest aspect of Mary Queen Of Scots are Ronan and Robbie's performances. Despite being overlooked at the Academy Awards, Robbie has been recognised for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I with nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTAs. Recently, Robbie has proven herself to be a versatile actor after giving impressive performances as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, the latter of which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actress. She continues to impress with her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I, however, I was surprised by how little screen time she has, due to Mary Queen Of Scots focusing on its titular character. Like Robbie, Ronan has also given strong performances in the past and her portrayal of Mary Stuart doesn't disappoint. Being Irish, it was hard to pull off a Scottish accent convincingly, however, Ronan succeeds.

Rourke, making her directorial debut, makes a very assured move from the theatre to the cinema screen. She manages to recreate history and, with the help of impressive makeup, hairstyling and costume design, she does so convincingly. With help from her two leading ladies, Rourke also succeeds in making Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I interesting characters who aren't afraid to speak up for themselves and shows audiences why they're iconic figures in history.

Mary Queen Of Scots may not be the 100% historically accurate feature people were hoping for, however, it's worth watching for the impressive performances of both Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.

7/10

I, TONYA REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Being born in the late 1990s, I wasn't aware of the 1994 incident involving professional ice skater, Nancy Kerrigan, who was attacked by a group of thugs associated with fellow skater, Tonya Harding. However, the story is told from Harding's point of view, rather than Kerrigan's. By doing this, we get a deeper insight into the incident and, also, into Harding's life, from when she first began ice skating at the age of three to her life following the events that ruined her career. However, is the film deserving of its three Academy Award nominations? Or is it overrated?

Based on the unbelievable, but true events, I, Tonya is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. The film documents Harding's life and we see her relationships with her mother, LaVona (Allison Janney), and her husband, Jeff Gillroy (Sebastian Stan), both of which were abusive.

I, Tonya opens by showing footage from the individual interviews with Harding, Gillroy and LaVona. By showing footage of the interviews, we get to hear from each character's point of view and honest opinions. Gillespie also uses fourth wall breaking throughout the film. In some cases, when a character talks to the audience directly, it can come off as awkward, however, in I, Tonya, it works. It makes the audience feel more involved by knowing that some of the scenes in the film really did happen. For example, during a montage that shows Harding training in the forest by running with bags of dog food on her back and bottles of milk filled with water, her training coach, Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson) turns to the camera and tells the audience that Harding really did use these training methods. Harding makes a pop culture reference during her training and informs the audience that 'Rocky did this', referring to the training method involving bags of dog food. Knowing that Harding really did use these training methods made me all the more impressed. 

Another impressive aspect of I, Tonya was the cast, who all give strong performances, especially Robbie, who earns her current Oscar nomination by embodying Harding's fierce personality. She delivers her sharp pieces of dialogue with relish, however, there are scenes that show Harding's sensitivity, including in one scene where we see her applying make-up in her dressing room and trying to smile, despite the tears falling down her face. This is an effective scene as we know Harding is affected by all the criticism she receives. Robbie made her breakthrough performance in Martin Scorcese's 2013 Oscar-nominated drama, The Wolf of Wall Street, as Leonardo DiCaprio's wife. Since then, she has gone on to make appearances in films such as Focus and Suicide Squad. Although the latter film was a disappointment, Robbie still gave a standout performance as Harley Quinn and proved to be one of the few highlights of the film. Another strong performance comes from Janney as Harding's abusive mother ​and is almost unrecognisable underneath the wig and costume. The screenwriter, Steven Rogers, ​wrote the role of Tonya's mother LaVona for Janney; she was a longtime friend of Rogers, however, the "stars hadn’t aligned" for them to work together until he completed the script for I, Tonya. Janney said the part was one of the most challenging of her career, due to the nature of her character. Like Robbie, Janney thoroughly deserves to be nominated for an Academy Award. Stan is best known by superhero fans as Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, as Jeff, he gives his best dramatic role yet. 

While the poster and trailer may imply that this is a light-hearted drama with elements of comedy, there were a few tough scenes to watch. Most of the intense drama comes from Harding and her abusive relationships with both her mother and husband. These scenes make us feel more sympathetic towards Harding as she went through, almost her whole life, being physically abused and no one said anything, yet when Kerrigran is attacked, the entire world makes a fuss about it. Viewers who knew of the incident may have their original opinion of Harding changed. Towards the end of the film, Harding addresses the audience and tells them that, as well as her mother and her husband, they were her attackers too. Although not physically, Harding felt like she was being abused all over again as the media and press would constantly harass her and wait outside her house to hear her side of the story. Although, while Harding isn't the most likable character, it's hard not to feel sympathy for her, after seeing everything she's been through. 

Ice skating plays a big part in I, Tonya and the scenes showing Harding's skating skills are impressive. To prepare for the skating scenes, Robbie trained for four months. Heidi Munger and Anna Malkova served as skating doubles and Sarah Kawahara provided coaching and choreography. While Harding was the first female to achieve a triple axel, because Robbie isn't a professional skater, the scene showing Harding achieve this move was completed using visual effects. 

​Overall, I, Tonya is an entertaining if imperfect telling of the unlikely champion from the wrong side of the tracks and the violent 1994 incident that would go on to define her life. Although Harding had no involvement with Kerrigan's injury, the FBI, media and press all made it seem like it was her fault and she lost her ice skating career because of it. I, Tonya gives us the insight and reveals who really was behind the incident.
8/10

SUICIDE SQUAD REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Trailers can be very deceiving as they're used to make a film look good by showing the highlights and getting its audience hyped. However, this leads to people having high expectations and being disappointed when they watch the film. This might be the case with Suicide Squad.

In my opinion, Suicide Squad isn't a bad film. I think it's worth watching for the performances and the action/fight sequences. Yes, the plot is a little muddled but the main characters made this a compelling watch because of their unique and over-the-top personalities. 

A secret government agency, led by the ruthless, high-ranking official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), recruits some of the most dangerous, incarcerated villains on the planet to execute dangerous black ops missions and save the world from a potentially apocalyptic threat from a mysterious, supernatural entity. If anything goes wrong on this mission, the government will not be liable but rather can place the blame on the villains, who are inherently evil people. A small bomb is implanted in each member of the squad's neck with the capability of detonating any time one of the members tries to rebel or escape. It will be up to this assembled team of villains to prevail over the seemingly impossible events that will unfold before them, in what many deem to be a "suicide mission".

This film links to the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. I think one of the reasons I found this a little confusing is because I didn't watch that film due to all of the negative reviews it got. I do regret this now as I think, by watching BvS, I would have probably understood the film better. This film, like BvS, received a lot of bad reviews which made me hesitant to watch it. Should I bother? But I saw the trailer several times at the cinema and I thought it looked really good. While Suicide Squad isn't as good as the trailer made it out to be, it's still worth a watch, especially if you enjoyed BvS and are a fan of the comic books.

If there's something to praise about this film, it's the performances. There's not a bad act to be found. Will Smith has portrayed a lot of likable characters in the past. He is great as Deadshot, who has two sides to him: the bad-ass assassin and the father. We see how much he cares about his daughter who is his motivation to get out of prison. Like most of Smith's past characters, he has a lot of witty one liners to make him a more likable protagonist.
Margot Robbie brings Harley Quinn to life, I don't think anyone can criticise her performance. Like Deadshot, Harley says most of the one liners and brings comic relief to this action-fuelled film. She has come a long way since her role as Leonardo DiCaprio's love interest in the Oscar-nominated film 'The Wolf Of Wall Street'. She has since then worked alongside Smith in the comedy/thriller 'Focus' and as Jane in the adventurous 'The Legend Of Tarzan'. 
Jared Leto doesn't just play the Joker, he becomes the Joker. He is only in a handful of scenes but hopefully we'll see more of him in an potential sequel. The Joker and Harley are in a relationship and it's not hard to see their chemistry. Harley is just as crazy as the Joker which is why they work so well together. 

Each character is given a background, which is important in a film like this as we understand them more. We learn about each character in the beginning of the film and we learn that Batman is the reason they're in prison. We also get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance from the Flash who caught Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), another member of the squad.

Making an adaptation of one of comic book's most iconic group of characters was always going to be a difficult challenge but director David Ayer gives it a worthy shot. It may not be as great as everyone was hoping but that doesn't make it a terrible film. Hopefully, there'll be some improvements in a sequel, if there is one.

7/10