At one point in “Birds of Prey,” crime lord Roman
Sionis, aka Ewan McGregor, sits down with a
tub of popcorn to watch Harley Quinn suffer
through a brutal interrogation.
He’s a psychopath — well, so is Harley, for that
matter — but Roman has the right idea. As
portrayed by the effortlessly charismatic Margot
Robbie, Harley’s always gonna be the most
interesting person in the room — or on the
screen. Grab your popcorn, indeed.
Robbie is certainly killing it these days, and we’re
not just talking about the escalating body count
(especially if you include violence by glitter
gun) in this visually arresting and often clever
— if not particularly profound — installment
of the DC Extended Universe. Heartbreaking in
“Bombshell” and poignant in “Once Upon a Time
... in Hollywood,” Robbie is looking more and
more like she can do most anything. And she’s
a producer here, too, as if being a ginormous
movie star at age 29 weren’t enough.
But back to “Birds of Prey,” or more precisely,
“Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous
Emancipation of One Harley Quinn),” an
extended title that hints at what Robbie, director
Cathy Yan and screenwriter Christina Hodson are
trying to do: free Harley once and for all from her
ex-boyfriend, that Joker guy, and plant her firmly
within a girl gang.
And even though the Joker is all the rage
these days, thanks to Joaquin Phoenix in that
other movie, Harley proves a worthy subject
of her own film, especially with her intriguing