Birds of Prey
(And The Fantabulous
Emancipation Of
One Harley Quinn)
These dames ain’t no damsels
From her explosive presence in Suicide
Squad, Harley Quinn (played by the exceptional
Margot Robbie) has been a gleam of hope on the
rocky terrain of the DC Universe. So, has she lived
up to the pressure with her first solo movie (deep
breath): Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous
Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)? Of course she
goddamn has.
Birds Of Prey opens on a broken-hearted
Harley, who is now split from Mr J. But this
breakup doesn’t just mean excessive drinking and
copious amounts of ice cream, it also means she’s
unprotected with a target on her back and she’s
upset A LOT of people.
One of those people is crime boss Black Mask
aka Roman Sionis (played with just-the-right-
amount-of-camp by Ewan McGregor) who also
has renegade cop Renee Montoya, crooked
lounge singer Dinah Lance and hitwoman Helena
Bertinelli on his tail. When all of these women’s
paths cross after sneaky pickpocket Cassandra
Cain steals something from him, they realise that
if they band together they might actually be able to
take down Roman once and for all...
The resulting girl gang is a motley crew of
diverse women – Dinah aka Black Canary is a
criminal with a lot of heart, Renee is a rebel cop
straight from an Eighties movie and Helena aka
Huntress is an awkward assassin who gets upset
when someone mistakes her superhero name.
But director Cathy Yan successfully brings them
together, resulting in a complex, grounded groupwho are slinging insults to one another in one
breath and borrowing hair bands in the next.
But this is undoubtedly Harley’s film and Robbie
plays her to perfection. She’s the biggest punk
rock bad girl in the playground, and we just want
to be her friend. A character who is just as well
versed in psychology as she is in batshit crazy,
Quinn rationally analyses the people and situations
around her just as she rationally decides to break
people’s legs and blow up buildings. How she
manages to be so incessant and over-the-top while
being completely lovable is anyone’s guess – and
the same goes for the film.
Birds Of Prey is a true comic book caper, a
riotously funny chariot of joy – it’s as in-your-face
as the glitter guns the titular character uses and
we’re enjoying the ride. It’s wonderfully self-aware,
with direct-to-camera dialogue and fantasy-filled
asides, all aided with a cracking soundtrack that
ranges from Marilyn Monroe to Doja Cat.
Yes, the underlying themes are about as subtle
as the main character (pretty much every male
character in this movie is horrible), the plot can
get a bit muddled and the story slugs a little in the
middle but just buckle up and enjoy the ride – this
is a roller coaster of a movie full of heart, humour
and guns. Does Harley deserve the weight of
optimism for the DC Universe? Hell yeah.
Rachael Harper
Top: The
Birds Of Prey
are ready to
take on the
bad guys...Release Out now
Director C athy Yan
Cast Margot Robbie,
Rosie Perez, Mary
Elizabeth Winstead,
Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ewan
McGregor, Ella Jay Basco
Distributor
Warner Bros
Certificate 15062 | WWW.SCIFINOW.CO.UK
TRIVIA
MA RGOT ROBBIE
DOESN’T JUST STAR IN
BIRDS OF PREY, SHE IS
A PRODUCER O N THE
MOVIE AS WELL.