If you want to watch a good movie about retrieving a diamond, see “Uncut Gems!” In all honesty, “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey” is very far from being a worthy gem in the DC catalogue. Adding on to the list of DC disappointments, this film has become a box office dud. Even “Sonic The Hedgehog” has surpassed Harley and Co.
Other than Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”) and Ewan McGregor’s (“Doctor Sleep”) performances, this film didn’t have a lot that worked. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“The Parts You Lose”) was good but not in it enough. Sure the action sequences were well choreographed but it’s just that it got repetitive. Here’s the formula: slow-mo, tons of quick cuts and a song blasting in the background. It’s basically a female John Wick character with a bat and other zany weapons.
Someone in the theater had the right idea when they passed out five minutes in and snored the rest of the way through. Everything is just so forced in the movie, you don’t even understand why it’s in the DCU. The only mentions of a character from a previous film is Batman, in a brief reference, and the Joker being a bad plot point for Quinn. It’s fine that the writers wanted Quinn to become independent and develop her own persona, they just needed to execute it better.
This is easily a film that people should wait for the DVD release of. Along with “Justice League,” “Birds of Prey” was one of the blandest ventures to the cinema in recent memory. When analyzing DC’s quality of film, it’s like putting ones hand into a haunted magic bunny hat. You don’t know if you’re going to pull out a cute rabbit or the demons of commercialism.
Entertainment is to be had within these 109 minutes, just not enough to sustain the problems of the screenplay. It is not a stretch to say this is one of the worst stories in superhero movie history. There are certain moments that just don’t make any sense at all. Toward the end, one ridiculous resolution was outright insulting to watch.
Cathy Yan’s (“Dead Pigs”) direction is competent with vibrant colors invading the usually dim Gotham. Her best aspect was easily the energy that oozed from her performers. Everyone had a natural chemistry that was easily the highlight of the picture. To give DC some credit, it’s cool to see them hire a woman that hasn’t done many mainstream efforts yet. If one thing is for certain about the film, she isn’t the biggest problem.
The big issue is the fact that this got an R-rating. There are reasons such as swearing, hyper-realistic violence and some sexual references; but the target demographic should’ve been teenagers. “Deadpool” is similar, but they have a better marketing effort from the studio. “Birds of Prey” seems to have been assembled and thrown into the beginning of the 2020 calendar.
DC’s next effort “Wonder Woman 1984” is on the list to redeem this stinker. “Tenet,” “The French Dispatch” and “Dune” are three films that will hopefully make this year better for cinema.
Image from Warner Bros. Pictures via YouTube
