Year: 2020
Director: Cathy Yan
Country: US
Language: English
Suicide Squad (2016) was one of the worst films to come out of Hollywood in decades. A jumbled bumbling mess, even everyone's favourite villain Joker (Jared Leto) was made out to be a fool. Since then Warner Bros. has done their best to wipe the slate clean, even hiring MCU's James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) to "reinvent" the brand. Birds of Pray is a spin-off of a spin-off that pulls no punches and whole heartedly deserves it's "R" rating.
After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) joins superheroes Black Canary (Jurnee Bell), Huntress (Mary Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save a young girl from an evil crime lord
Director Cathy Yan's picture is all over the place; jumping around in time and giving us a story structure more appropriate for adhd children who've had too much sugar. It's hard to tell if this was a smart planned choice, putting us in the mind of our "protagonist" who is an inconsistent narrator at best, or if its sloppy direction. I would love to think the former, though its understandable if some audience members are turned off by flashbacks within flashbacks & fastforwards that come at seemingly random moments.
Filled to the brim with neon and flourescent colors, it's nice to note that Birds of Prey is visually coherent (albeit a bit too reminiscent of Suicide Squad) & has a style that matches its #metoo themes. I loved the climactic battle in the abandoned funhouse, albeit I found myself rolling my eyes when I heard "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" by Adona. Its soundtrack is as dull as its visuals are inspired.
Margot Robbie is fantastic as Harley Quinn, and its nice that she's being transformed into a feminist character rather than being sexualized. Quinn has a disturbed little sister quality that older women and little girls will enjoy seeing onscreen.
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