Margot Robbie is on top baseball-bat swinging form in one of the best DCEU movies for quite some time.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Birds of Prey – or indeed Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) to give it its full title – is a huge amount of fun from the outset as Robbie’s tattooed queen returns sans ‘Joker’ though with an expletive-ridden screenplay, sun-drenched, glitter-filled, massively colourful set design and photography, along with a wickedly black-comedy vibe, really knocks it out of the park
It has been a long three and a half years since the release of Suicide Squad, Robbie’s first cinematic foray as Quinn and, while this is a direct follow-on from David Ayer’s polariser, this is very much the superior film and one that new viewers to this world can enjoy just as much as the hardened DC aficionado.
Quinn has just literally broken up from Jared Leto’s Joker – completely absent here FYI – and she’s taking it well. Not. Crushed by the break-up and now completely exposed to the rot of Gotham due to her lack of protection, Harley must do all she can to escape her new-found attention and, of course, mend that broken heart. Ewan McGregor’s devilish Roman Sionis (aka Black Mask), the new crime lord of Gotham and serial face peeler targets Quinn, capturing her only to then give her 24 hours to get hold of a precious diamond ring that has just been stolen by local pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from his right-hand man, Victor Zsasz.
Also on Harley’s tail is 80s TV crime show-obsessed cop Renee Montoya (a brilliant Rosie Perez), as well as other interested parties, including vigilantes Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell).
The film is a colourful near two-hour caper harking back to the classic Batman TV series from the 1960s – check out the on-screen graphics throughout at least the first half crossed with the more modern, and extremely well-choreographed John Wick-style violence and fight scenes.
Director Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) delivers a wonderfully engaging popcorn movie with indie sensibility while Christina Hodson’s (Bumblebee) strong, unconventional script tackles the story using a clever structure that inventively whips forward and back in time to bring us up to speed with proceedings. Its non-linear approach is different but quite excellent.
The entire cast is superb, particularly Perez, Winstead, Smollett-Bell and Basco – a collective of brilliantly written characters each with their own brilliance, which Ewan McGregor gloriously laps up the role of the bad guy, relishing a cartoon super-villain from the off. This, though, is Robbie’s movie. Her Harley Quinn was one of the best parts of Suicide Squad and she and the filmmakers have delivered perhaps the best comic book movie in the DC mold arguably since Nolan’s Batman movies. They’ve got it right and it is as far away from Todd Phillipps’ Joker as you could possibly get.
It is difficult to know, at this stage though, which DC world this fits in. There is clearly scope for more Margot Robbie Harley Quinn movies, but will they go off completely on their own? Will they be a part of Matt Reeves’ Gotham in the now-shooting The Batman, or is this another, completely DC universe altogether?How will we keep up with them all if so?
Birds Of Prey is ace as a complete stand-alone/ part sequel to Suicide Squad, and should be critiqued as such. It all works and is as good as a Birds of Prey movie could be. It is a supremely funny, very violent crowd-pleaser from start to finish, one that refuses to be just another bland entry into the universe.
An entertaining delight that shies away from the overuse of CGI, entertains throughout and lands almost every cartoony punch on the nose. A glittering triumph for all involved.
Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is released in cinemas on 7th February.
