Birds of Prey stands out for me as one of the most comics accurate films and perfectly captures Harley Quinn and the other characters! There seems to be a slight title change with Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. It is not confusion like other long titles, I just said to the ticket taker, a ticket for Birds of Prey. I think the problem is the rating. The popularity of Harley Quinn is seen in the opening weekend of Suicide Squad (2016) with $133.7 million compared to Birds of Prey’s $33 million. The former is rated PG-13 which opens to a wider audience than adults with an R rated movie. So the question might be is it important that Birds of Prey have an R rating, in an interview the filmmakers said the rating gave them freedom. Besides the language, there is some adult content, a little gruesome violence, but I think the story could be told with bringing these into a PG-13 friendly film without compromising anything. The film is directed by Cathy Yan who previously directed Dead Pigs (2018), a comedy and drama about a diverse group of people in Shanghai. It is written by Christina Hodson who also wrote another franchise movie, Bumblebee (2018). The female cast and filmmakers have fun with the action and laughs of the film.
The story is told through the perspective of Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie, and this is one of the best depiction of the character from Batman: The Animated Series. She first appeared in the episode, “Joker’s Favor” (1992). This year, Robbie played Kayla Pospisil, in the drama out of the news, Bombshell, and depicted Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Harley brings us up to date with a Warners Animation opening of her history. This is brilliant since the character began in animation and also brings in The Joker, but as the classic comic book appearance, not any live action actor. Robbie has fun with the part, she takes Harley from an anarchistic, insane place to recovering from a break-up that had made her into the Joker’s girlfriend. We shift to live action, and see her getting a hyena she names Bruce (the Batman connections are dropped here and there), also glimpses of her wild life including her time at the roller derby something that was in Harley Quinn #10 (2014). Watching is a young fan, Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Bosco), she is a street kid from a broken home with a talent for picking pockets. Bosco has had roles in episodes of television shows. Cain is a different character in the comics introduced in Batman #567 (1999). A daughter of assassins who is mute, she is 16 at her first appearance, and eventually becomes Batgirl then Orphan. Her role in the movie is to act as the MacGuffin, the object central to the characters’ actions.
Along the way, we see Harley “adopt” a hyena she names Bruce (there are Batman connections), at an exotic pet shop. The shifting of time with Harley’s narrative is fun, it has the “feel” of the comic books, it leads to her drinking at the club of Roman Sionis. He is played by Ewan McGregor, Roman is a brutal crime lord who was a privileged elite, but lost out on his family fortune. McGregor was also in the Stephen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep, and was the title character in Christopher Robin (2018). The character is also known as Black Mask first appearing in Batman #386 (1985). In the absence of the Joker, he feels entitled to things, including the Bertinelli Diamond that later involves Cassandra. He is helped by Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), who is a scarred killer, he wasn’t identified earlier so he just seemed like a random henchman. He first appeared in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (1992) and was played by Anthony Carrigan in Gotham. We also see trophies of masks that is his obsession that includes taking the faces of his victims! So, in a sense he is the former life of Harley, wanting the freedom to do what she wants, and a figure of power that was Mr. J.
Harley decides to announce her break up with the Joker by running a truck into the Ace Chemical plant that led to her transformation into Harley. Side note, the scenes of Gotham City, somehow made me think it is a regular city and not Gotham. It was filmed in Los Angeles, maybe it was the West Coast location, sunshine, and lack of Gothic architecture. The next morning, she is about to enjoy her "perfect egg sandwich", but is chased by Renee Montoya played by Rosie Perez. She is a relentless detective, but has male officers taking credit for her accomplishments. Montoya is another character that debuted in Batman: The Animated Series with the episode “Pretty Poison” (1992). Perez was in the horror comedy The Dead Don’t Die (2019) and was in the action series Bounty Hunters. Montoya is opposed by the captain who used her for his promotion, played by Steven Williams, and she tries to get help from Assistant District Attorney Ellen Yee played by comedian Ali Wong. We shift to the club bringing in the singer, Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) known by her stage name, Black Canary. The character was introduced in Flash Comics #86 (1947) and also played by Katie Cassidy in Arrow. Smollett-Bell is in the horror show, Lovecraft Country, and was in the drama One Last Thing (2018).
Black Canary was part of the original Birds of Prey team both in the comics and the 2002-2003 show. Her Dinah is trying to get by since she lives in the same run down building as Cassandra. She ends up working as a driver Roman Sionis when he sees she can fight saving Harley. It seems strange that she “calms” Roman, but he is not attracted to her. Also, I don’t know where her fighting has come from, her mother was a superhero in the comics. Woven through the narrative is a mysterious assassin, called the Crossbow Killer, but really The Huntress. The mirror scene where she practices her secret identity is funny. This is Helena Bertinelli played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #69 (1977) and was also part of the comic book Birds of Prey. Winstead was in Gemini Man (2019), but memorably in another comic book adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) as Ramona Flowers. Harley’s flash back story shows the young Helena (Ella Mika) when her family is killed. She takes her revenge on the killers in Gotham. I really like that the other Birds of Prey are impressed by her fighting.
All of their stories are wrapped up with Harley Quinn, Cassandra Cain, and Black Mask. The action is some of the best in superhero films, Chad Stahelski, director of John Wick, worked on the film. When we have the team coming together, it is ultimately the goal of women fighting for themselves, and great scenes. You can truly see why a human like Harley Quinn could take on multiple opponents and the police scene is where she truly comes into form. It is easy to get caught up in Harley Quinn’s craziness including her beaver in a tutu which is funny. Her story is to go from post-break-up to breaking some bad guys with the Birds of Prey. This is an origin story for the team and possibly they can spin-off into their own film. I would like more of the Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn (of course with Poison Ivy), and more movies from the cast and especially Cathy Yan. She brings such energy, pacing, and wildness to Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) that makes it one of my top DC movies.
Four Bertinelli Diamonds out of Five!
#BirdsofPrey, #CathyYan, #MargotRobbie, #EllaJayBosco, #EwanMcGregor, #RosiePerez, #JurneeSmollettBell, #MaryElizabethWinstead
