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  • Writer's pictureRoman Arbisi

Review: Birds of Prey


Messy structure, tedious pacing, and a poor plot is saved by dazzling action, a great cast, and promising direction from Cathy Yan.


 

Warner Bros.’ 8th film in their DC Cinematic Universe, Birds of Prey hit theaters this past weekend after a phantom marketing campaign. It’s box office returns have been less than eye-popping, and it’s ecstatic word of mouth hasn’t given general audiences much of a reason to actively see the film. Which is a shame considering how refreshing, exciting, and creative Birds of Prey actually is. A film covered in pot holes, sure, but it’s direction and artistry outweighs a structure in shambles, messy screenwriting, and a surprisingly tedious pace.  After underperforming based on opening weekend box office expectations, Warner Bros. decided to officially change the title for the film to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Compared to The Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn, it’s much better in terms of SEO, and it should give the film a better identity for a broader audience. It surely lacks the flair and the inherent zaniness that compliments the film, but for a film this memorable, more people should be on their way to see it.  This movie begins and ends with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Beyond playing the leading role of Harley Quinn, stepping in with a producer credit gives her the ability to showcase how invested she is in this character, along with how much she cares about the cast of characters joining her. Cassandra Cain, Renne Montoya, Black Canary, and Huntress join Harley in a team-up movie that is just as wild as its lead character. What starts as a simple origin story quickly takes a turn for the unhinged. A compliment to its leading lady and her spiral out of control after her breakup with the Joker. On the forefront this is well intentioned and with merit, but it proves to be the film’s most glaring weakness.  It’s approach to storytelling wants to create its own identity, of which it does, and admirably so, but it struggles to maintain its plot and narrative. There’s a lot of visual noise, but not a lot of story to make up for it. It’s a movie that rewinds, backtracks, and overlaps information, but with almost complete incoherence. On paper this is clever and individual moments are full of flourish, but you’re left wondering why it takes so long to catch up with itself. At that point when it does, the movie finally reaches it full form and it meets every expectation it set out to deliver.  Vulgar banter, beautifully choreographed action, excellent character moments, and plenty of proper conflict between the women and their oppressor(s). A hammy Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis perfectly embodies the abuse and manipulation threaded around Gotham, and the Birds of Prey seek to find their own respective liberation, but it doesn’t come until they’re unified. Which becomes the start of one of the most creative action sequences the sub-genre has ever seen. Not only is the choreography fantastic, but the camera captures these characters in a setting that feels lived in, alive, and offering up something new with each cut. It’s not often when a comic-book movie doesn’t look like it assembled a bunch of actors on a sound stage draped in green screen. The characters are involved with the setting around them and it makes for a dazzling sequence.  All in all, Birds of Prey is a memorable, frustrating, and above all else, promising movie for the future of comic-book films. It isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible, and sometimes that’s just alright. It has distinct sensibilities and a firm sense of identity and artistic intent. It’s far too long, which says a lot considering the 100 minute runtime, but when it finally puts together it’s ideas with a throughline it escalates into something no one could have anticipated. It’s anything but a familiar drag that plays it safe. It revels in its perspective fueled funhouse that is Harley Quinn’s brain. It establishes a new Gotham instead of the vengeance driven perspective of Batman, and it draws back the cape to reveal the inherent silliness of the source material. It rings more like Joel Shumacher, rather than Zack Snyder and Chris Nolan, and that is full of overwhelming promise. I pray that Warner Bros. doesn’t cave and Harley Quinn: The Birds of Prey catches people’s attention in the weeks to come. Not only to see a sequel with this glamorous and fierce group of gals, but to see a sub-genre stay afloat with creative voices at the helm of these multi-million dollar projects. This could be the start of something new.

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