Birds Of Prey

This review may contain spoilers!

I'm tired of seeing bad films adapted from DC Comics, there is no reason to just throw a half-baked idea into production and hope it sticks. I would give Birds Of Prey a 3/10.

Birds Of Prey is the latest film from the DCEU, focusing on Harley Quinn's fate after Suicide Squad and her subsequent break-up with the Joker. In this adventure Harley and an unlikely team of anti-heroines band together to protect a young pickpocket from the wrath of a murderous Gotham crime lord. The action sequences for this feature are staggeringly good, a number of fight sequences felt unique and really well-pieced together for maximum effect. The cinematography for the film wasn't hafl bad either, there were some really interesting shots that often highlighted the more intensive and outlandish comic book elements. The soundtrack for Birds Of Prey was the real highlight however, I'm still heavily invested in a number of the tunes that really hook you in.

Chris Messina, who played Victor Zsasz, is the creepy dangerous counterpart to McGregor's Sionis; Messina plays well as this manipulating puppeteer who leechs off his partner's criminal enterprise.

However, the best performance came from Ewan McGregor, who played Roman Sionis. This role is presented as a composed, sophisticated crime boss at first who holds more of a hand as an entertainer than an enforcer. Yet it doesn't take long before McGregor reveals just how psychotic Sionis can be. This is a person who is entirely consumed by appearance and ownership, just a minor blemish against him can result in the death of a prisoner or a hysterical rage. I thought his relationship with Messina was very well done, their co-dependence on one another was a nice touch and McGregor played to being manipulated well. I think the real strength from this performance came from the fact that I could laugh in hysterics as he lavishly flaunted his wealth in a trivial manner but at the same time feel afraid of the character as he mercilessly threatens a patron at his club. This role was a saving grace that deserved more.

I can't honestly get onboard with the script for this film, it has to be one of the laziest attempts DC has done yet. The entire film wants so badly to be a Harley Quinn film you have to wonder why they bothered with the Birds of Prey characters at all; they certainly didn't commit to using them very often. For the majority of the feature Harley Quinn narrates everything that is happening to the audience as it's happening, in some places before it even happens. It's one of the big rules of storytelling: show, not tell. But for most of Birds Of Prey I was left having every aspect of the plot spoon-fed to me, worse than that was the monologues of exposition a number of scenes were filled with. Rather than tell us everything about the character through overbearing narration I would have preferred to see some of the side characters engage in conversation about their backstory, maybe even see scenes of the backstory. I imagine the film was prioritising the so-called main story but I wish they at least had something to show for that. The entire first act was just spent explaining Harley's state as a character and it took ages before we got into the hunt for this big, important diamond everyone wants. The big diamond/Cassandra Cain hunt is the loose character thread that draws everyone together but it feels boring and circumstantial. The scene in which Cain pickpockets this item comes together pretty poorly and it feels unbelievable that the films main events kick off because of this. By the time the team comes together you aren't really engaged in the Birds of Prey because none of them have had much screen time aside from Harley and Cassandra. Ultimately the film deals away with the main bad in a pretty disappointing way and the film ties up with, what else? A closing block of fantabulous narration from one Harley Quinn. Honestly if you want to see a half decent adaptation of Harley Quinn, go watch her new animated series, it's one of the best mature comedy shows out at the moment.

Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn, didn't really get the role in Suicide Squad and hasn't come along much; Robbie only plays to the craziness of her character when it suits the comedy of the scene but otherwise all we got was a pretty bad portrayal of a boozy kleptomaniac wearing the latest from Hot Topic. Rosie Perez, who played Renee Montoya, is constantly teased for being a stereotype in this film which would be amusing if it wasn't true; Perez deadpans more cliches than I have fingers or toes. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who played the Huntress, is absolutely wasted away for nearly the majority of the film; Winstead didn't get a chance to even flesh out her role until the third act and by then she just got to play to one emotion and a garbled backstory. Jurnee Smollett-Bell, who played Black Canary, just doesn't feel like she has the presence for such a leading role; Smollett-Bell never gives you anything to make her role stand out and instead plays more comfortably in the background of a scene. Ella Jay Basco, who played Cassandra Cain, is probably one of the worst young performers I've seen in a recent film; Basco has no range and little chemistry with the rest of the cast, preferring instead to wander around with her mouth half open as if she accidentally wandered onto the set.