Birds of Prey et la fantabuleuse histoire de Harley Quinn

I would like to preface this review by saying I am a massive DC Comics nerd and also a man, so all these guys saying that "only feminist women who don't understand the comics like this movie" are completely wrong.

The hate this movie gets makes no sense to me at all. This is a stylish, superhero comedy with excellent directing, acting and action. The cinematography during fight scenes was just beautiful and the fact that they are allowed to show graphic violence makes them so brutal.

Also, the comedy lands so well. It's so strange to me to see the same people who give Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy high ratings give this such a low one, in my opinion it tops Deadpool in the comedy department.

I would say the only weakness in this movie (for me) was the portrayal of Black Mask, only simply because I prefer his comic counterpart. That being said, I don't mind most of the changes to these characters in comparison to the comics, I thought Margot Robbie's performance as Harley was absolutely fantastic, it really shows of her version of Harley without that awful script that was Suicide Squad. Jurnee Smollett gives such a strong performance as Canary, while I know she is very different in the comics, I liked the different approach to the character. Mary Elizabeth Winstead did a great job, I just wish they had fleshed her out a bit more, but still she was very good and had an intriguing backstory. Ella Jay Basco gives one of the most convincing child performances I've seen in a while, it would be really cool to see her as batgirl one day. Lastly, Rosie Perez was great as Montoya, who I was happy to see finally get a big role in a movie since she plays a big part in many comic stories and the animated series. Comic book movies change characters all the time, I don't know why everyone cares so much with this movie specially.

I seriously do not understand the hate, here we have a movie that doesn't give a crap and is willing to show us some graphic fight scenes with great choreography and comedy which lands and isn't cringy, like in previous DCEU films, and some great performances, and every hates it. I'm 99% sure that this movie is just hated because men have to hate movies dominated by females for some reason. I'm not trying to say this movie is The Dark Knight but it's strong in a lot of aspects and succeeds in what it's trying to be. For Christ sake guys, it's not trying to be the Godfather, why are your reviews so harsh.

Birds of prey shows that DC has finally righted the ship after several early stumbles in this franchise. By focusing on smaller, more personal stories with more personal stakes. Birds of prey is a very entertaining movie, albeit one with some irritating flaws.

Firstly, Cathy Yan directed the hell out of this movie. She really knows how to frame an exciting action scene with nice wide, full body shots to show off the great stunt work. The movies style and colour pallet are very eye catching and visually interesting. Margot Robbie continues to be excellent as this franchises version of Harley Quinn, and Ewen McGregor looks like he's having the time of his life as a sleazy but intimidating villain.

Most of the movies problems for me come from the script. The first half is very messy as the movie bounces around and moves back and forth in a Rashomon attempt that really didn't work and kind of annoyed me. Once an action scene in a police evidence locker takes place though, the movie calmed down considerably and is a lot more watchable. Also, while the other members of the cast and the villain are entertaining to watch, they only have only surface level characterisation, seemingly interesting on the surface, but not really much underneath. Some ardent birds of prey fans may be disappointed in the lack of actual birds of prey, given about 85% of this is a Harley Quinn movie, which leads me to wonder if they side the birds of prey name for brand recognition only.

In conclusion, birds of prey is a fun, colourful time at the movies, But some serious screenplay flaws prevent it soaring to the heights of the DCEU, but it comfortably pitches high above the trainwreck that was suicide squad.

Is this a good movie? Not really. Is it a bad movie? Not at all. This is not a 10, but certainly nowhere near a 1. Don't get distracted by everyone saying that's it's a bad film. Go form your own opinion! Like someone in these comment said, too bad some reviewers have a political agenda to push on this film accusing it of "man hating". It's a comic book movie based around a female. In comics, most of the villains are men... so, yeah, I don't know what people were expecting, but she has to beat man!

Anyways, personally I think the movie is bizarre, funny and quirky. Just like Harley Quinn. Also, Margot Robbie is perfect for the role.

Continues a wining-ish streak for DC with a pretty solid film that is at the very least WAY better than Suicide Squad. It's messy as hell, at times crassly mean-spirited, and mostly not that funny, but for the most part it's still a great deal of fun. Harley is still a fun character, and this version of her that is more than just an oversexualized girlfriend of the Joker is a much more interesting character to follow. Her girl gang and resentful breakup is also just a very human story. Yeah it was done better in the animated series currently on DC Universe, but still, this one is fun. The other Birds are pretty good, especially Huntress, but this really is Harley's show, and she's good. I do have to give love to Ewan McGregor as Black Mask. Yeah he's done villains before, but good god, this is one helluva villain. I love the character Black Mask, and he absolutely nails the character. Charming, funny, completely psychotic, I was a happy geek watching him on screen. Not to mention McGregor is clearly having a ball in the roll, and that energy does pass on to you. Overall though Birds of Prey is a mess. It's plot is basically Snatch but not as good, and it's attitude is aggressive, but god damn does it ever have an attitude. It has an identity, a style, and a look I can't deny, and I will admit it was pretty fun. It's got some solid performances, characters I wanted to see, and a solid style. It's a wild swing, and while it doesn't totally nail it, I admire it's ambition.

Birds of Prey: and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn, is a movie I had high hopes for but it fell flat. I will start off this review with the positive aspects first such as: Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was a great casting and continues to be where I think she gives a better performance then her one in Suicide Squad, and Ewan Mcgregor plays a decent version of Black Mask. The use of colours and costumes I thought were great and I found some moments of entertainment through some of its action sequences.

However, This film has a lot of problems, most of the performances in this film are very shoddy, especially from Rosie Perez who is a walking cliche' as Renee Montoya (and I know that's what they were going for but it just doesn't work}, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress who gives us some very cringey at times acting, and I think some of this has something to do with the screenplay which I also think is average at best. The humour that they're going for doesn't work at all I chuckled maybe once, and it was the same for my theatre. They also butchered Victor Zsasz which I found extremely disappointing as I was looking forward to his inclusion in the DCEU, the way he was portrayed was nothing like how he is in the comics and it seems like he is just trying to be some knock off version of the Joker. Also why is the film titled Birds of Prey? This is a Harley Quinn Movie, just like the trailers the Birds of Prey are barely in it and when they were they had small glimpses of being cool characters but for the most part they were some of the most cliched early 2000's era superhero characters I have seen since that era.

Overall, I found Birds of Prey to be a disappointment I came into this film very optimistic but got let down, due to the fact that this films writing was just plain bad. If Margot Robbie's and Ewan Mcgregor's performances weren't as great as what they were with the nice compliments of the characters costumes it would have been completely boring and cliched garbage.