Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Birds of Prey is the Harley Quinn standalone movie starring Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez and Ewan McGregor. 

The plot picks up after Suicide Squad. It was fun, had touches of comedy but was very predictable. The character development was good but the script was too long and full of too much backstory. The purpose of this movie is to showcase the Birds of Prey but the girl gang doesn’t even get together until the last 20 minutes of the movie which was a disappointment.

I enjoyed the reprisal of Robbie’s Harley Quinn. She does great in everything and really could do no wrong in my book. She carried this movie with a quick wit, resourcefulness, some heart and character growth. Her fight sequences were creative and full of athleticism. I thought that the acting from the rest of the group was mediocre at best. I liked the diversity of the rest of the Birds of Prey but didn’t think that they all interacted well together. It wasn’t believable that Rosie Perez, as Renee Montoya, could be in this group. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was an unknown to me and although her character, Helena Bertinelli / The Huntress, was awkwardly funny at times I just didn’t really care about her. I have seen Jurnee Smollett-Bell in some lower budget things in the past. It was nice to see her in a bigger budget movie, but unfortunately she lacked the athleticism, which her character, Dinah Lance / Black Canary, required. All of her fight sequences were painfully slow and boring. In regard to Ewan McGregor, I always think of him as more of a good guy or a hero so it was weird seeing him in a villain role. His character, Roman Sionis, was not my favorite; he had odd proclivities and his costume, which was supposed to be scary and intimating just came off corny. And finally, even though I was never a fan of Jared Leto's Joker, it was odd that he didn't even make a cameo in this movie.

In the end, this was not worth seeing in theatres. It wasn’t as bad as Suicide Squad, but it was not worth spending money on. For those who want to support Margot, I’d suggest waiting until it's released on Netflix.