A spin-off Birds of Prey movie with Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn? Heck yeah!
Wait, it is going to be solely focused on Harley Quinn, and not much on the other members of Birds of Prey? Ummmm....okay, I guess?
After watching the trailer and listening to the reviews for Birds of Prey, my expectations were very low. I wasn't expecting something crazy, excellent or exemplary (especially disregarding DC's coming fresh off its tremendous success in the R-rated Joker), and what I got was pretty much what I expected.
(Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7713068/mediaviewer/rm817332737)
Birds of Prey starts with Harley Quinn breaking up with the Joker (Jared Leto as the Joker in Suicide Squad, not the one with Joaquin Phoenix), and the events that follow their breakup. Many people want her dead, on hearing the news that the dynamic duo has now parted ways. This led to witnessing some great fight scenes. While they were insane and very well-made that kept you entertained and made you appreciate their efforts for shooting long and wide takes (thanks to some of them being helmed by none another than Chad Stahelski who was one of the directors of John Wick), the movie seemed to lack in many other areas. The soundtrack, apart from the action sequences, was upbeat and interesting, and fit the tone this film was going for. Background music was nothing special, although I expected a lot more from Daniel Pemberton, as I was greatly impressed with his heart-racing, pulse-pounding BGM for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017). With that being said, I would definitely listen to the songs in the Birds of Prey music album again.
Margot Robbie once again shines as Harley Quinn in this movie. She seemed to have carried the entire movie on its shoulders, thanks to her wonderful portrayal of a crazy woman who does her usual Harley Quinn-isms as a result of breaking up with the Joker. There seems to be no other person who could have portrayed this character, as it also is in line with the Quinn we were shown in Suicide Squad too. Fans of Margot as Quinn would have a blast at the theatres, watching her do her theatrics, narrating the story in twisted ways, and in general, having lots of fun.
Where the movie lacks is the severe underdevelopment of several other characters that appear. The amount of screen time given to the other members - Cassandra Cain, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, and the Huntress, do not justify the need for this movie to be called "Birds of Prey" (hence the sudden change in name carried out by WB themselves), as the movie devotes 80% of its runtime to Harley Quinn only. Other characters are forgettable, and do not seem to pique your interest to learn more about them in future installments or leave an impact on you in any form. And thus, the movie as a whole seems "alright" or "mildly entertaining" at best. Sure, we did have an unreliable narrator telling us the story (Quinn and her crazy mind), but that still couldn't make any of the other characters more interesting. For instance, we have seen the character of "Black Canary" to great extents in the show Arrow, however, what we get here is almost nothing.
Ewan McGregor as Black Mask is.... should I say, "fine..." as the villain, however, there was no depth to him more than "Oh no. He does so many despicable things. He is a very bad man!". Yet another character that was not explored well. It makes me question if the movie was going for the whole "women are good, men are bad vibe", although the women empowerment stuff (if there was any intention to show) also failed big time!
The R-rating (A-rating in India) seems completely unnecessary, as the movie could have easily done away with a PG-13 rating (U/A in India). The story or the characters did not demand an R-rating, and in my opinion, seems to be one of the major reasons for the movie's underperformance at the box office. A lot more could have been done with the story and the characters in an R-rated environment. Alas, what we got was not up to the mark.
Direction by Cathy Yan is subpar, although the screenplay suffered big time, due to the lack of characterization as mentioned above (I didn't mind the back and forth in storytelling, which many others seemed to have a problem with). You have that feeling of emptiness, the feeling that something is missing. The cinematography was decent, however, the police shootout scene with the colorful confetti was cool. The humor fell flat, or almost seemed non-existent, but I let it slide, as the movie didn't seem to go much for the humor factor.
Overall, Birds of Prey is a decent entertainer that delves deeper into the Harley Quinn we saw in Suicide Squad, and briefly introduces you to the possible members of future Birds of Prey movies. The action was fun, Margot Robbie was awesome, however, the characters were poorly portrayed, and the R-rating seemed completely unwarranted. A one-time watch.
My rating is 6.5/10.
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Wait, it is going to be solely focused on Harley Quinn, and not much on the other members of Birds of Prey? Ummmm....okay, I guess?
After watching the trailer and listening to the reviews for Birds of Prey, my expectations were very low. I wasn't expecting something crazy, excellent or exemplary (especially disregarding DC's coming fresh off its tremendous success in the R-rated Joker), and what I got was pretty much what I expected.
(Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7713068/mediaviewer/rm817332737)
Birds of Prey starts with Harley Quinn breaking up with the Joker (Jared Leto as the Joker in Suicide Squad, not the one with Joaquin Phoenix), and the events that follow their breakup. Many people want her dead, on hearing the news that the dynamic duo has now parted ways. This led to witnessing some great fight scenes. While they were insane and very well-made that kept you entertained and made you appreciate their efforts for shooting long and wide takes (thanks to some of them being helmed by none another than Chad Stahelski who was one of the directors of John Wick), the movie seemed to lack in many other areas. The soundtrack, apart from the action sequences, was upbeat and interesting, and fit the tone this film was going for. Background music was nothing special, although I expected a lot more from Daniel Pemberton, as I was greatly impressed with his heart-racing, pulse-pounding BGM for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017). With that being said, I would definitely listen to the songs in the Birds of Prey music album again.
Margot Robbie once again shines as Harley Quinn in this movie. She seemed to have carried the entire movie on its shoulders, thanks to her wonderful portrayal of a crazy woman who does her usual Harley Quinn-isms as a result of breaking up with the Joker. There seems to be no other person who could have portrayed this character, as it also is in line with the Quinn we were shown in Suicide Squad too. Fans of Margot as Quinn would have a blast at the theatres, watching her do her theatrics, narrating the story in twisted ways, and in general, having lots of fun.
Where the movie lacks is the severe underdevelopment of several other characters that appear. The amount of screen time given to the other members - Cassandra Cain, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, and the Huntress, do not justify the need for this movie to be called "Birds of Prey" (hence the sudden change in name carried out by WB themselves), as the movie devotes 80% of its runtime to Harley Quinn only. Other characters are forgettable, and do not seem to pique your interest to learn more about them in future installments or leave an impact on you in any form. And thus, the movie as a whole seems "alright" or "mildly entertaining" at best. Sure, we did have an unreliable narrator telling us the story (Quinn and her crazy mind), but that still couldn't make any of the other characters more interesting. For instance, we have seen the character of "Black Canary" to great extents in the show Arrow, however, what we get here is almost nothing.
Ewan McGregor as Black Mask is.... should I say, "fine..." as the villain, however, there was no depth to him more than "Oh no. He does so many despicable things. He is a very bad man!". Yet another character that was not explored well. It makes me question if the movie was going for the whole "women are good, men are bad vibe", although the women empowerment stuff (if there was any intention to show) also failed big time!
The R-rating (A-rating in India) seems completely unnecessary, as the movie could have easily done away with a PG-13 rating (U/A in India). The story or the characters did not demand an R-rating, and in my opinion, seems to be one of the major reasons for the movie's underperformance at the box office. A lot more could have been done with the story and the characters in an R-rated environment. Alas, what we got was not up to the mark.
Direction by Cathy Yan is subpar, although the screenplay suffered big time, due to the lack of characterization as mentioned above (I didn't mind the back and forth in storytelling, which many others seemed to have a problem with). You have that feeling of emptiness, the feeling that something is missing. The cinematography was decent, however, the police shootout scene with the colorful confetti was cool. The humor fell flat, or almost seemed non-existent, but I let it slide, as the movie didn't seem to go much for the humor factor.
Overall, Birds of Prey is a decent entertainer that delves deeper into the Harley Quinn we saw in Suicide Squad, and briefly introduces you to the possible members of future Birds of Prey movies. The action was fun, Margot Robbie was awesome, however, the characters were poorly portrayed, and the R-rating seemed completely unwarranted. A one-time watch.
My rating is 6.5/10.
(Hey reader! It would really help if you subscribe to my blog by clicking the "SUBSCRIBE" button on the top of this page! Make sure to verify your email ID, and check your spam box too :(. Also, do leave your comments below! Whether you liked the review, any comments on my writing, etc.
Visit https://www.sudarshanmovieandtvreviews.blogspot.com to read more movie and TV reviews!)
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