When I bought my ticket to see Birds of Prey, I had to be on the lookout for the title Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey instead of the title Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn as originally advertised or the working title Birds of Prey that shares the name with the 2002 television show. Honestly, that was annoying. When the title card came up in the movie theater, though, I was glad they had kept the advertised name. For me, this was supposed to be the origin story of Birds of Prey, not just Harley Quinn’s hero origin story. I have not watched Suicide Squad, nor do I plan to watch it.
Let me start from the beginning of my introduction to one Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel’s alter ego. I remember seeing Harley Quinn for the first time in the original Batman: The Animated Series. She was loud, obnoxious, and over-the-top. She came out of left field, completely lovesick, and for me, a total throwaway character. Fast forward almost 30 years laters, and Harley Quinn seems to be everywhere in live action movies, live action and animated television series, baby names, cosplay, conventions, EVERYWHERE. As for the Birds of Prey movie, it is almost entirely about Harley Quinn.
The movie, while still keeping many dark features reminiscent of previous DC movies, is pleasantly bright overall from the backgrounds to the chase scenes. To me, the difference between Birds of Prey and the recent live-action DC movies is hope. Hope brings light, and Birds of Prey certainly felt lighter despite the dark origin stories of the characters. The sets and costumes were brighter with bold, primary colors accented with neon.
Here are a few of my favorite things in no particular order:
- The soundtrack: Pop hits, slowed down and converted to minor key, are now both dreamy and creepy at the same time.
- The fight choreography: The fight scenes recall John Wick and Atomic Blonde like a violent water ballet, unrelenting action that keeps pummeling the viewer until you almost feel like you cannot catch your breath.
- The homage to a certain breakfast food. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, and it can make or break your mood for the whole morning.
- The dialogue: I enjoyed the snips and quips the characters volleyed back and forth. It kept the movie moving forward instead of feeling stale.
- The imagery: It’s NOT just a man’s world.
- The diversity: Effortless. It didn’t feel shoe-horned or burdensome nor did it affect the story.
- The credits: A treat for me at the end of the movie was seeing all of the typically female names in so many technical roles during the end credits; I cheered like dessert had just arrived.
Here are a few of my not-so-favorite things in no particular order:
- The narration: In the right amounts, a narrator can do wonders for a story, helping the audience understand what goes beyond what they see on screen. Harley’s narration started out like most women’s (in this case, I can only speak from this woman’s perspective) inner monologue questioning her decisions. It feels familiar and relatable. As the movie pushes forward, the narration becomes overused because reliance on it to explain literally everything going on becomes taxing for the listener.
- The villain: I like my villains so complex that they make you wonder if they are pure evil or they are a result of their circumstances, but here, the villain fell flat with a singular focus that made him feel almost one dimensional.
- The individual origin stories: The Huntress gets the second largest chunk of origin story in Birds of Prey with Renee Montoya getting a semi-fleshed out story. However, the audience gets almost nothing of this Black Canary’s origin story. It didn’t seem fair like they didn’t have time to tell her story, too.
In summary, there were definitely more things I enjoyed about the movie than got turned off by. For anyone who is looking for a movie with amazing action sequences that is not too heavy on the storytelling [read: a summer blockbuster in the winter], then Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is for you. It is enjoyable as a standalone movie, too. On the Awesomeness by Volume scale, I give it a 7 ABV.
SPOILER: Bruce, the pet hyena, is such a good boy. Yes, he IS.
Listen to our spoiler-heavy episode about Birds of Prey, and the evolution of Harley Quinn and Joker over the years!
“NSFW – Spoilers
Episode 182 – Harley Quinn and Joker: How Harley Got Her Groove Back
Just in time for Valentine’s Day! The Panel discusses the evolution of Harley, Joker, and how their toxic relationship has changed over the different iterations of the characters
Panel: Mike The Hobbit (Booze Clues/Smack My Pitch Up), Lowdown Brown MacGyver (GUI NIghts/From The Mouths Of Madness), Michele Left Eye, and Steph”