Cory Massimino

Review: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)

September 22, 2020 by Cory

★★★★½

“Birds of Prey” is an R-rated Looney Tunes cartoon. It has seemingly endless reserves of energetic storytelling, zany characters, frenetic action, and delirious comedy. Unlike most modern superhero movies, “Birds of Prey” revels in having its own distinct style. The directing, use of color and props, set-design, make-up, and costuming are all heavily rooted in character yet ultimately amalgamated together into a candy-colored, circusy, and always raucous potpourri.

After decades of trying to replicate the cultural resonance and financial success of Superman and Batman (at least when it wasn’t making even further iterations of Superman and Batman), DC has recently stumbled upon what they’ve been looking for through no fault of their own. Originally a one-off henchman in “Batman: The Animated Series,” Harley Quinn has slowly but surely become one of the most well-known, complex, and beloved characters in the whole DC pantheon.

Her total unpredictability, layered personality, fighting spirit, seemingly unassailable resilience, sympathetic domestic abuse backstory, Deadpool-esque (really She-Hulk-esque) self-awareness, and cynical “give no fucks” attitude has propelled her to undreamt of levels of popularity amongst today’s audiences. This is why centering Birds of Prey around Harley Quinn and presenting the events from her subjective point of view was such a stroke of genius. Harley’s quirky wit, unfiltered honesty, and helter-skelter attitude makes her a truly enjoyable narrator and engaging protagonist, despite her many wrongdoings.

Margot Robbie absolutely embodies Harley Quinn. She played her wonderfully in “Suicide Squad,” but that movie was so offensively bad that it was impossible to appreciate her performance and characterization. But here, surrounded by other well-developed characters and with the benefit of a well-structured story, Robbie truly shines. From her first line of narration to her last, she carries this movie on her shoulders. “Birds of Prey” illustrates the real potential of the Harley Quinn character with flying colors — literally.

“Birds of Prey” also brings to life many B and even C-list characters that have been stored away in DC’s creative basement for years, even decades. Renee Montoya, another “Batman: The Animated Series” original, is faithfully portrayed with cunning, power, and kindness. Cassandra Cain is reminiscent of a Robin-figure. She has neglectful parents and her reckless pick-pocketing gets her caught up in Gotham’s criminal underworld, but she eventually takes on an apprentice role to the protagonist.

Black Canary is portrayed with wonderful complexity and rawness. Approaching her vocal superpowers with restraint, and thereby imbibing their use with some serious dramatic weight, was a smart choice. Huntress doesn’t really get involved in the mix until the midpoint but she makes a significant impact with her chops, both combative and comedic. McGregor gives his own quirky spin on the “unhinged, narcissistic, power-hungry gangster” archetype. Black Mask is funny, even charming, but no less disturbing and sadistic. And even Victor Zsasz gets a long-deserved dedicated adaptation with a spine-crawling performance by Messina.

Like other recent DC movies, “Birds of Prey” approaches action with an eye toward visual coherence, characterization, and realizing a certain tone and mood. The action scenes are filled with great character moments, clever choreography, and fluid (but never shaky!) direction. Most of the action sequences are genuinely imaginative and even funny, such as the motorcycle-riding Huntress “whipping” rollerblading Harley as if they were playing Roller Derby.

The pop music soundtrack is effective because, unlike “Suicide Squad,” it’s approached quite subtly. The movie doesn’t make a big deal about all these popular songs that we know are popular. It doesn’t shoehorn them into scenes where they don’t fit. And it doesn’t shift between a handful of songs within mere minutes of screen time. The restraint in this area really pays off because the pop songs that are incorporated all hit the emotional beats they are intended to hit.

The plot is propelled forward at breakneck speed by the use of a silly MacGuffin, which early on is swallowed by one of the main characters, teenager Cassandra Cain, transforming her into the MacGuffin that nearly all the characters and parties compete to obtain. The first half or so of the movie is told mostly non-linearly, with Harley jumping back and forth between different plot threads, characters, and storylines as they become relevant to her narrative.

This topsy-turvy structure serves four important purposes: 1) it further immerses the audience into the subjective perspective of the protagonist, 2) it’s actually in-character for Harley and illustrates her chaotic thought process, 3) it’s used very effectively for dramatic and comedic effect, adding lots of tension by often withholding information only to reveal it later, putting earlier scenes and choices in totally new light, and 4) it expresses the movie’s anarchic tone and attitude.

For its third act, “Birds of Prey” sort of lifts from “The Avengers” in uniting the characters who spent the whole movie in conflict and competition in a common project, in this case protecting Cassandra (and themselves) from Black Mask and his army of goons. Whether villain, hero, or antihero, the final sequence brings together all the protagonists in gripping, yet nonetheless heartfelt, fashion. That heart and sincerity, which is at the center of both this movie and the Harley Quinn character, is part of what makes both so lovable.

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