Movie Review: Birds of Prey (2020)

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020) directed by Cathy Yan

Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is out of her (literally and metaphorically) toxic relationship with the Joker. She can't quite admit it, though, partly because she still has some attachment. Also because being the Joker's girlfriend means you can do whatever you want and no one is going to mess with you--vengeance from the Joker is no laughing matter. She enjoys the life of being a selfish jerk. When she goes public with the breakup, most of Gotham's underworld wants her dead. She goes on a fleeing spree only to get caught up in a whole other plotline. Wealthy underworld organizer Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) runs a popular nightclub and wants a bigger piece of the action. His plan is to get a diamond that contains a secret information. The information grants access to the wealth of the Bertinelli crime family. The family was killed ten or twenty years earlier in a massacre by a rival crime lord. One child survived the massacre, Helena (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). She was taken to Sicily where she trained as an assassin specializing in crossbows. She comes back to get revenge on the men who killed her family. Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) is a cop investigating both the "crossbow killer" and Sionas's shady dealings. Dinah Lance is a singer at the nightclub who helps out Harley with her awesome fighting skills. When the diamond is delivered, teenage pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) steals it and thus gets drawn into the story.

The movie has a lot of flaws. The story meanders all over the place, filling in details occasionally to try and make sense of things. The blame is put on Harley (who occasionally narrates the film or makes commentary) but really it's the filmmakers' choice. Sionis as the villain is played as gleeful and sadistic, though not so much as the Joker is gleeful and sadistic. Sionis is more awkward and toned down, yet another DC film villain who turns out boring. The scheme is ridiculous--somehow the diamond has information etched into it that unlocks access to the family fortune, as if there was no other way to get to the assets (like maybe finding the sole legitimate heir?). Some of the violence is extremely gory and does not fit the tone of the rest of the movie. Harley (and the moviemakers, probably) can't decide if she should be a hero or an anti-hero and thus her character vacillates between the two. They more or less have the same problem with the rest of the female cast, though the rest of the cast is clearly secondary to Harley.

On the positive side, Robbie puts on the charm and gives a very good performance as Harley. You can almost ignore the flightiness of the character and the movie in general. The movie looks great without treating the female cast like sex objects. The team that slowly forms (the titular Birds of Prey) has good camaraderie and chemistry. It's nice to see a group of women team up without being competitive or trying for one-upsmanship all the time. 

Not recommended--the flaws far outweigh the good bits of the movie.