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Technically, it's Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn and whatever other terrible name it was released under before DC realized people had no idea what the movie was about and were missing it because DC couldn't publicize it properly. 2/5 stars if you're me; I suspect the target audience would rate it higher; I know friends who saw it 2-3x in theaters.
There are a handful of ways to do movies with the bad person as the protagonist. Birds of Prey goes with "Hey, it's a comic and funny and most of those guys are probably worse humans anyway" and hopes you won't think at all about the not-bad people who get hurt. Like, y'know, a Bond film, only funnier. The film leans heavily on its comic roots; with a little editing it could've gotten a PG-13 rating.
The plot doesn't exist. No, seriously, there is no plot. OK, the entire plot is "Harley broke up with Joker and various stupid people think that means since she doesn't have his protection they can get revenge for all the bad stuff she did while she was his g/f." That's it. There's no tension, no character growth, one villainous kid thrown in because kids are sympathetic even when villainous. I think; honestly, I couldn't figure out what the kid was there for.
The movie has two major things going for it. One is an actually clever non-linear storytelling mode. It's narrated by Harley herself, not exactly the most reliable narrator, and jumps back and forward in time to give you lots of backstory before the big ending section. You get a couple different points of view and it keeps things more interesting than a simple linear story would.
Two is the cast. The titular Birds of Prey are Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), The Huntress (aka Crossbow Killer, Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell). All four are really good, with Smollett-Bell a stand-out as she gets a good chunk of screen time as Dinah Lance, the singer in the crazy mob boss's nightclub who gets suddenly promoted to be his driver.
Given a real script I think this cast could have done even more amazing things. I'm all in favor of there being more Thelma and Louise=type films that don't end tragically. This is totally a "girl buddies kick many asses of men whose asses badly needed kicking". I just... enh, it's OK I suppose. I didn't get the "rawr" or emotional thrill I've gotten from seeing other female-fronted action films. Nobody, least of all me, expects Harley Quinn to be Wonder Woman, but I do think DC should put more into these films because Robbie and her co-stars are worth it.
There are a handful of ways to do movies with the bad person as the protagonist. Birds of Prey goes with "Hey, it's a comic and funny and most of those guys are probably worse humans anyway" and hopes you won't think at all about the not-bad people who get hurt. Like, y'know, a Bond film, only funnier. The film leans heavily on its comic roots; with a little editing it could've gotten a PG-13 rating.
The plot doesn't exist. No, seriously, there is no plot. OK, the entire plot is "Harley broke up with Joker and various stupid people think that means since she doesn't have his protection they can get revenge for all the bad stuff she did while she was his g/f." That's it. There's no tension, no character growth, one villainous kid thrown in because kids are sympathetic even when villainous. I think; honestly, I couldn't figure out what the kid was there for.
The movie has two major things going for it. One is an actually clever non-linear storytelling mode. It's narrated by Harley herself, not exactly the most reliable narrator, and jumps back and forward in time to give you lots of backstory before the big ending section. You get a couple different points of view and it keeps things more interesting than a simple linear story would.
Two is the cast. The titular Birds of Prey are Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), The Huntress (aka Crossbow Killer, Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell). All four are really good, with Smollett-Bell a stand-out as she gets a good chunk of screen time as Dinah Lance, the singer in the crazy mob boss's nightclub who gets suddenly promoted to be his driver.
Given a real script I think this cast could have done even more amazing things. I'm all in favor of there being more Thelma and Louise=type films that don't end tragically. This is totally a "girl buddies kick many asses of men whose asses badly needed kicking". I just... enh, it's OK I suppose. I didn't get the "rawr" or emotional thrill I've gotten from seeing other female-fronted action films. Nobody, least of all me, expects Harley Quinn to be Wonder Woman, but I do think DC should put more into these films because Robbie and her co-stars are worth it.
