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Birds of Prey & Harley Quinn -- a review



One of the best things to come out of 2016’s Suicide Squad--if not the only good thing to come out of that piece of shit movie--was Margot Robbie’s engaging performance as Harley Quinn. Originally created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the Batman: The Animated Series as a new super villain for the Dark Knight, Harley was voiced on that show by Arleen Sorkin, who lovingly referred to her boyfriend, the psychotic Joker, as “Mistah J!” Harley proved so popular that she was officially adopted into the Batman comics.

Robbie was the first live-action actress to portray Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, and when I heard that Robbie was reprising the character in her own film, I was more than happy to see it. Although it has a goofy title, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is an extremely enjoyable and vastly entertaining film. It eschews the dreary and depressing ennui of the recent, extremely overrated Joker film for a more comical, high-flying adventure that’s filled with fun. Having been dumped by Mistah J in Birds of Prey...Harley Quinn, Harley now ventures out into the cold, cruel world on her own, where she makes new friends and enemies at the same time.

Birds of Prey…Harley Quinn is a perfect blend of comic book fantasy mixed with real-life grittiness, without going too far in either direction. Director Cathy Yan does a great job of providing a perfect balance of comic book action and comedy. In addition to the wonderfully on-point performance from Robbie as Harley, the film also features such great actors as Rosie Perez as Detective Montoya, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the Huntress, and Ewan McGregor as the film’s central villain, the Black Mask.


The action scenes, performed by the same stunt teams that worked on the John Wick and Deadpool movies, are fantastic. The story is highly engrossing without being another tired, overwrought ’superheroes save the universe’ plot. Every character manages to have their moment to shine. Margot Robbie may be the star and a co-producer of this film, yet she wisely doesn’t hog the spotlight from her co-stars. And the R-rating (mainly for cursing and violence) actually makes this a funnier, more enjoyable movie (just not for young children), allowing the movie to have a looser vibe that really works in its favor.


Unfortunately, Harley Quinn bombed at the box office. Was it because the film was released to theaters during the early outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which understandably chilled people on the theater going experience (before the theaters had no choice but to shut down to enforce quarantine procedures)? Or did theatergoers avoid Harley Quinn because it was (wrongly) deemed to be for women only? Or maybe its R-rating scared people away who wanted a more family-friendly version? Who knows? But now that the film is out on VOD and home video, I’m hoping that Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn will finally find the audience that it so richly deserves. --SF

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