Birds Of Prey four word review

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Being, as I am, unacquainted with the lesser-known DC characters, Birds of Prey suffered from two major shortcomings: too much Harley Quinn, and not enough Birds of Prey. There were also the WTF? moments, seemingly there because the story needed them, but what film doesn't have those?

Harleen Quinzel

Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was okay in Suicide Squad. She was diluted within an ensemble team, and wasn't even the main protagonist, although she was definitely up in the mix.

In Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, however, she's front-and-centre. It's entirely her show, and Robbie turns the kooky all the way up to 11. I don't know whether this was due to a lack of self-control or ‑awareness on her part; a lack of firm direction from Cathy Yan; or, worse, actually deliberate. All that matters is that it gets pretty damned old, pretty damned quick.

The film would've been vastly improved if Quinn had been dialed down a couple of notches. Then again, IMDb classifies Birds of Prey as Action, Adventure, Comedy. Perhaps comedy was what they were aiming for—if slapstick still counts as comedy, a century after the Keystone Cops bowed out to talking pictures—but I expect the DCEU to be less flippant. Better still, zero flippant.

I'm beginning to think that Margot Robbie may be the female equivalent of Johnny Depp; a fine enough actor if restrained, but bloody insufferable when mugging for the camera.

Thank you for your support, I'll always wear it

The protagonists in Suicide Squad were a team, of sorts. In contrast, Birds of Prey is very much Harley Quinn, with occasional support from the girls. I had no familiarity with these characters before, and I'm hardly any more familiar with them now.

It was all a bit glib, and put me in mind of Bad Lieutenant. When we're first introduced to Harvey Keitel's character, he's already on the slide. There's no explanation of how or why he got to that point—other than gambling and drugs—and so I felt no empathy for him. Towards the end, I was hoping that he'd get offed; and, happily, my expectations weren't subverted. Since I'd bought the damned thing on disc I was able to bin it, which was quite cathartic really.

The difference this time being that I can't throw the disc away.