Before we get into this review, I want you to know that I tried. I really tried to like this movie. I've been a fan of Harley Quinn ever since her first appearance on TV way back on September 11th, 1992. I even tried to defend the Birds of Prey movie on social media to the Nth degree, sight unseen against all the haters. But upon watching the film yesterday, I just could not be a fan of it.
Birds of Prey or whatever it is that Warner Bros. and DC have decided to rename the film, follows the continuity of 2016's Suicide Squad. After being sprung from jail by the Joker, Harley Quinn goes on another crime spree with her beau. But this time between the two lovers is different and Harley decides to dump Mister J. Now an independent woman, Harley Quinn experiences for the first time an independence to go her own way. But this emancipation means that Harley is now a marked woman.
With every baddie who she ever wronged out to kill her, Harley Quinn must use her wits to find a way to stay alive. That opportunity comes in the form of Gotham gangster, Roman Sinois; AKA The Black Mask. If Harley can retrieve a special diamond encoded with important banking information from a fallen mob boss, Quinn will no longer have to look over her shoulder. But matters are complicated when Harley finds the young pickpocket who stole the gem from Sinois' bodyguard and driver, Black Canary. The thief swallowed it!
Now Harley must wait for nature to take it's course. But that means having to fight off hordes of gang members and crazies until the Ex-lax kicks in! Oh the things a girl will do to win her freedom...
Here's the deal. Based on that plot line, I am 100% fine with the film. I liked the changes from the Birds of Prey comic books to the big screen. I thought that the villain played by Trainspotting's Ewan McGregor was great. He's an even loonier bad guy that Jared Leto's Joker! I even thought this film's version of Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina) was pretty good, even though I am forever a fan of Anthony Carrigan's portrayal of the serial killer for hire on Gotham. My big problem was the film's very gruff change in ratings.
Suicide Squad was PG-13. This movie was rated R and we're talking HARD R. The F-word is spoken from just about the very first line. To the degree that it would make any character from a Tarantino movie blush. The crudeness of the movie really made me uncomfortable.
The violence level was upped too. And the fighting bothered me. But not in a way that I was triggered. In fact, I just got bored with all the fighting. At one point, I could pretty much tell what scenes were added to reflect whatever video game adaptation was being marketed as a tie-in and at that point, I was longing for the power to go out or something in order to not have to endure any more of it.
Can anybody tell my why DC thinks it's necessary for it's superhero movies to have all of the fight scenes done in super slo-mo? I'm literally done with that style of directing or choreography. It's time for DC/WB to figure something else out.
Sadly, I almost decided to be done with comic book movies and comic books altogether based on this movie. Ultimately, I decided to not go that extreme. But I have decided to really weigh out if seeing such films like Birds of Prey is worth my time anymore. Even though I saw this as a matinee, I felt like I wasted my money on this.
My decision had nothing to do with the film being directed and produced by women. My disappoint wasn't based on the fallen hopes of an Alpha male. It had nothing to do with the movie being full of strong female characters. I thought Journee Smollett-Bell was great as the daughter of the Black Canary your parents grew up with. (I even think Smollett-Bell deserves a couple of award noms for her role! She really was that good!)
Rosie Perez's Renee Montoya was darn near perfect! And I really enjoyed the added mystery character who I'll refer to as the 'Crossbow Killer' (I'm trying to avoid spoilers here...) And then we've got Margot Robbie. She's a great version of Harley. I thought her Jersey accent was a little-more-over-the-top than as before. But that's exactly what Birds of Prey is: over-the-top!
I love characters such as Harley Quinn and Deadpool and The Tick. Their skewed way of seeing things help make my world a little more sane. Yes- i realize that the two Deadpool films are full of violence and F-words. But, those movies seemed to (thankfully) be reigned in a little bit by the production company AND Disney. Here, with most of the film taking place inside Harley's head, Warner Bros. seemed okay with just throwing all sorts of crazy ideas up against a wall and going with whatever stuck to it. Birds of Prey was a film that had a vision. It just didn't really seem to have any direction.
The lack of structure of this film made for times I hoped for a chance to leave the theater. Birds of Prey had great characters and some awesome moments. But it wasn't the action scenes that made this film bearable. It were those quiet moments when the characters had a chance to develop. Unfortunately, there was too much insanity to make for a balanced superhero picture. And coming from a devoted member of the Gang of Harley's, that says volumes!
Take my advice, if you love comic book movies, go see it. just don't pay extra for 3-D or IMAX. Those extra bells and whistles just aren't worth paying for.
Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.
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