Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

If you are not driven by the imperative need of understanding precisely what is happening in your movie, you might enjoy this psychedelic mix of disjointed cool visuals, great music, firecrackers, fragments of good acting... Birds Of Prey is a mess presented in a messy way, it hardly holds together as a story but it offers moments of fun.

I would like to preface this review by saying I am a massive DC Comics nerd and also a man, so all these guys saying that "only feminist women who don't understand the comics like this movie" are completely wrong.

The hate this movie gets makes no sense to me at all. This is a stylish, superhero comedy with excellent directing, acting and action. The cinematography during fight scenes was just beautiful and the fact that they are allowed to show graphic violence makes them so brutal.

Also, the comedy lands so well. It's so strange to me to see the same people who give Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy high ratings give this such a low one, in my opinion it tops Deadpool in the comedy department.

I would say the only weakness in this movie (for me) was the portrayal of Black Mask, only simply because I prefer his comic counterpart. That being said, I don't mind most of the changes to these characters in comparison to the comics, I thought Margot Robbie's performance as Harley was absolutely fantastic, it really shows of her version of Harley without that awful script that was Suicide Squad. Jurnee Smollett gives such a strong performance as Canary, while I know she is very different in the comics, I liked the different approach to the character. Mary Elizabeth Winstead did a great job, I just wish they had fleshed her out a bit more, but still she was very good and had an intriguing backstory. Ella Jay Basco gives one of the most convincing child performances I've seen in a while, it would be really cool to see her as batgirl one day. Lastly, Rosie Perez was great as Montoya, who I was happy to see finally get a big role in a movie since she plays a big part in many comic stories and the animated series. Comic book movies change characters all the time, I don't know why everyone cares so much with this movie specially.

I seriously do not understand the hate, here we have a movie that doesn't give a crap and is willing to show us some graphic fight scenes with great choreography and comedy which lands and isn't cringy, like in previous DCEU films, and some great performances, and every hates it. I'm 99% sure that this movie is just hated because men have to hate movies dominated by females for some reason. I'm not trying to say this movie is The Dark Knight but it's strong in a lot of aspects and succeeds in what it's trying to be. For Christ sake guys, it's not trying to be the Godfather, why are your reviews so harsh.

Margot Robbie is the perfect Harley Quinn. Over all BOP was super fun. Great action and great music. Rosie Perez is meh at best. Ewan kills it per usual. I love that they made an R rated comic book film. DC has the balls to do it knowing it won't make as much $$$ which is probably why this is one of the better comic movies to come out in a while. 7/10🖤

• Harley Quinn { to Cassandra Cain at the supermarket } : " There's two ways we're getting that diamond out of you ; this.... "
• ( ..Shows her laxative ) .
• Harley Quinn : " ...or this... "
• ( ..Shows her a carving knife ) .

{ Cassandra very " Wisely " chooses the laxative } .

OK, so first , a couple of the ->- { ' Plusses ' } ->- in Random Order . Let me start by saying that this film has an Absolute " Killer 😉❕" Soundtrack . By the time the " Super Phatt " beats of rapper Jucee Froot's ' Danger ' -{ Absolutely }- " Exploded💥💣 " into the already 'frenzied' cinema that I happened to be in ....heralding the funky credits at the end... I was entirely cognizant of having thoroughly {❕} enjoyed the final act of " Birds Of Prey " . Suffice to say that the satisfyingly lengthy & Totally Mad { " Carnival Of Death + Funhouse Mirrors + Ghouls ( Goons ) " } 'Finale' fight sequences, rife with the 4 - { Yes "Four", in that ( -even- ) Cassandra Cain.. the young girl (❕) in the story ...partook in the action } - other female principal actors led by Harley Quinn, in the 'fight of their lives' in Both ' serious & dramatic ' - As Well As - ' meretriciously & lavishly Comedic fashion ' . . . . { More Than } elicited its required response from me. Not to mention the fact that I was able to { -Joyously- } observe ...yet again... that even a ( Seriously 😜 ) 'Wacky-As-Bats' film like this can come packaged with a few Good & Uplifting Ideals mixed in there... 'somewhere' ....{ Eg. Sisterhood, Second Chances, Taking the higher ground -( Even )- if it means risking one's life towards that end .....etc. } .

It became strikingly self-evident... ( to me atleast ) ..Very Early on in the picture that Ewan McGregor's Wildly, Colourfully, Despotically Evil " Black Mask ->- a.k.a Roman Sionis " might just as well have been an amalgam of -{ Both }- 'Harvey Two-Face' -{ And }- 'The Riddler' from Joel Schumacher's " Batman Forever " . Which would put " Birds Of Prey " , by way of a broad, loose aggregate, at a - { Sort Of } - weird cross between -( say )- a 'Batman Forever' ( 1995 ) & a 'Moulin Rouge' ( 2001 ) ; with a generous handful of some of the more Nefarious aspects of -( say )- something like the Iconic 1990 Mafia Classic 'Goodfellas' - { or, for that matter, literally... just about ->- ( Any ) ->- other " Gloriously Profane ⛔ " & - Very - Violent big budget Adults-Only film out there } - thrown into the mix, as well. Now, ' In - And - Of - Itself ' . . . that wouldn't " Necessarily " be a bad thing. But once all those " Rampant { 💥❗} Mf-s and F-s and B-s " - and a whole lot more - start flying around as freely as ever , you { - Seriously - } find yourself being rudely 'Ripped' out of the otherwise 'nice and cozy' comic-book movie " Suspension Of Disbelief " that you might have been experiencing previously . . . . & thrust into what could easily be "Just another huge, messy - { and yes . . Adult } - high stakes action Crime Drama " .

And that brings us squarely to my ->- { Absolute } ->- No.1 Gripe about Birds Of Prey. Let me put it this way. Would it's upcoming ( and very -Obviously- talented ) Director have ' Willingly ' allowed a young daughter of her { -- Own -- } , ( Hypothetically Speaking, Of Course ), to play the part of the aforementioned 'Hopelessly Compulsive' pickpocket ( & product of a 'Horribly' broken home ) Cassandra . . . . Get This . . . . that -- { ⭐⭐ 13 ½ ⭐⭐ } -- year old Ella Jay Basco 👩 plays in the picture. Now to those of you who { -Have Already- } seen the movie ( & pretty much - know - where I'm going with this )... do hear me out. I { - Entirely- } understand that Ella is a 'Professional' Actor just taking a given Character off a page, & bringing her to Life. But I ask atleast the - { Parents Of Young Children } - among you . . . . . . . given - ( All ) - that Ella has to witness & partake in over the course of progression of the whole story : from the Profound Glorification of theft, to the often Profound levels of Outright Bloodletting & Gore, to the - { Very } - " disturbingly " liberal🎈use of Profanity . . . right the way thru said picture . . . ' And All Points Inbetween ' . I mean... could the scriptwriters - Seriously - not have written the part for say an 17-19 year old teenage girl instead { At the very least (❗) } ....with more or less the - { Very Same } - desired effect❔❕. ⭐⭐ Just Saying ⭐⭐ .

Summation : Well, The Film ->- { Most Certainly } ->- Succeeds In Its Attempts To Be A " Non-Stop And Splendidly Chaotic , Almost Psychedelic Kaleidoscope Of { - Vivid 🍭 - } , Vibrant And Mercilessly Unrelenting Mayhem , Colour And Carnage " . . . . . All At Once Reminiscent Of Films Like ' Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ' ( Video - 1999 ) , { - In The ' Purely ' Visual & Stylistic Sense , That Is To Say - } . Yes , That - Is 🌠 - This Troubled Picture's ' Saving Grace ' . . . . . So I'm Giving It A Conflicted Yet Ultimately Decisive 👊🔥 7.50 Marks Out Of 10 .

While Margot Robbie is a good Harley Quinn, the character was not given enough arc. The plot was predictable and mainstream, especially due to lack of a strong antagonist. The main antagonist, played by Ewan McGregor, was not developed and hence did not add significant value to the plot story. Although some of the fight scenes were entertaining, the film as a whole was truly forgettable.