On September 5th, 1992, Batman: The Animated
Series made its official debut on the Fox Kids programming block and would
go on to span 85 episodes throughout four seasons that would later pave
the way for various spin-offs set in the same universe. Since then, the show
has gone on to become one of the most beloved interpretations of the Dark
Knight, garnering much acclaim for its dark and mature writing, noir-inspired
animation, and strongly layered characters. This, of course, includes the
show’s iconic interpretations of Batman’s legendary Rogues gallery headlined as
always by his archnemesis, the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill). However, this
series would also see the debut of a villain who quickly turned out to be a fan
favorite, Harley Quinn, a former psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who fell in love
with the Clown Prince of Crime and promptly became his fiercely loyal
second-in-command. The character was largely inspired by her original voice actress
Arleen Sorkin, a college friend of the series’ co-creator Paul Dini who once
appeared in a jester outfit on the classic soap opera Days of Our Lives,
which would influence Harley’s iconic harlequin look. After making her official
debut in Episode 22 of the series, “Joker’s Favor”, Harley became such a
popular character amongst fans of the show that she was then properly
implemented into the comics. And in 2016, she would make her live-action
cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe’s Suicide Squad, where she
was played by Margot Robbie. While the film proved to be a dud with
critics, Robbie’s portrayal of the iconic villainess turned occasional antihero
was considered one of its biggest highlights.
Because of this, plans were then set into motion for several
potential spin-offs featuring Robbie’s take on the character, including one
that focused solely on her and the Joker and another that would be based around
the squad of her, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman known as the Gotham City
Sirens. Ultimately, though, the first official Harley Quinn spin-off would
end up being one proposed by Robbie herself based on a different all-female
squad known as the Birds of Prey. The Birds of Prey were originally
introduced in the mid-’90s by writer Chuck Dixon and former DC Comics editor
Jordan B. Gorfinkel and, in the context of the DC Universe, was spawned from a
partnership between Black Canary and former Batgirl Barbara Gordon who, at the
time, had become known as ‘Oracle’ following the controversial events of The
Killing Joke. Since then, other superheroines have been featured on the
group’s roster over the years including Batwoman, Hawkgirl, and Power Girl. Outside
of the comics, there was a Birds of Prey TV series that aired on the WB from
2002-2003 but sadly only lasted one season due to poor ratings (said series
also notably featured a version of Harley Quinn played by Mia Sara). But now
the Birds of Prey have been given their own film which, as alluded to earlier,
primarily came to fruition thanks to Margot Robbie, who initially proposed it
during the production of Suicide Squad. Along with headlining the film
in her second official outing as Harley Quinn, Robbie is its primary producer
via her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, and prioritized a
female-led crew that includes screenwriter Christina Hodson and director Cathy
Yan. Thus, we now have a film that boasts the legendary title of Birds of
Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and sure
enough, that elaborate title gives you an exact idea of the unabashedly chaotic
and highly entertaining comic book flick that it ultimately is.
(Disclaimer: To avoid
having to constantly repeat that long title, any future use of it in this
review will consist solely of the Birds of Prey part of it and not the Fantabulous
Emancipation of one Harley Quinn subtitle)
Sometime after the events of Suicide Squad, former
Arkham Asylum psychiatrist turned crazed henchwoman Harley Quinn (Margot
Robbie) breaks off her relationship with her longtime boss/lover, the Joker. But while Harley is more
than ready to move on with her life, she quickly learns that this now puts her
on the hit list of every criminal in Gotham City that she had previously
wronged but was always protected from due to her ties with the Joker. At the
top of that list is crime boss Roman Sionis AKA Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), who
is currently after a diamond that’s embedded with information regarding the elusive
fortune of the former Bertinelli crime family. But while he and his right-hand
man Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina) end up finding the diamond, it’s then promptly
stolen from them by young pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). To save
herself from his wrath, Harley offers to retrieve the diamond for Roman but ultimately
ends up taking the young girl under her wing instead. In the process, the two also
end up crossing paths with a bunch of other women who are tied to their current
predicament. This includes Dinah Lance AKA Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell),
Roman’s club singer turned driver who can project hypersonic screams, Gotham
City police detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), who’s looking to build a
case against Roman, and Helena Bertinelli AKA Huntress (Mary Elizabeth
Winstead), the sole survivor of the Bertinelli family who grew up to become a crossbow-wielding
vigilante. Recognizing that they all share a common enemy, Harley proposes that
they work together to protect Cassandra from the army of goons that are headed
their way.
Much has been said about how Suicide Squad ended up
being yet another example of the DCEU’s early installments being hindered
tremendously by executive meddling, thus paving the way for its mediocre
reception. One of the biggest criticisms directed towards it was that despite its
marketing campaign’s promise of being one of the flashiest installments of the
superhero genre, a lot of the final film was downright ugly when it came to its
visuals. Thankfully, that is not the case with Birds of Prey as director
Cathy Yan never shies away from the bright visual aesthetic that has commonly
defined the character of Harley Quinn. And instead of the arguably quite cynical
tone that defined much of Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey achieves a
great mix of wacky hi-jinx and solid emotional drama. This is, after all, a
film where Harley Quinn finally breaks off her long-standing relationship with
the Joker which, despite being one of the most famous relationships in all of
comics… is also one of the most toxic relationships in the history of media. In
other words, Birds of Prey deserves a lot of credit for being thoroughly
committed to producing a female-led superhero film that takes a full-on sledgehammer
to toxic masculinity, and if you ask me, it handles this all very well. Sure,
the plot can be a little jumbled at times due to all the story elements that it’s
trying to juggle alongside the primary storyline with Harley (more on that in a
little bit), but the film still flows at a very nice pace throughout. Plus, it
also sports some excellent action sequences, with any sequence that was done
during reshoots notably being handled by none other than John Wick director
Chad Stahelski.
Prior to the film’s release, there was some concern from
fans that despite being titled Birds of Prey, it would end up being more
focused on Harley Quinn given that the marketing primarily revolved around her,
and to be perfectly blunt… that’s exactly what the film is. Birds of Prey is
very much a Harley Quinn film and the titular squad doesn’t properly come
together until the final act. However, I wouldn’t necessarily call this a bad
thing in this instance since the film properly follows in the footsteps of Wonder
Woman and Aquaman by giving its main character quality material that
fully matches her commitment to the role. Margot Robbie was already a fantastic
pick for Harley Quinn as evident by her performance in Suicide Squad,
but just like Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa before her, it’s ultimately Harley’s
‘solo film’ (even though I do use that term loosely in this case) where she’s
truly allowed to shine. And while this does mean that the other female leads in
the film don’t get as much focus compared to Robbie, they’re all just as
phenomenal in their respective roles. Jurnee Smollett-Bell brings a lot of
humanity to the role of Black Canary (who’s arguably the most grounded of the
group despite her metahuman abilities), Rosie Perez brings the right fiery
tenacity to the role of Renee Montoya, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress is
a great combination of badass action heroics and solid humor that pokes fun at
her overly serious persona. And as for newcomer Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra
Cain, she has wonderful camaraderie with Margot Robbie, whom she primarily
shares the screen with given everything that goes down plot-wise. Finally, to
close out this film’s excellent ensemble, we have our main antagonists Black
Mask and Victor Zsasz. Ewan McGregor kills it in the role of Black Mask, fully succeeding
at making him a down-right sleazebag of a villain (with some solid dark humor
mixed in as well). And while Chris Messina doesn’t exactly get as much to work
with as Zsasz, the partner dynamic that he forms with McGregor is top-notch.
Back when Suicide Squad came out in 2016, I was
amongst those who thought that it wasn’t too bad; heck, I even gave it a 4/5
in my initial review of it. It wasn’t until recently, however, when I
finally re-watched it, and while I will admit that I’m not exactly as positive
towards it as I was back then, I don’t ‘dislike’ it. It is, however, still a
prime example of an era of the DC Extended Universe that is thankfully over. Thanks
to films like Wonder Woman and Shazam, it’s clear that this
franchise has now realized that it’s better to develop its characters first
before putting them all together in one film, and sure enough, Birds of Prey
nobly continues that trend. Sure, at the end of the day, it’s a Harley
Quinn film first and a Birds of Prey film second, but the clearly dedicated
effort from producer/star Margot Robbie to highlight some lesser-known heroines
in the DC Universe is incredibly admirable. In other words, one of the best
things about this film is that it shows the incredible potential for future
adventures with the squad of superheroines that it sets up. At the same time,
it allows Margot Robbie the chance to firmly establish herself as the
definitive live-action interpretation of one of DC’s most popular characters,
and if that wasn’t enough, this won’t be the last we see of Harley in the DCEU
as Robbie is already set to return in next year’s Suicide Squad sequel.
And while I know that there are some out there questioning why Suicide Squad
demanded a sequel given how it turned out, I can answer that question in
two words… James Gunn. Yes, the man who brought us two of the greatest
superhero films of the past few years is in charge this time around, and I’m
fully confident that he will give us a superior sequel. But in conclusion, let’s
also thank Cathy Yan for starting off 2020’s slate of superhero films on a high
note with the delightfully madcap adventure that is Birds of Prey.
Rating: 4.5/5
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