Warning: This review contains spoilers.
Let me start by saying that I went into this movie a Harley Quinn novice. I have not seen either of the Suicide Squad films, and since I’m not really big into comics generally, and DC comics specifically, I didn’t know much about the character. I was aware that she exists, and vaguely aware that she is supposed to be The Joker’s girlfriend, but that’s about it. So, my approach to the movie was as close to being an outsider as one can be without actually being an outsider.
One other thing to get out of the way now is something that I did know about the film, well, heard, anyway. Some YouTube movie review channels have mentioned that all the male characters in this movie are jerks (I’m using the word ‘jerk’ to keep the post family-friendly. We all know the word I actually mean.). When I heard this, I thought: All the men. All of them? That can’t be true. Now that I’ve seen the film I can say that the YouTube folks are right. It’s true that all the men are jerks. To be sure, I have no issue with female empowerment stories— which ultimately this is— and it’s equally true that there are many, many jerky men in the world, but not ALL of us are. This aspect of the film seems to be a function of our modern “woke” Hollywood. Needless to say, I did not enjoy this feature of the movie.
Having said that, I did generally like this movie a lot. The first part of the movie is Harley’s origin story: her childhood, education, getting her PHD and becoming a psychiatrist, finally meeting the Joker (Mr. J, as she called him.). The movie proper picks up after they break up. Harley goes through the usual process of reinventing herself (kind of): new attitude, clothes, cutting her hair, joining a roller derby team (this pays off to great effect in a later chase scene). She even gets a rescue pet. She considers dogs, ends up with a hyena. Margo Robbie plays this title role and it seems like she had fun with it. I really liked her performance.
In the meantime, the other characters are figuring out their own lives. Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) is a Gotham PD detective who’s promotion got stolen by. ..you guessed it….her male partner. Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a Mob daughter who, as a young girl, witnessed the assassination of her entire family. She is out for revenge. Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) works as a night-club singer looking for something more. Cassandra Cane (Ella Jay Basco) is a 13 year old girl from the streets. And finally, t
here’s Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), the movie’s antagonist. He just wants to rule the city with all power. He also owns the night-club where Dinah performs.
All the performances of the main cast are great. McGregor especially eats up his scenes with abandon. Most comic book movie bad guys do, and no-one can beat Jack Nicholson’s Joker from the original Batman, but McGregor can hold his own, until he’s killed, that is. Each of the women has their stories told and are given their time, and as the movie progresses and they start to work together against Sionis, the team becomes a powerful force. In fact, the ‘Birds of Prey’ part of the title refers to the company that Montoya, Bertinelli, and Lance form in the aftermath of this story’s events. As for Harley and Cassandra, they go off together. “I made her may apprentice,” Harley tells us.
The film has a 1 hour, 48 minute runtime, but the pacing is appropriate and there’s not alot of dead space. It keeps moving, using Robbie’s voice-over to fill in the story. Gotham is famously modeled after New York City, and this comes into play with Robbie’s stereotypical New York accent, but it’s not overpowering. I particularly liked the VO/visual explanation of her favorite deli egg sandwich. Visually, the movie is about as expected for the genre, but the fight scenes are good. As for the aforementioned chase, I’ll just say that Harley’s roller derby experience is very useful.
While there are no sexual situations or nudity, the film is still appropriately rated R for violence and adult language. There is lots of killing, but not alot of blood. In the end, it’s a good, fun film. Will I see it again in the theatre, no. Will I see it again in some form? Yes, I can say I will.
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