Birds Of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Overall, it's not the worst movie DC has made, but it's not the best either. The Good: 1). The acting of Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, and Jurnee Smollet-Bell is great. 2). Most of the comedy scenes are genuinely funny. The Iffy 1). the cinematography looks great in some shots (like for the first 14 minutes of the movie) but cheesy in others (such as in the funhouse fight scene) 2). The dialogue for most characters other than Harley is really contrived, esp for Cassandra Cain and Renee Montoya. 3). Other than the Joker/Harley breakup angle, the events of the Suicide Squad seem to have had 0 effect on this movie at all. The movie can't decide if it wants to be a standalone Harley Quinn sequel or an origin story for bird of prey, so it tries to do both and the results are both storylines feel underdeveloped. You never really get a true sense for what kind of person Harley is by herself and the other characters don't get enough development. Because they were so pressed for time, the movie ends up "telling" you who the characters are through Harley's narration rather than "showing" you. The Bad: 1). Many of the fight scenes look too choreographed 2). Just like Diablo in suicide squad, Huntress, who is one of the most interesting characters in the movie, gets the least screentime and backstory 3). Roman Sionis/Black Mask is incredibly annoying, and not in a good way. Black Mask, while dislikable, is not a believable or respectable villain in this movie and in many ways mirrors the worst aspects of Jared Leto's Joker.

Yes!! What a fun romp. Gorgeously shot and paced and edited with many an impressively choreographed hand-to-hand combat scenes, with a knock-out performance by Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor (holy skittles is he a terrifying creep) and a strong cast of supporting characters. Irreverently entertaining with a bombastic and spot-on soundtrack. Now some may take issue with the notion that the women in the movie would be able to take on so many men through sheer physical force. I say to you - when has ANY superhero/comic book action made sense? Goons never shoot on target and are constantly being bamboozled by male protagnonists too. Get over your need of "realism" in a FANTASY COMICBOOK movie and embrace the topsy-turvy altered reality. It's a breath of fresh air to all the shooter/big explosion films - the action sequences are really beautifully choreographed. At less than two hours (1:48 all the way thru to the end of the end credits), I was surprised and how well the narrative stayed together given the number of protagonists. Harley's exposition certainly helped there. I have a feeling studio execs wanted to keep this under two hours, but I would love to see a Director's Cut and have a chance at those scenes that were shot to advance character development or nuances of the narrative plot that didn't make cutting floor. There was one part that didn't quite add up because of said tight editing, but overall fairly seamless. It's a shame this was cut short in the theaters, where I'd wanted to see it, and also that it was given a February release date and not the May summer run-in spot it deserved, but seriously well done cast & crew!! What a rare delight to watch.

I'm a long time Harley Quinn Fan. I am quite biassed when it comes to this character. Literally, there is no more of a biassed viewer for this movie than I. So I shall review from the fact that I went to see this movie in theaters with my brother, a, at best, casual Quinn fan. He adored this movie and ranted about how it was one of the best movies he'd seen in years. The first aspect that he loved was the fact that it made him laugh... a freaking lot. That said, we have been trading quotes regarding the movie for some time now. Now that said, I'm going to get into my review. I am a diehard classic Harley fan. You know, the Bruce Tim era, the onsie so fantastically referenced in the movie? That called to my inner giant fanboyness. Next, I've seen reviews that said that the movie is man hating. As a man, I never once felt that to be the case. Maybe one particular man was hated, heck even a few. The fact was that it wasn't gender related hatred, from my point of view. It was generally douchbaggary that earned them hatred, which would have been the case if they were women. That said, yes these characters tended to be men... then again, that played into the overarching theme of the movie that men actually have the upperhand and in some (possibly many I don't have a frame of reference to work with) will take advantage of that for their own personal benefit. Plus, would the ladies have all gotten together if they didn't have similar motivations? Probably not. Finally, the dedication that Margot Robbie has shown towards the character, although not the original is quite evident. I honestly couldn't be happier with the portrayal. DC finally did a live action movie right. Sit back enjoy the show, and keep a tight grip on your breakfast sandwich!