The follow-up to 2016’s Suicide Squad and the eighth installment in the DC Extended Universe comic book movie franchise, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a visually dazzling and over-the-top violent anti-hero comic book film that is definitely one of the better recent DC adaptations as a result of the terrifically zany performance given by Margot Robbie and the new and creative approach to the story of Harley Quinn. Taking place sometime after the events of Suicide Squad, we first meet the nihilistic freewheeling Harley Quinn, played by Oscar nominee Margot Robbie, devastated by her recent breakup with the Joker and decides to become a vigilante heroine by herself. She causes mayhem throughout Gotham City and eventually finds herself pitted against the vicious criminal kingpin Roman Sionis also known as Black Mask, played by Ewan McGregor, who is searching for a missing diamond previously owned by a mob family that has secrets worth millions. As narrated by Harley in very colorful ways, the movie introduces us to other strong female anti-hero characters that will later band together and be known as the Birds of Prey. They include Dinah Lance also known as Black Canary, played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell, who is forced to be Sionis’ driver; Helena Bertinelli also known as Huntress, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who wants to avenge her mob family’s murders by killing those responsible; and Detective Renee Montoya, played by Rosie Perez, who is belittled in the Gotham City Police Department and is pursuing Sionis. The flamboyantly dressed and tattooed Harley finds herself protecting a young pickpocket named Cassandra Cain, played by Ella Jay Basco, from Sionis and his sadistic henchman Victor Zsasz, played by Chris Messina, because the orphan Cassandra is in possession of the extremely valuable diamond. The acclaimed filmmaker is able to craft a wholly unique cinematic experience full of brightly colored and frenetic action sequences that are not for the faint of heart and infuse the rather bizarro movie with gallows humor. Overall, I found it to be a very entertaining and eccentric comic book movie that excels by pushing the envelope led by Margot Robbie’s extremely charismatic and wacky performance as the ultimate anti-hero Harley Quinn.
KEITH on Reels 