Review: Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Despite my remaining somewhat burnt out on comic book movie adaptations, Cathy Yan's "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" is a little breath of fresh air in the genre. It's better than the past two years' worth of "Avengers" movies and more watchable than Todd Phillips' heavily Oscar nominated "Joker."

This is due, in part, to the colorful and frenetic visual style of director Cathy Yan, who has graduated from making several small independent films that barely screened in the United States to a major blockbuster film. It also helps that Margot Robbie is the titular character, and she brings more energy and personality to the role than is likely required.

Quinn first popped up in the dismal "Suicide Squad," so her emancipation is not only the result of her being dumped by the Joker - who, thankfully, is not only not inhabited here by yet another actor with stringy hair, but doesn't pop up at all outside of reference - but also from a previously wretched movie.

At the film's beginning, Quinn is attempting to heal a broken heart after the Joker gives her the boot - the film's weakest moments involve her pining over him - when she gets caught in the mix with another criminal, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor, playing against type), a sadistic gangster whose trademark punishment is peeling off the faces of his victims. Sionis is in search of a valuable diamond that has been stolen by a pickpocket named Cassandra (Ella Jay Basco), and Quinn agrees to try to get it back for him.

The team of women that Quinn joins - primarily to fight against Sionis and his mercenaries - also includes a chanteuse known as the Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett Bell), a cop (Rosie Perez) and a young woman bent on justice for a crime committed against her family who goes by the name Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

Female superhero movies are becoming more prevalent, and despite my being tired of the comic book genre altogether, the films centered on women are among the best in recent years - this one and "Wonder Woman" join "Black Panther" as my three favorites from the past few years (plus, that "Wonder Woman 1984" trailer is pretty fun).

In terms of storytelling, "Birds of Prey" doesn't stray too far from the comic book picture mold, but it's brassier, features more F-bombs than you'd typically expect in such a big budget studio movie and contains a handful of very well choreographed action and fight sequences. Plus, it's loaded with colorful sets, costumes and lighting.

It also doesn't attempt to be deadly serious - as the "Joker" move is - and, thankfully, the stakes are lower than the typical comic book movie go-to: the end of all civilization as we know it. All in all, "Birds of Prey" is a higher quality example of the genre that has become all consuming in Hollywood moviemaking.