If you have your doubts, bummed out by how bad Suicide Squad was, do not fret. Birds of Prey movie isn’t anything like it. It is way way better! Takes away all the pain, the inconvenience and the mortification that you had to go through whilst watching SS. The best thing – it writes over the earlier intended story, doing a seamless transition without making us feel bad for the universe which is still busy making its reparations.

Harley has always been DC’s darling. Exploring her mind’s deepest alcoves ended up becoming a necessity, for she was the only good thing that emanated from the debacle that Suicide Squad was. So basically DCEU is trying to stick true to the maxim – “Hold on to the good things, and move forward!”

This whole new take on her adventures with other DCEU characters is a dream DC aficionados have been envisioning for a really long time. The introduction of new characters like Huntress, Montoya, Black Canary was an inevitability that happened without seeming forced. Thanks to this exciting new addition to the comic franchise.

In a gradually changing world, characters played by women are gaining a lot of traction. Watching a character like that of Harley Quinn take a new form altogether reassures us of that change. It is the future, no doubt, and it is here to stay.

Meant to be sheer fun, Birds of Prey movie ends up making the comic a lot more grim and profound. It is also 1 hour and 49 minutes of unrestrained entertainment that makes a lot of references, plugs in easter eggs for the fans, and above all, hands us a whole new perspective to one of DC’s very own original villains – Black Mask.

The Direction of Birds of Prey Movie

Hard not to acknowledge what simply changing directors could do to a movie. No pun for Justice League intended.

We have Cathy Yan here who turns out to be a major upgrade from David Ayer in terms of direction. She has another wonder working for her. A story by Christina Hodson, the girl who wrote Bumblebee. A specialist in female-centric views, Christina comes with a tale that has a lot of twists and turns which is also a complete package per se.

Cathy brings just the right amount of acuity so as to not become overtly comic. Her direction is seamless, at times stopping in between to complete a side-story, but then once again forever trundling forward. She shows some extra cleverness in her frames by going back and forth, completing the picture in a somewhat different chic mannerism, to do something out of the ordinary.

The editing turns out to be brilliant even though there are some discernible spots where you wish the humour or the drama to get better. Most of the action happens alongside the flow of the storyline and it ends up being a great complement.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Margot Robbie does justice to Harley Quinn’s character once again. It is good to see how easily she transitions from one portrayal to another. She is back to her zany self with the same amount of mischief in her demeanor as we had witnessed in Suicide Squad. Loads of humour packed in her roguery. She ensures you have a good time laughing at her eccentricity.

Behind an obvious mask that she pulls on her face, there is the one that she tries to hide. We get to see that side often in Birds of Prey movie. The vantage visible from the eyes of Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) where the writers secretly try to smuggle Harley in as a role model, the idea of which is definitely as loco as she is. She reminds us that on countless occasions why teaming up with her is a bad joke.

It is good to see how she always comes back to her character, remains an anti-hero and not become this essential hero we witness in every movie. This tweener like behaviour makes her different from every conventional portrait we have come across.

Ewan McGregor as Black Mask

Black Mask comes out a clear winner from the Birds of Prey movie. A DC villain that we deserve and not the one that we need. If we look back on the DCEU villain scorecard, not very impressive or memorable villainy by a bunch of hooligans, to be really candid. Except for Joker, which then again doesn’t fall under DCEU.

Black Mask was a pleasant change. He brings in a real life-like persona that not only makes him enjoyable but also very dangerous. The fact that he could do anything whenever he felt like, puts him under that category.

Ewan was a fine choice and he simply nails it with his uncontrived acting. I think he is one of those cherishable characters in the movie that I would like to bring to the table whenever the topic of underrated perversive performances is tingled.

The Rest of the Gang (Spoilers)

Once again you gotta give it to Cathy to depict things smartly by not reusing anything too much or spoiling the fun for us. Things like showing Ewan getting out of his Roman Sionis avatar to don a real black mask just once toward the end, or Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) go full Black Canary mode just once in the entire movie just goes on to show how much thought has gone through in the execution.

Sadly not the end that we were expecting for Black Mask since he would have been a great addition to the DCEU ensemble of villains.

The humour is kept intact as well, for a movie that was supposed to have it thoroughly in the first place. Toying around with the character of The Huntress played by (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) the creators are not afraid to make her whole situation appear not only grim but also very light. Now if you were to read that in a comic, you would be disheartened to know this outlook. But movies have experiments. Well, in this case, it somehow worked, thanks to Mary.

Renee Montoya played by Rosie Perez could be one of those characters that you might forget in the long run. Until of course they keep showing sequels and put a face to the name. Canary was a great addition, and her character development has been given ample time. It would be nice to see her in a fully-fledged mode in the long run.

You can order Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn movie from here:

The Final Verdict

One thing that you can’t help but notice is how much color is ingrained in the movie. It is like an amalgamation of exciting hues and tints. Even the action is laced with some super slo-mo badass stuff which is totally worth it.

Overall a great watch! At the end of the flick you realize, two things make it really exciting – a good villain and Harley, of course.

You can check out the trailer of Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn here: