Into the DC Murderverse: "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)"

 "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" (2020)

We are back to the DC Murderverse, which is maybe a misnomer at this point, but we're committed. When David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" movie was released, it was pretty clear that Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was the bright spot in a literal dark sky. After that, there were rumors of a solo film, a film with Harley and Jared Leto's Joker, a Gotham City Sirens film and a Birds of Prey movie. Who would have thought that out of all those, it was the Birds of Prey movie that would have actually ended up getting made? I was ecstatic when I heard this. I am a big fan of the Birds of Prey team. I jumped on during writer Gail Simone's landmark run on the title and I was thrilled to see some of my favorite DC characters make the jump to the big screen. Harley Quinn wasn't part of the Birds in the comics, but, why not?

Principal photography on "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" began in January 2019 and ended in April 2019. The film stars Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli/Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance/Black Canary, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain, Ali Wong as Ellen Yee and Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis/Black Mask. The film was written by Christina Hodson. It was directed by Cathy Yan. "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" premiered on February 7, 2020.

This lady...

I feel like I should start this by saying that "Birds of Prey" was the last movie I saw in a theater before the pandemic hit. That is crazy to think about. I mentioned in the intro to this post that I am a pretty massive "Birds of Prey" fan, to the point that I pretty fanatically follow anything that the main Birds are in, so when this movie was announced I was pretty much equal parts excited and apprehensive. Excited because some of my favorite characters were finally going to be in a movie, but apprehensive for a few reasons. I initially wasn't sold on this movie being a Birds film and a Harley Quinn vehicle and I wasn't sure about the decision to make it the DC Extended Universe's first hard R rated flick. I am happy to report that all my initial fears about the movie were completely unfounded and after multiple viewings "Birds of Prey" is far and way my favorite DCEU movie to date.

We can't start without talking about that opening animatic. What a great way to bring people up to speed on who Harley is, if you didn't know, and give people a refresher on her history leading up to this point. It's perfect, it's zany. It reminds me of like an adult Looney Tune. It really sets the tone for the movie and lets you know what you're in for. If you don't love this, you should probably turn this movie off right away.

This movie is perfectly cast and it is anchored by Margot Robbie's performance as Harley Quinn. "Suicide Squad" is a pretty abysmal movie, but you could see they had something special when they cast Robbie as Harley. In "Suicide Squad" she's just a crazy chick obsessed with Joker in booty shorts and Ayer's leering camera never lets you forget that she's eye candy first and foremost. In "Birds of Prey," Harley gets layers. She becomes a fully realized person. Yes, the catalyst for this is her break-up with Joker, but he's not the focus of this movie. In fact, you don't even see his face and that is so perfect. I do love the sequence of Harley coping with the break-up and doing so many things everyone does but to the extreme. Cutting her hair. Getting a new pet. Joining roller derby. Getting drunk. Except Harley cuts her off her pink and blue pigtails. She gets a hyena and sets it on the pet owner who tries to come on to her. Gets drunk at a club owned by someone who hates her, breaks the legs of said owner's driver and fails to mention that she is no longer with the Joker. Robbie and writer Christina Hodson add nuances to Harley that I love. Her obsession with a bodega's egg sandwich. Psychoanalyzing people at the worst times. I really hope that "The Suicide Squad" isn't the last time we see Margot play Harley.

Toxic masculinity

The casting for the rest of the Birds is just chef's kiss. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ramona Flowers herself plays Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress. The last surviving member of a murdered crime family she is as delightfully socially awkward as someone who was raised to be an assassin could be. She is not pleased with the moniker "Crossbow Killer" but no one will listen to her long enough to allow her to get Huntress out when she tries to dramatically disclose it. 

Rosie Perez brings lesbian detective Renee Montoya to the screen. Perez is a legend and it's great to see her bring the hard boiled, hard drinking Montoya to the big screen. She's a great detective. Gets no respect from her male colleagues but still closes cases and lays the smack down. I love her rapport with her ex-girlfriend and Gotham City DA, Ellen Yee, played by the fabulous Ali Wong. Speaking of, can we get a slow clap for the amazing '70's style wardrobe Wong rocks in this movie. If I have one complaint, I would have liked to get a little more Ali in this movie. Even in their brief scenes, Perez and Wong have stellar chemistry and I would have liked to get to experience it even more.

Jurnee. Smollet. Bell. Say it with me one more time. Jurnee. Smollet. Bell. She brings to life stylish, singing undercover superhero, Dinah Lance aka the Black Canary. As soon as I started reading "Birds of Prey," I immediately fell in love with the character of Dinah Lance. The movie integrates elements of her classic origin with more modern elements. When Perez confronts Dinah at her apartment, she mentions Dinah's mother and you get the idea she was some sort of vigilante that helped the police. In the comics, Dinah's mother was the original Black Canary. She's a singer at Black Mask's club and in modern comics Dinah is the frontwoman of a band also called Black Canary. This is a great way to showcase Jurnee's amazing vocals. Canary is an ass kicker and gets multiple showcases. She throws down with some scumbags who are trying to abduct a still drunk Harley and my favorite moment of the film may be when she finally unleashes her Canary Cry on Black Mask's goons. A Black Canary spin-off is in development and you can probably imagine how I feel about it.

Stunalisha St. James.

Some people seemed to have some issues with the portrayals of Black Mask, Zsasz and Cassandra Cain. I get it. If you're a fan of these characters, you want them to be the characters that you remember, that you grew up reading. But those characters don't always translate well to the big screen or they don't fit with the story that the filmmakers want to tell. I think the biggest change is with Cassandra Cain. In the comics, Cassandra was the second Batgirl. She was raised the daughter of the assassins David Cain and was deprived of speech and human contact, conditioned to be the perfect assassin. She is eventually saved and recruited by Batman. The teenage pickpocket who everyone is waiting to shit out a diamond is a far cry from the Cassandra Cain of the comics. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The young Cassandra is a great foil for the adult birds and I love her wanting to be Harley's apprentice. 

As far as Black Mask and Zsasz, I think the basics of the characters are pretty much the same. Roman Sionis is a cruel, sadistic crime boss and he is the same in the movie. McGregor plays him a bit more flamboyantly but he's still the petulant man child you expect him to be. And just when you think he's a joke, he reminds you he isn't. Whether he is carving faces off in a warehouse or chillingly humiliating patrons in his club, Black Mask is not to be trifled with. The same can be said for his psychopathic righthand man Victor Zsasz. In the comics, Zsasz is a serial killer who makes a hash mark on his body for each victim he takes and he's pretty much covered. Zsasz is a coldblooded killer in this and while he doesn't get a ton of focus, Messina makes his mark. And it's extremely satisfying when he's killed and Harley stabs him repeatedly after he's basically already dead.

The action in "Birds of Prey" is top notch. It has some of the best fight choreography that I've seen in any superhero movie. They really thought about how these women would fight against men twice their sizes. Every action setpiece in the movie is bigger and badder than the one before. There is Harley's initial police station onslaught where she takes on Gotham's "finest" with a gun loaded with cartridges that explode into colored dust and confetti on impact. The second sequence in the jail where Harley takes on a bunch of dudes who don't care for her followed by assassin's Sionis has hired. I love the way Harley uses acrobatics and uses the bigger person's equilibrium against them. There are moments that make these fight sequences unique, like when Harley inadvertently snorts some coke and really goes ham with the baseball bat she found in evidence lock up.

Badass bitches.

The extended third act fight scene is exhilarating. It starts off at a boardwalk style funhouse and each of the Birds gets time to shine. Harley takes on thugs with her signature mallet and even has time to do a shoe change into some roller skates. Huntress is bounding across springy giant hands and taking out guys with crossbow bolts. Canary is wielding a bat this time and taking no prisoners while Montoya is beating on dudes with her brass knuckles. I keep saying it but I can't get enough of these micro moments, like when Harley offers Canary a hair tie mid fight. It doesn't feel out of place or like fluff. It's a great moment and I know lots of women appreciated it. 

This segues to Harley rollerskating behind Huntress' motorcycle to catch up with Sionis and Cassandra. Again, it's thrilling and something I haven't seen and it's stuff you want to watch over and over again because it's so fast paced that you catch something new on every re-watch. And watching Roman Sionis get blowed apart is never not satisfying. 

The pacing of this movie is perfect, too. It's quick but never feels rushed. I clearly love superhero movies but they can be a real slog and "Birds of Prey" never feels like that. I've said this before, but there is something about a woman directing a movie about female heroes. I'm not saying that men can't do it, but it just hits differently when there is a woman behind the camera. There are no gratuitous ass shots. There is no leering. No male gaze and it's so fucking refreshing. WB and DC would be fools not to enlist Cathy Han in the future. 

I could go on for a lot longer but I won't subject you. This is a fantastic movie and I hope that in addition to the Black Canary spin-off we see more of the Birds in some form. Maybe an HBO Max show or movie. Or popping up in other movies. Fingers crossed. 

Next up, we take a trip back to the '80's with our favorite Amazon in "Wonder Woman 1984."

Do you love "Birds of Prey" as much as I do? Let me know in the comments! Gush with me. If you don't like it, keep it to yourself. I kid! But not really.