Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is one of those movies I have been waiting for, for a long time. As soon as Suicide Squad came out in theaters, there were a lot of split views, but one character stood out: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).
Pretty soon, a Harley and Joker spinoff got announced, but the studio decided to go through with just a Harley solo film. Once I saw the trailer, I didn’t know what to think of it. As much as I have an undying love for Harley and her backstory, it didn’t catch my attention. There was no storyline, Black Mask didn’t look like Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) nor did Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), but I decided to keep an open mind and just went to the theaters on opening night.
Since 2016, Harley went through hell following her beau. After the escape from Belle Reve, it didn’t take long for them to split up. Harley’s development was massive. She went from a lovesick puppy to a badass woman trying to make a living for herself. Her true self was shining through, and she used a lot of her psychology skills she acquired before she became insane. The stunts done by Harley in this movie have taken a higher level than in Suicide Squad, it kept me on the edge of my chair. The way Harley translated the story felt a lot like how they did it for Deadpool. Not just the swearing, but also Harley’s point of view. Sometimes it was hard to follow her story, but Harley made sure we were all caught up.
For Ewan McGregor‘s Black Mask, the development of the character went slow, but when Black Mask hit, you knew he was there, and he was not playing. His relationship with Zsasz wasn’t one of love. It became more of an influence on the fact they both needed to be in control, and the one would feed the other’s insanity. There were moments that Victor Zsasz would fuel the fire that was burning in Black Mask‘s mind and push the man in the mask to take over. I did not think I would like Chris Messina‘s take on Victor Zsasz, but I think I and many other fans got stuck on the idea of Zsasz being bald. This role was his interpretation, and he excelled.
In the first half of the movie, I didn’t feel there was a Birds of Prey storyline going on. In the end, though, it all came together nicely where Black Canary (Jurnee Smollet-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) teamed up to save Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). It wasn’t necessarily Birds of Prey yet, but more an origin to how they became the power team. The last fight scene with Harley and the Birds of Prey was phenomenal and set the level high for future movies.
Have you seen Birds of Prey? Let us know in the comment below. I’m always open to discuss the movie with you.
Birds of Prey is out now in theaters.
