Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020)

 

Genre: Action/Superhero        Time: 1h 50mins            Director: Cathy Yan

Quick summary: After being thrown out in the streets by Joker, Harley struggles to pick herself up. However, Harley teams up with Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya to defeat a gangster and protect a girl.

This is a wild pinball nature of a ride narrated by the wacky Harley Quinn and man it works so well. 

First of all Margot Robbie as Harley was the best choice they could have ever made. She gives you a crazy, fun and brilliant performance as she captures Harley's nature. She works well with other characters whilst being the main focus in every scene she is in, never falling into the background. Every time she is on screen something funny happens and it always lands. Something else I really liked is that they showed Harley isn't dumb, she is still mentally as smart as she was before she met Joker way back when she was a doctor.

The script is pretty funny too and it matches the disjointed way the film is narrated as the story gets pinballed backwards and forwards when she returns to an earlier scene because she forgot something, but it's clever and it always works. You never get confused about what is happening and you're constantly engaged in the storyline.

This film really plays up the bombastic cartoonish nature which honestly was the best choice for this film, with glitter shooting guns, animated scenes and a remixed music video of "diamonds are a girl's best friend." Although, it falls flat when it tries to be fully serious and edgy in my opinion, as well as some of the other characters are rushed along to fit in the story, which I know fits with the narration style but I didn't really get to see other personalities develop. 

Each character’s storyline is given a slightly different genre and tone, as well, one of a number of tactics the production employs to mimic Harley’s manic internal life, which again I didn't think worked either. I think they tried to introduce too many characters at once. 

Just about every big fight in this film is choreographed and staged in the most interesting way possible: pink and blue smoke fills the air, a grenade launcher fires glitter bombs, there’s a car chase on roller skates, and the movie’s biggest brawl is a big game of keep-away on a merry-go-round. Add that to Robbie’s tremendous talent for physical comedy it is brilliant to watch. It's silly but it really fits in with who this film is about; Harley Quinn. 

This film is a bit of a mess, but a good mess. I really enjoyed this and it was super fun to watch.

7/10

 "I’m not shopping at this store: I’m robbing this store. Paying is for dummies!"

"Psychologically speaking, vengeance rarely brings the catharsis we hope for."