BIRDS of Prey saunters into theaters with flash, style, and swagger. Director Cathy Yan injects life not only into the DC brand, but comic book movies as a whole. While Birds of Prey definitely has its faults, it commands respect as one of the most fun and playful antihero movies in years.
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Much like gorging oneself on a bowl of colorful candy, watching Birds of Prey is mostly enjoyable, but a bit too much at times. The film opens with an animated exposition-focused introduction, and its narration and humor falls a bit too far on the “try-hard” side. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) narrates this segment, and her narration continues throughout the film. At times this works, especially when setting up for some of the more comical character introductions. However, it also acts as Birds of Prey’s most egregious fault. Similar to the opening sequence, many of the voice-over jokes fall flat and attempt to hit that “so random it’s funny” button. Even for a film as frenetically paced as this one, at points it is just too much.
Genuinely funny moments are present in Birds of Prey, but the most noticeably fantastic segments are the fight sequences. A jailhouse brawl with the sprinklers pouring down, a tremendously creative funhouse climax, and slide-based combat all give Birds of Prey’s action a much-needed sense of originality. The film also ditches the drab color pallet of other comic book movies and goes all in on flashy and vibrant visuals. Putting the cherry on top of all this, Birds of Prey’s soundtrack keeps the energy high throughout. Only one or two of the songs initially come across as obnoxiously poppy, but even they end up blending into the chaos.
Margot Robbie delivers with her performance as Harley Quinn, with all of the trappings that entails. If you love this incarnation of the character, you will love her portrayal, but like other aspects of the film she can be overwhelming at times. Ewan McGregor steals the show with his hammy and over the top rendition of Black Mask. He does a fantastic job of bringing the mentally unstable and incredibly violent character to life. The only actor that sticks out is Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. Like many child actors, she does not read her lines super fluidly, but nothing too glaring.
One last peculiar scene to note, Birds of Prey features a direct homage to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). It even packs in a rework of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” While a nice weird little surprise if presented in a vacuum, the wonky editing suggests they had this quite elaborate scene leftover and were trying to find a place to edit it in. It seemed rather sloppy.
Birds of Prey comes in with all guns blazing and does not let up for the entirety of its 1hr 49min runtime. This approach represents both its greatest strength and weakness. The film presents an incredibly vivid and feverish narrative that separates itself from other comic book movies. Simultaneously, that same energy often goes too far and leads to cringeworthy humor and unneeded exposition. Birds of Prey is a fun movie to watch, but also one that comes with a lot of baggage.
