WEIRDO Reviews: Birds of Prey
No more Mista J.
I’m over a month late to the party, but this whole quarantined-because-of-a-certain-pandemic has urged me to give my two-cents on DC’s first film of the decade, which encourages unity rather than isolation. Additionally represented as a tale of self-identity and redemption, Birds of Prey (and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) — boy that’s a mouthful — excels on all fronts.
*Spoilers*
The movie tells the story of the infamous Clown Prince of Crime’s former arm-piece on a journey for independence. This leads her to cross paths with the singing badass Black Canary, the brave and bold detective Renee Montoya, and the deadly assassin Huntress, each possessing their own set of special skills. Although semi-enemies at first, they build an unlikely alliance by the end of the film in their mutual interest to protect the young pickpocket, Cassandra Cain, from the clutches of the narcissistic crime lord Black Mask and his unhinged right-hand, Victor Zsasz.
Birds of Prey never feels sluggish or nonsensical, even given the universe in which it exists. Every beat in the movie is used to propel the plot forward and give insight to each character. This is evident right from the beginning, where Harley’s new binge-drinking habit derives from her recent break-up with the Joker, causing her to drunkenly enact an idea in her head that involves her blowing up Ace Chemicals — the origin of her “rebirth”. With her ties to Joker symbolically obliterated, Harley finds a new lease on life, showcasing the Harley Quinn we all know and love, reckless and impulsive, by badmouthing Black Mask even when he has her strapped to a chair and backhands her multiple times.
But my favorite thing about Harley comes from her fight scenes. Margot Robbie perfectly captures the style and grace Harley uses to destroy her enemies. When she’s not outlandishly shooting bean bags at a whole battalion of police officers, she’s flipping over goons and whopping them with a mallet, giggling the whole time. She feeds thugs to her trusty pet, Bruce — which of course happens to be a hyena! Leave it to Harley to have a domesticated wild animal. And when she’s not breaking legs or rollerblading through gunfire, she’s trading one liners with the other femme fatales, who are all badasses in their own right.
Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary is a welcome addition to the DCEU, having made her predecessors on the CW network proud. She can sing with the best of them, has a temper akin to that of Wolverine’s, and can kick some serious ass. No joke. Every time she kicked someone — which, if you don’t know, is a signature Black Canary thing — I felt as though I was the one getting a heel to the chest. Even the one time she uses her Canary Cry made the nerd in me jump for joy and high-five my brother in the theater quite audibly. The reason she can’t use it all the time, as is explained in the movie, is because it makes her faint, which is a welcome retcon to the source material for being a realistic explanation. Smollett-Bell seems to be having a blast, delivering every line with pure confidence and aggression. There is a funny bit during the final battle between the Birds and Black Mask’s thugs. Black Canary’s beautifully long locks get in the way of her vision. As the ability to see is obviously necessary in battle, a genuine moment of simple problem solving turns into a comical situation. Harley suggesting a hair tie and Black Canary using it to rope her hair up while kicking a couple of henchmen in the process. This showcases her ability to multitask and how badass she can be while doing it. All in all, Jurnee Smollett-Bell is perfectly cast as the leather-clad heroine, and I think she’s here to stay in the long run if a sequel is ever to be made.
After my second viewing, one of my favorite new additions to the DCEU is Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress. Full of rage and socially awkward, Helena Burtinelli is the daughter of a mob family that gets gunned down, which fuels her origin story as a vengeful kid who grows up to train and become an assassin for hire. Not one to come up with names, she dons a few before landing on “Huntress” and takes out a bunch of her enemies in the process, which is included in a funny montage of her killing people and brainstorming codenames. She is a natural badass who tries to be a badass, but doesn’t even need to, which gives the DCEU a layered character in the form of a headstrong professional killer with “rage issues”. The moment that really cemented her as one of my favorite characters in this cinematic universe is when the Birds are going down a pipeline and are chased by a Black Mask thug. Huntress grips the ceiling of the pipe, lands on the goon’s back, and stabs him multiple times. Once they exit the pipeline, everyone stares at Huntress as she rises off the man’s back, leading Harley to utter a thought that I could’ve sworn she stole from my own mind: “You’re really cool.” Yes, Huntress, you really are.
When it was announced that Rosie Perez was cast as Renee Montoya, I had to do some research. Not only was a talented latina actress who came out in a childhood movie of mine, White Men Can’t Jump, going to play a comic book character, but she was also going to be one of the main characters. Nevertheless, my excitement was high. Finally seeing the film, one thought came to mind immediately after Perez steps on screen: she’s perfect. Seriously, the role of a worn-down detective that never seems to get what she’s owed is a role that Perez can do in her sleep. She continuously tries to do the right thing and somehow always gets stabbed in the back anyway. These trials and tribulations don’t prove enough to hold Montoya back. Ahe begins to spread her wings after being suspended by not providing enough arrests for the case she’s working. This leads her to join Harley’s ragtag group of misfits and help them protect Cassandra Cain from Black Mask, leading to one of the best fight scenes in comic book history. When all is said and done, Montoya joins the Birds, which has me giddy to see where this new line of work as a vigilante will lead her in the future.
Cassandra Cain is a mysterious orphan turned ass-kicking vigilante in the comics, but is portrayed as a young, sneaky pickpocket in the film. As the only significant deviation from the source material, newcomer Ella Jay Basco knocks it out of the park. She’s a misfit that runs the streets when major turmoil goes on at home, which leads her to steal something from anyone she comes into contact with. The fact that the whole plot of the movie revolves around a diamond she took from Zsasz should tell you how important she is to the story. A badass in her own right, Cain is what brings the Birds together. Seeing as how Harley and her drove off into the sunset, I can’t wait to see what kind of shenanigans they’ll be up to in a possible future sequel.
Last, but not least, I felt as though I had to group Ewan McGregor’s Black Mask and Chris Messina’s Victor Zsasz together. The two actors play off of each other beautifully, each possessing a certain unpredictable energy throughout the film to keep you guessing which villain is more psychopathic. Roman Sionis is a narcissistic egomaniac who vies for control over Gotham in the wake of Joker’s absence, and Victor Zsasz is a serial murderer who will do anything to help him get it. Certain moments make it seem like Zsasz is obsessed with Sionis in potentially more ways than one. Other moments make it seem as though Sionis couldn’t do anything without Zsasz because he makes his true inner impulses come to life, allowing him to be himself. If Sionis says “jump,” Zsasz says “how high?” which provides us with a psychotic dynamic duo that glues your eyes to the screen. Sometimes they make you laugh. Sometimes they make you uncomfortable. But no matter what, they will definitely make you wish they had a movie of their own. Both of their ends come quite abruptly, however, and so while they will more than likely never be seen in future DCEU movies, at least they will forever live on in this fun doozy of a flick.
As you can probably tell by now, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. From the characters and their costumes to the realistic dialogue and brutal eye-popping action, Birds of Prey revved its way up into my top 20 comic book films of all time. I had hoped it would do better in the box office, seeing as how it didn’t underperform critically. But 2016’s Suicide Squad still has a lingering abysmal taste in viewers’ mouths, and Harley Quinn being front and center led some to give up on the film before even giving it a chance.
Whatever your opinion is on the DCEU going forward, I suggest giving Birds of Prey a watch. Not only will you wish it never ended, but you’ll wish that this ragtag group had a sequel coming soon.
