Margot Robbie OWNS the Character

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.
The Boomer Review by Cecilia Calabrese.

I saw this movie in magnificent “XD” format. It was a feast for the senses…almost to the point of overload. If you like splashes of color and action on a gigantic screen, see Birds of Prey in XD!

Margot Robbie OWNS the character, Harley Quinn! Unlike the numerous actors who created the multiple iterations of “Mistah J”, Batman, and Robin, no one can credibly recreate the cartoon/comic book personality, Harley Quinn, like Margot Robbie. I suspect she would be willing to make as many Harley Quinn movies as the DC Universe can turn out because she clearly has fun in that role. And if she is not having fun, she is a better actor than I give her credit for.

Rounding out the ensemble cast: Rosie Perez (Renee Montoya), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Helena Bertinelli), Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Dinah Lance), and Ella Jay Basco (Cassandra Cain) mesh well. The interactions among these main characters feel genuine and left me guessing just where all this was going to end up.

Ewan McGregor lost himself as the sadistic Roman Sionis. I greatly appreciate when actors not only portray a character well, they seem to actually BECOME the character so well that I have to wait until the Cast Credits to find out who played that part.

The action revolves around Harley Quinn’s life after her final (?) break-up with the Joker, following the exploits in the movie Suicide Squad (For Harley’s exploits before Suicide Squad, check out “Truly Madly Deeply: The Definitive Origin of Harley Quinn” here on Nerds who Read). For the first time, Harley is trying to find her place in the world without having a significant other in her life. Her internal conflict centers on deep seeded trust issues: in herself and others. She is protector and antagonist at the same time. The conflict with Roman Sionis sets up a scenario that brings our four Sirens of Swat (my description) together. As such, the women ultimately must decide whether it is in their own best interest, and the future of Gotham, to protect or betray a young pick-pocket that stole something of value from Sionis.

The stunts, the action, the vivid colors, the pithy dialogue, even the '80s-style cliches (as a Boomer, I offer a tip of the hat to the writers on that) all result in a classic comic book movie. Gotham City was portrayed just as seedy and disturbed as I am used to, but not quite as visually dark as we see in other representations. Gotham, being a character unto itself, has been represented in many styles. This Gotham was a bit of a departure.

Now, did I like this movie? That’s hard to say. Sitting here, right now, having just finished watching the film about two hours ago, my jury is still out! I had major issues with the continuity of the story line. Narration of the initial animated introduction made a point of stating that to tell a story, you start at the beginning [unless you're Quentin Tarantino -Ed.]. Well, this movie did do that. But then frequent sequences of the story line became frenetic, disjointed, and, at times, hard to follow. I suspect it may be helpful to have read the actual comic books before seeing the film. That, I did not do. However, there is one HUGE plot inconsistency that I found distracting to the point of getting lost in the time line. Because of it, I was confused regarding whether what I was watching was happening in “present” time, or as “flash-back” action. Part of my confusion was on account of a costume accessory. I’m a bit of a stickler for details like that, especially when they play a prominent part in the story-telling.

This movie really wasn’t my cup of Jamba Juice. It seemed as though the director, Cathy Yan, was infusing the campiness of the Batman that I grew up with (Adam West) into Gotham City of 2020. For me, the movie did get more enjoyable as the film progressed to its conclusion. I’m not quite sure what that says about the film as a whole. But, if you are a DC Universe fan, this film is meant for you. Stick around for the little end-credit nugget if you are so inclined, but if you had the large soda, it’s not worth the bladder distress.

Cecilia Calabrese is the Vice President of the Agawam City Council and will serve as President of the Massachusetts Municipal Association in 2020. She is a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as well as a Registered Dental Hygienist and a rental property manager. Married to her husband, Michael Calabrese, for 34 years, they have two grown children, Charles and Michaela Calabrese.

Cece has written featured articles in The Valley Advocate (Tom Duggan, Editor), as well as various opinion pieces in The Springfield Republican and The Agawam Advertiser News. She is currently on the pre-production crew for daughter Michaela’s graduate film project. Filming starts later this month! Please give your generous support to the project at GoFundMe.com.

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Photo credit(s): Movieweb