The movie starts with Harley Quinn telling us a story, and it's clear from the beginning the film unfolds with that in mind. This is Quinn's yarn she is weaving, with all the twisted, technicolour, hyperstylized deliciousness that comes with that. There is a bit of unreliable narrator shtick going on here. I read this film as being Harley's version of events, the way she understands them. It's jagged, its romanticized, its rainbow high. Just like something we would expect from her.
Birds of Prey is also unabashedly feminine. We are used to seeing femininity portrayed as weakness but here it is shown as strength. It is roller-derby both girly and kick ass. Even the male main villain is effeminate (another trait often used to reduce a character in audience's eyes) yet truly threatening. The film inverts our assumptions about femininity by using it as a point of strength for both good and evil. It's feminine in subtle and overt ways, flaunting its gender yet also approaching telling a "superhero" story in a different way.
It's gonzo approach, from the glorious costumes to the circus esthetic art direction gives the film a unique and fantabulous visual energy which evoked for me Batman Returns but brighter. A similar madness and fantastic feel, just off from reality but just intense enough to feel it in the gut. Harley is the star and this is her movie therefore this approach is ideal but screenwriter Hodson and director Yan manage to bring in the other characters as well. I appreciated the film's take on Cassandra Cain (despite being quite a departure from the comics version) and Renee Montoya (the good cop who can't break through the glass ceiling and corruption of the force).
My main disappointment is Huntress. I love, love, LOVE Mary Elizabeth Winstead and I was sad to see her have so little screen time. Her story (which should be fascinating) gets rushed and she never gets a scene where she gets to explore the effect of her backstory on her character. If there is a Birds of Prey sequel I hope Huntress gets a better treatment.
But then there is Black Canary. Again the film departs from the traditional version of the character, I don't mean her race, that's irrelevant to who Dinah Lance is, I mean her story. She is closest to a comics run from about 10 years ago that radically redeveloped the character. But despite that she still is the Black Canary. Smollett-Bell brings all the power, rage, confidence, and heroism of this character to brilliant life. After Harley she is the most centred character in the film and she rocks it. She has the most fascinating arc, expresses the most complexity in her emotions, and brings to life what I never thought I'd be able to see. By the time she uses her canary cry near the end of the film I was in fanboy heaven.
Director Yan has made something truly different in the genre by bringing together a number of qualities that action movies, and specifically "comic book movies" (whatever that means) don't explore. It has fun easter eggs and a style and grace that makes it fresh. Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, with a few flaws here and there, is a glorious thing of beauty and I can't wait to see it again.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
Starring: Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Ewan McGregor, Chris Messina, Ali Wong
Director: Cathy Yan
Writer: Christina Hodson
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