By Calgary Maez

DC has had some highs and lows with the DC Extended Universe; with 2019 including some of their highest highs. So how does Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) rank among its predecessors? Like the film’s title: an over-the-top mess. 

Birds of Prey stars Margot Robbie as anti-heroine Harley Quinn, who goes through a dramatic breakup with The Joker and now has a target painted on her back by Roman Sionis, A.K.A. Black Mask, who is played by Ewan McGregor. 

The lead actor and actress definitely have fun within their roles and have a decent supporting cast, such as Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress and Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary. However, their supporting roles fall short with Huntress’ very limited screen time and Black Canary’s very limited abilities.

Director Cathy Yan tries to take a unique approach by telling the film from Quinn’s point of view, and portrays her overly jumbled thought process. However, this technique doesn’t pay off. The film takes about an hour to introduce all of its characters through heavy flashback scenes and heavy exposition dialogue.

At one point, you forget what the overall plot is because the film juggles all of the characters’ backstories so much. It’s also worth pointing out that it seems as though it’s more of a Harley Quinn spin-off than it is a Birds of Prey film.

The film does have some scenes with great action and funny dialogue mixed within, especially in the third act. 

Overall, Birds of Prey feels like a glorified breakup film through the eyes of the psychotic Harley Quinn with members of the actual Birds of Prey mixed in. Although it does have some moments of cool action and funny dialogue, it’s not worth the price of admission because of its poorly written story and messy set-up of characters, accompanied by their poor overall development.

Photos Courtesy of IMDB.

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