The narrative structure is comprised of an overabundance of voiceovers and non-stop exposition and so little character development. While the film is directed with assurance by Cathy Yan, the story is a mess, as it volleys back and forth with enough confusing flashbacks, flash-forwards, and freeze frames that one becomes quite giddy from all of the weak storytelling and fancy editing. It sure isn't its disjointed screenplay by Christina Hodson. That she is again played by the talented Margot Robbie is the movie's greatest asset. The film is a spin-off to the successful Suicide Squad (2016), only this time it focuses on its most enduring character, that crazed kewpie doll killer babe, Harley Quinn, who has been ceremoniously dumped by her beau, Joker. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), a long title for an even longer film, falls into the latter category. JIM'S REVIEW: Most superhero movies either take themselves too seriously or are so tongue-firmly-in-cheek that they lose sight of the plot as they distract with the violent action.
IN BRIEF: A disappointing superhero movie that is big, loud, and garish but no fun, despite Margot Robbie's valiant efforts. In a Hollywood dominated by kids flicks aimed at adults, Birds of Prey was a kid flick entirely for adults.GRADE: C- THIS FILM IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
Birds of Prey’s under-performance again shows that the Internet doesn’t represent the general populace. It’s also the kind of “roll of the dice” that’s justified after Aquaman tops $1.148 billion and Joker (the big adult movie/Oscar movies/scary movie of late 2019) tops $1.074 billion. But it was harder-edged adult fun for specifically adult audiences.ĭid the R-rating (and hyperbolic complaints about its R-rated content) scare off women who prefer conflict-lite female-party movies like Mama Mia! Here We Go Again and Ocean’s 8 over grimmer “the world as it is now” comedies and dramas like Snatched and Widows? Did the comic book source material turn off the same demos who didn’t care for what looked like a kid flick? Or was Birds of Prey, despite being based on a DC comic book, the latest adult-skewing biggie to fall victim to a theatrical environment where there’s only, at best, room for one big adult movie ( Bad Boys For Life) in a given season?īirds of Prey is, like Max Max: Fury Road (which also earned 2.5x its budget, $375 million on a $150 million budget including $153 million domestic), the kind of “for the love of the game” swing you want to see from a studio like Warner Bros. Birds of Prey is as “fun” as any comic book superhero movie we’ve had in awhile. It really does feel like a candy store for adult moviegoers.
Nonetheless, Cathy Yan and Christina Hodson’s Birds of Prey arguably took the whole “kids films aimed at adults” mentality to its natural “subtext becomes text” conclusion. Even Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins was essentially as much “intended for smart kids” as Raiders of the Lost Ark was in its day.
This is not as zero sum as I’ve made it seem, as kids of all ages thrilled to Aquaman and The Force Awakens.
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