Movie REview: Birds of Prey
Henri Robbins | Online Editor
You ever hear the phrase “set your expectations low, and they’ll always be exceeded?” That’s what I did for this movie, and even with that, it was just okay. In what was meant to be a challenge or, as they put it, an “emancipation” of the typical Harley Quinn character, DC cleverly turned some tropes of the genre on their head, but shamelessly – if unknowingly – fell into others completely. For every positive here, there was a parallel negative. While they did create a strong, likeable protagonist, they would often forget that “strong independent woman” doesn’t just mean “woman with a gun,” and even though they created compelling antagonists, they were often coded in a way that made them feel contrived and, in some moments, even astoundingly insensitive to the current political climate. As much as they came up with a unique plot, that’s all it was: Unique. Not great, no, not even good. Just unique. There’s a reason nobody did it before. But this is a Harley Quinn movie, so are you really here for any of that? No, not at all. You’re watching it for absolute chaos. You want to see something unbelievably unrealistic, unabashedly tacky, and unapologetically ridiculous. You want bonkers storylines, witty one-liners, and over-the-top action scenes. You want ditzy storytelling and a funny narrative. So, does it have all that? Yes. Absolutely. That’s exactly what this movie is. It’s not meant to be all that deep, nor is it meant to be all that serious. It’s just meant to be entertaining, and it certainly does that, as long as you’re not expecting anything like Joaquin Phoenix’s performance from Margot Robbie.
Rating: 5/10