Its full title is Birds of Prey: Or the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn; however, I find nothing fantabulous about it. A long time ago — in the 1990s, I believe — I used to rant quite a bit about big, mindless action movies which seemed to exist for no other reason than to celebrate and revel in violence and destruction for their own sakes. This movie is a return to that sad time, albeit with a feminist slant — which might actually make this one worse than those that have gone before.
Cathy Yan’s film is the second to feature anti-heroine Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie, in what has become her signature role). Harley has just broken up with the Joker and is looking for closure. She finds it by blowing up his big chemical factory. Then she gets involved with young pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), lounge singer / limo driver Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary) (Jurnee Smollett), vengeful crossbow killer Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and tough cop Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez). Soon, crazy gangster guy Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) and his henchmen are trying to kill all of them, so naturally they have to fight back to survive.
To those viewers who love the DC comics from which these characters find their way, all this mayhem may be compelling and entertaining. I find the whole mess tiresome and somewhat disturbing. These are people who live in a “kill or be killed” world, where slicing off someone’s face and pickling it is not looked upon as anything particularly rash. Sorry, but it’s not for me. And to see women perpetrating the same cartoonish violence on the men who have been preying on them forever is not enlightening or exciting. That’s not to say that a group of women as avenging angels is not dramatically worthwhile or societally due — but this film, like the rather dreadful Suicide Squad — is caught between lame comedy, uneven satire and a celebration of the violence it takes such care to present as fun that it should not and cannot be taken seriously.
Seeing movies like this makes me think that the art form has passed me by. If people actually think this type of rude, lewd, in-your-face violence-fest is supposed to be good, valid entertainment, then why am I watching anymore? But then I take a deep breath and come to my senses. It isn’t me; tastes have changed and a certain level of really nasty movies has always been with us and has proven to be at least somewhat popular (horror’s splatter movies; torture flicks; Pauly Shore comedies, etc.). Oh well. Just because they are around doesn’t mean I have to enjoy them. And I don’t. ☆. 14 November 2020.