Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Birds Of Prey

This is a blast filled with anarchy, madness and over the top violence with great humour and a outstanding lead performance from Margot Robbie as the one and only Harley Quinn. This film was one of the films I didn’t watch many of the trailers for as I wanted to be surprised and so I only saw one trailer for this film and that was about it and I definitely enjoyed it more by doing so as I didn’t know half the things that would happen in the film. As I went to the trailers after I watched it and saw that the trailers did show a large portion of the film in the trailer the film itself I enjoyed a lot it’s definitely top five DC films if you were to ask me as i find it interesting that in recent years the best DC films have been the ones with the lighter tone like Wonder Woman or Aquaman. Birds Of Prey is a sugar filled rush full of exciting and explosively fun action with hilarious humour and a damn fun time.

Firstly, This film was like Deadpool but a female version of it and that’s a compliment. When I heard the film was going to be rated R I was so excited because ever since Deadpool a  ton of companies think that every comic book film needs that R rating but I find that it only works if it works for the personality of the character that it is centred around and the four best Logan, Deadpool, Joker and now Harley Quinn. It isn’t just over the top violence with excessive amounts of swearing it actually works for Harley as she has that personality that can’t be censored and that’s why I had such issues with Suicide Squad as I felt it would of had a lot of better results if it had the creative freedom of an R rating and that’s what we get here and it was such fun. A lot of the violence in this film is used for comedic value like Deadpool and it works brilliantly of course their is violence used for the more serious elements but a lot of it is for comedic use and this is a candy drenched toned film with such great mixture of colours. It has this really engaging look to the film that you can’t look away from and it’s all due to the great immersive world your sucked into but overall the film really befitted from its R rating and used it to really make the tone of the character and of its world work perfectly. 

Secondly, The cast in this film is fantastic! You have the great likes of Ewan McGregor who is having such fun as the antagonist of this film and really chews up every scene he’s in with great energy and great intimidation. Then theirs the two amazing stand outs Mary Elizabeth Winstead who comes in very much later in the film and has a very cool and interesting backstory that is a scene stealer that I would of loved to have seen so much more of. And then second character who also stood out to me was Jurnee Smollett - Bell who gives a mysterious and really tough character that starts to revel layers of herself throughout the film and really gives a compelling and entertaining performance that you can’t take your eyes off of. And last but certainly not least Margot Robbie who gives a fun, unpredictable and layered performance of Harley Quinn. She was able to to explore so much more about the character this time as in suicide Squad she was more looked at as The Jokers girlfriend and here we get to see a lot more of her character fleshed out and so many more sides of her are explored which I loved. As we get to see beneath the surface that was scratched in suicide squad as we see her flaws and we get to see the sadness that follows her some of it is played for comedic effect but for a good portion they do explore the insecurities she has as well as showing the emotional depth that she lacked in suicide squad. Margot crackles and pops onscreen in a fantastically fun performance that is so much fun to watch unfold onscreen. 

Now, the only issue I had with the film was two things the first being that Ewan McGregor’s character in the first few minutes was very compelling and he does a marvellous performance no doubt. The issue I had was the use of how they wrote him he seemed very slick and sinister without being obvious and that’s the look they give him in the first 15 minutes and I liked that but then as the film progresses he fell into the background and Became the generic antagonist I hoped he wouldn’t become and I feel if they focused on writing sharper dialogue for him then the villain easily would of been one of the best antagonist I’ve seen in a DC film sadly that didn’t happen. The film instead had me feeling mixed things about how they approached their villain and then the second thing was the storyline. Now I love the Harley Quinn narrative story I enjoy all of that but the film should of had the girls all team up way earlier in the film as I enjoyed that whole bit but it comes towards the end of the film and I wanted more and I had to wait for the third act to get that. Now it was worth it but I wish it would of been a lot more of it though and the story as well felt very predictable and I’ll explain. The story was very straightforward and wasn’t bogged down in trying to tackle to much and for that thank you but the films approach to the story being this chase over the city for this diamond was fun but felt to simple their was no element of surprise or unprecedentedly you could see the outcome coming a mile away now it’s a fun ride just predictable. If they spent more time on the script layering it with more twists and turns it would of been a lot more fun that way as then you are on edge constantly but I never felt that sense of danger for the characters that’s the biggest flaw I took away from this was the script definitely needed more work on their villain and the execution of its story. 

Lastly, Now after talking about what I liked and didn’t like at the end of the day the positives definitely outweigh the flaws. The flaws are still their but the sheer fun this film gives and the entertaining performances and fun tone that is a sugar rush filled with bullets and fun it’s a good time to be had. Margot Robbie showcases a hell of a fun performance with a adrenaline filled ride that you wish that can keep going as I enjoyed every minute of it. Birds Of Prey is definitely one of DC’s best films and one of their most fun if not their most fun film they have put out yet Birds Of Prey is a   Great time to be had. 

This film centres around Harley Quinn at the lowest right after Joker breaks up with her and she now has to fend for herself and she does so but learns that she is wanted all over the city and has to learn to thrive on her own and showing people that Harley Quinn is a name that should be known 

Rated R : for strong violence and language throughout, and some sexual and drug material

Margot Robbie :  Robbie delivers a damn good performance of the role that made her a household name. If Wolf Of Wall Street was the breakout performance of hers the role of Harley Quinn shot her into the stratosphere and here she plays Harley in a different light compared to when we last saw her. In suicide Squad she was the scene stealer of that film despite its many many issues she was the one good thing about that film and the thing is though in that film she was more looked at as Jokers girlfriend and for her sex appeal. Here she shatters that image into pieces and shows what she is capable of and I freaking love it. In this film since she is the centre of the film we get to spend so much more time with her and we get to explore the inside of her head of what she’s like emotionally as it was explored in suicide squad a bit about the emotional pain he caused her but here we see the after math of it as she isn’t with him anymore so we see her for a bit at her lowest. Now when we do see her when she’s low it is used for humour but I didn’t laugh I thought it was quite sad actually that in order for her to be happy she had to be mastered by someone and that is mentioned in the film and their is this sadness that comes across her when she talks about herself and you can see she dose not like it as she gets overcome with emotion and her sarcastic dark humour is a defence mechanism and Robbie explores that complexity so beautifully within the film in such a emotionally real way. We also get to see how she is so alone and paints a smile over her face to hide her insecurities which is quite deep but I love that because it gave her character such an arc and depth that had yet to be explored and Robbie can bring a brutal emotional moment holding back tears and then the next she could be laughing in an instant. Robbies ability to slip into such layers of the character throughout the film was impressive and really got me to invest in the character more then ever as I got to learn so much more then I did before. When she is in a scene playing Harley she transforms as she looks different and changes the tone in her voice and commits 100% to the scene its like the comic book character jumped out on the screen she brings her all to this role giving great charisma and energy and you can tell she’s having so much fun playing this character. Robbie brought great moments of dramatic weight but also the fun humorous moments as well and was able to know when was the perfect moment to inject which action of emotion into the scene. She pops and steals every frame of this film she has honestly become of the actors who was perfectly cast for this role I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing this role as perfectly as Margot. Overall in Birds Of Prey Margot explores the darkness in Harleys heart but also shows the fun childlike humour of her as well showing new sides to her while giving a fun entertaining performance. 

Cathy Yan : Cathy Yan have a fantastically directed film! Here she doesn’t try to tackle to much she focused in on fleshing out Harley Quinn while capturing the madness and anarchy that comes along the way. The films tone she set out was perfectly done it was a bone crunching bullet filled fun time as she doesn’t make it over bloated with to many villains or rely on Harley’s jokes to carry the film she doesn’t do any of that she actually was able to tell a very emotionally compelling story of Harley at her lowest and having to build herself up and show people why they should know her and she also got fantastic performances out of her actors all giving energetic fun performances no matter how big or small everyone contributed greatly to the film. She was able to fuel the film itself with humour, drama and a whole lot of action all resulting in a well balanced fun time that was terrifically directed by Yan who didn’t rely on explosions to wow the audience but really focused in on the characters and got you to cry, root and Cheer for them so when it came to the final act of the film you were emotionally invested In every scene and for a filmmaker who’s not that well known to take on a massive name like this is no easy feat but she pulled it off very well an overall Greatly directed film.