I haven’t been in the movie-watching mood lately. I’m not sure what it is. Maybe it’s because I’ve been busy with work, or obsessed with the bogus impeachment hearings. I swear, watching a grown-ass man, Congressman Adam Schiff, go completely retard on live TV, is really entertaining I mean, the dude actually thinks President Trump will sell Alaska to the Russians, to win the 2020 elections.
What’s more entertaining than that, right? Movies? Watch our congress, you can’t write greater comedy. And if you probably tried to write any of what Schiff said into a script, the audience just wouldn’t buy it.
Somewhere during the hearings, which did get as entertaining as watching paint dry, Birds of Prey came along, or Harley Quinn Part Two, and I was sorta intrigued – sorta. Like I sorta might go but won’t wait in line for it.
Fast-forward to the present ~
I was looking forward to a Harley Quinn stand-alone movie ever since she made her debut in Suicide Squad, but once I saw the trailers, my enthusiasm did a 180. I still saw the movie – and I thought it was slightly better than average.
But my big problem was that all the sex appeal of Harley Quinn was out the door. In this story, she was just a crazy woman wearing shorts that were two sizes two sizes too large. I guess Margot Robbie, who produced this movie, wanted Harley to be more than just a sex symbol of DC. Unfortunately, this movie just ended up being a victim of bad decisions.
“Canon Harley” weaponizes her sex appeal and uses it to manipulate men. I mean, come on. What is Harley Quinn without her sex appeal. This character flaw (or characteristic, however you want to interpret it) was eliminated in Birds of Prey, completely. And what you got in this flic was a Harley Quinn that was just one-dimensional crazy.
Birds of Prey tried to mimic Deadpool’s and Pulp Fiction’s style of storytelling. The whole movie was a voiceover by Harley, and about half of the movie was a story that was told out of order. This was probably done on purpose to imply that Harley is scattered. While it was a nice artistic touch, it did waste a lot of screentime. I think it took close to one hour to tell 10-minutes worth of story. If you take a step back and look at the storyline, it’s really quite straight-forward and thin. Harley has to find a diamond, and if she does, all is well – that’s it.
The big downer to this movie was the antagonist, Roman Sionis. Roman was rightfully introduced as a very bad guy, so you’re thinking by the time we roll to the 3rd act, you’re going to get some epic fight scene. A fight scene that will redefine Harley Quinn, her role in DC, and force her to grow.
But nope.
His death scene is horribly unfulfilling and Harley doesn’t learn much. There is no big fight scene between Roman and Harley. It just ends…blah in the most unfulfilling way. I won’t spoil it, but it’s like – that’s it? Roman’s dead? Really? What the hell.
Here is Roman in Batman: Arkham Asylum. This reveal is a bit more my speed.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Birds of Prey is not a bad movie, it’s just not great. It’s not going to wow your socks off and make you want to buy it. It’s just a fun entertaining movie, which says a lot since it’s DC (who has a bad track record of ruining their own franchise).
Oh yeah, one more thing. This is not a kid-friendly movie.
GRADE: C+
Steve Young
