An image from the 'Birds of Prey' movie. Picture: IMB An image from the 'Birds of Prey' movie. Picture: IMB
Warner brothers have struggled with making a success of the DC Comics film adaptations. While many have been in the middle of the road, a couple have stood out.
One of which was Shazam praised for its comedic and entertaining storyline. Now, we have another comedic adaptation film: “Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn”.
The film starts with Harley’s breakup with the Joker. She abuses Joker’s influence over Gotham for a while after but once she sends him a message of how she is over him, the whole of Gotham knows too.
With this, everyone who Harley has wronged comes for revenge and Harley must do whatever she can to survive. Along the way, she encounters the young Cassandra Cain as well as the rest of the Birds of Prey.
Sa Nerd Force's full review of Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn. Video by Luther de Lange
DC has crafted one of its best comic adaptation films. Birds of Prey is similar to Shazam but even more similar to the likes of the Deadpool films.
The acting is impeccable, with Margot Robbie shining through as Harley Quinn once again. Everyone else in the cast provides a great performance with only Ewan Mcgregor's character having a few hiccups.
And finally, Birds of Prey is grounded more in reality than most superhero storylines. We have a very human Harley, with the average humans who make up the Birds of Prey (except for Black Canary and her voice-related powers), and the villainous duo of Black Mask and Victor Zsasz, both humans who seek control of Gotham. Overall, it creates a more relatable viewing experience.
Birds of Prey starts off rocky with the film jumping backward in time on multiple occasions. This jumping is not confusing but rather stops the film’s plot from progressing.
This issue only resolves towards the end of the film once more of the story is told. Ewan Mcgregor is a fine actor but the direction the film took Black mask was not ideal.
The continued the light-hearted atmosphere for the villains and so he was less intimidating than he should’ve been. Victor Zsasz had a different issue where he was a lot more brutal and did a better job than Black mask, though the acting for both of these villains was superb as well. I still argue that Zsasz requires a much darker tone to allow for the character’s full potential to be achieved.
Birds of Prey has a few issues sprinkled into an otherwise entertaining movie. The film remains lighthearted without losing the identity of being a DC comic adaptation.
Killer performances, great humour, and many intensive fight scenes, which remind us why Harley was added to Suicide Squad in the first place. For those who want to see a film for a good time, Birds of Prey serves that purpose well.
If you want an intensive Superhero film with a timeline and overarching stories, massive fighting scenes, and world-ending villains, you might want to wait until Birds of Prey is out of the cinema. I give Birds of Prey a 7.5 out of 10.
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