by Andrew Waterfield ‘20

With Marvel dominating the current superhero film landscape, it can be easy to forget that not every superhero film needs to end with a big laser shooting into the sky and the fate of the world hanging in the balance. The DC Universes’ first R-rated film “Birds of Prey” is a reminder that smaller, ground-level adventures can be just as fun. First-time director Cathy Yan delivers a smaller story that focuses on Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and a ragtag team of vigilantes taking on a sadistic crime lord, and the end result is a whole lot ruder than the average superhero fare. 

There’s a lot to like in “Birds of Prey.” For starters, most of the action scenes are impressively well done. Each one feels unique and inventive, with some great camerawork and use of color. Most of the acting ranges from good to great, with the standouts being Ewan MacGregor, Robbie, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  The over the top characters and set pieces make the movie feel like a 90-minute cartoon in the best possible way. 

Despite the fun characters and flashy action, this movie is far from perfect. Practically the entire cast takes a back seat to Robbie, who despite not being a member of the titular team, is the main character.  Her character opens the film, narrates it, and is the driving force of the plot. So much of the film is dedicated to Harley Quinn, the rest of the character’s backstories had to be told to the audience by Quinn via voice-over. As a result, the rest of the characters are sorely underdeveloped and not incredibly interesting. 

But the weakest part of the movie is definitely the story. In summary, it’s predictable and derivative of better crime thrillers. To make matters worse, it’s told in a way that ruins any solid pacing and dramatic tension. The first half is told in non-chronological order, accompanied by narration by Robbie (think “Deadpool”). And like “Deadpool,” the second half continues as a straightforward narrative. But unlike “Deadpool,” the story isn’t complex or interesting enough to justify this style of storytelling, and the broken structure only serves to make it harder to follow. At times it seemed as though the film was edited in chronological order then re-cut to make it seem more like “Deadpool.” And with the rumored production problems and DCs history of re-editing movies only a few months before release, a last minute re-cut doesn’t seem too far fetched.

Aside from the mediocre story and characters, there is still some fun to be had in this movie. The action scenes are creative and really well put together, there are loads of really good looking shots, and the soundtrack has some bangers. If you go into it looking for a breezy, funny, and action-packed romp, then you should not be disappointed. 

Grade: C+