80. Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn; movie review

BIRDS OF PREY AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN
Cert 15
109 mins
BBFC advice: Contains  strong violence, injury detail, language, sexual threat

Even though women are kicking ass, Mrs W declined to watch Birds of Prey because she thought it would be dreary.
I confirmed her fears when I returned home. Even a performance from Margot Robbie that was so exaggerated it was akin to pantomime, couldn't save Cathy Yin''s film.
I was one of the few who write positively about the debut of Harley Quinn (Robbie) in Suicide Squad in 2016.
"Suicide Squad offered a much-needed new angle to the DC/Marvel movies and, while it would be easy to poke holes in its content, I reckoned it satisfied as a two-hour brain-free diversion," I reported.
If only Birds Of Prey had held my attention similarly. I even trotted off to Derby Odeon's toilet after an hour, knowing I wouldn't be missing anything.
To sum up, it is two hours of Robbie kicking pretty much everyone where it hurts while trying to be smarter than all of them.
She does this while wearing the shortest of shorts, threatening to expose herself while flipping her many cartwheels.
While I haven't enjoyed the avalanche of superhero movies over the past decade or two, I understood that they brought families back to the cinema, always ensuring they kept within the bounds of the 12A certificate.
This movie makes no attempt to lure in the kids. It is violent, sweary and is consistently sexually suggestive.
Robbie's Harley narrates the film and explains at the outset that she has broken up with Joker, causing mayhem in her grief.
This includes breaking the legs of the driver of local 'businessman' Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) - an action whose consequences are magnified without her ex-boyfriend's protection.
McGregor fails to convince as a crime boss who is so ruthless that he specialises in his enemies faces being peeled off.
He just doesn't have the combination of danger and wackiness of those who have previously played Gotham City villains.
Meanwhile, the gang of lasses who Harley inadvertently gathers, played by Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Ella Jay Basco are all kept firmly in her shadow.
If you want huge explosions, Margot Robbie beating up every adversary in the shortest of tight shorts and Ewan McGregor trying and failing to be a cross between Jack Nicholson and Joaquin Phoenix, then this is for you.
If you set your sights higher, there are enough better movies out there.

Reasons to watch: Margot Robbie
Reasons to avoid: Such a weak storyline

Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? Harley Quinn is different from most other DC characters because she didn’t make her first appearance in the comics. Instead, she debuted on Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. As a testament to her instant appeal, Quinn made her comic book entrance in The Batman Adventures #12 just a year later.

The final word. Margot Robbie: "There are so many incredible female DC characters that we haven’t met yet that I was introduced to through the comics, and we hadn’t seen them on screen. So I thought there was an opportunity there, and the Birds of Prey as a platform could be a great launchpad to bring in so many different characters.” Gizmodo

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