Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn): Film Review

Synopsis

From Rotten Tomatoes:

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham's most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya's paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down. 

Review

I think that everyone had some apprehension towards the existence of this film. We all know that Suicide Squad (2016, dir. David Ayer) - while I did enjoy it (at the time) - was not excellent, but I think that knowing there was a new team making this film alleviated some of that apprehension. And damn, did they do a good job! I view this film as the third success for DC Films (1st Wonder Woman, 2nd Shazam!, and now this - I did not like Aquaman). This film has an excellent visual style. I don't know why, but I am a sucker for a colorful film (the poster for John Wick: Chapter 2 is what made me want to see that film, not the trailer). This film has a colorful and silly tone, as evidenced by the poster and lengthy title, that works for this story. I loved the action scenes. They were so smooth (thanks to Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick trilogy, for being the action scene coordinator) and entertaining (thanks to director Cathy Yan for employing a colorful and silly tone that drew me into the movie more). A lot of the thanks has to go to director Cathy Yan for having a solid grasp on how to create atmosphere with tone and handle a cast this strong. Everyone came to play in this. Margot Robbie does a great job, again (she was what saved Suicide Squad), as Harley Quinn, but the MVP's of this film are everyone in the supporting cast. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Rosie Perez are excellent together (they should be together more, but more on that later). I also really enjoyed Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis/Black Mask. He was menacing, but still wasn't to be taken to seriously (keeping in line with the tone). Now, nothing is without its problems. The third act of this film is very rushed and coincidental. The team up in the third act seems to happen so randomly, the film just expects you to not question it. Also, the marketing around this film is doing it a disservice. What is being promoted is a team movie about sisterhood, but, while the sisterhood theme is still there, what is presented is a movie about Harley Quinn with some other characters that are there. The film still works, but it's not exactly what you'd think.