How "Birds of Prey" catch on and why you will immediately forget them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Critic Alexei Khromov tells what is good about Harley Quinn's solo story and why you shouldn't expect much from it.

The next film of the DC cinematic universe is coming out on Russian screens. In it, viewers will once again meet with the most popular heroine of the successful financially but criticized Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie.

Interestingly, the title of the picture in the first place is the name of the next superhero team. And only additionally indicated "The amazing story of Harley Quinn." This makes one think that the heroine, as in the same "Suicide Squad", will be just one of the many participants in the story. In fact, the new film is one hundred percent dedicated to the character of Margot Robbie. This is its main advantage and, surprisingly, disadvantage.

Fun, but too simple plot

The plot begins with the story of the heroine herself about her breakup with the Joker. Breaking up toxic relationships is not easy for Harley, and she tries not to talk about it to other criminals for fear of losing her immunity. But still, Harley soon arranges a demonstration action, and all the offenders rush to take revenge on the bully, who managed to annoy literally every villain in Gotham.

Meanwhile, the young thief Cassandra Kane (Ella Jay Basco) manages to steal the value belonging to the most dangerous man in the city, Roman Sayonis, nicknamed the Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). And, of course, the two heroines collide, fleeing numerous pursuers. And at the same time they become the target of several more women, each of whom has its own goals.

Already from the description, you can see that the main plot fits into the most ordinary criminal story, where an experienced criminal suddenly becomes sympathetic to a teenager and begins to help him. Alas, Birds of Prey adds literally nothing to this base.

Most of the twists are quite predictable, and therefore the desire to present it as a convoluted plot in the style of early Guy Ritchie (or his new "Gentlemen") remains only a game with form, but does not add depth to the content. Humor does sometimes enter the territory of second-rate comedies. Especially ridiculous is the twist with the core value that the villains seek.

But, surprisingly, there are two classic tricks that save. First, Harley herself becomes the storyteller in this story and, like Deadpool, often speaks directly to the audience. This adds to the comic, because her perception often contradicts what is shown on the screen. And secondly, the heroine makes the action nonlinear, then forgetting to tell something, then skipping over different memories.

Therefore, the whole film rests, in fact, only on the charisma and talent of Margot Robbie.

Harley Quinn Benefit and Lots of Extras

Obviously correcting the mistakes of "Suicide Squad", the creators of the new film decided to concentrate on one character and left everyone else just to help her along the way. The bet on the favorite of the public, Margot Robbie, is the main victory of "Birds of Prey".

But in the beginning, there is a feeling of excessive caution. Almost a third of the picture Harley is going through a breakup with the Joker. Of course, you need to convey the feelings of the heroine and explain the changes in her life. But still, devoting so much time to a character who does not even appear in the film looks like a desire to connect the plot more tightly with the MCU and comics.

The trouble is, because of this, the rest of the storylines suffer. In addition to Harley Quinn and Cassandra Kane, they represent directly the future team of Birds of Prey: police officer Renee Montoyu (Rosie Perez), who is not appreciated by her colleagues, singer Dina Lance (Jerny Smollett-Bell), who works for Zionis, and the mysterious Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead),shooting criminals with a crossbow.

Literally until the very final battle, any attentive viewer will have the feeling that the character of each of them was simply taken from the old stereotypical cinema, forgetting to add at least some individuality. Even more offensive, their talented actresses play. Only self-irony saves: in the film, they repeatedly joke about hackneyed phrases and actions.

Things are no better for Black Mask. Bright Ewan McGregor was given a very expressive role, but even his talent is not enough to make Sionis something other than an operetta villain. Of course, this is much better than the image of Cara Delevingne in "Suicide Squad", where the villainess stood still throughout the film. Although immediately there is a desire to wait for the extended version of the picture, if there is one, and get to know the rest of the characters better.

But Margot Robbie seems to have been given complete creative freedom. Or maybe she just became so close to the character. Harley Quinn was made less deliberately sexy than in "Suicide Squad". And this is a big plus. Her costumes have turned from the fantasies of a preoccupied teenager into a real carnival of madness, and her behavior rushes from bright displays of remarkable intelligence to outright clownery.

Harley Quinn in this film not only takes beautiful poses and fights. She cries, laughs, grimaces, keeps a hyena and a stuffed beaver at home and confesses her love to her sandwich. The latter does a good job of justifying her suffering for the Joker: since she is so attached to the sandwich, what can I say about the villain.

It's a pleasure to watch Margot Robbie in this look. In Harley, you can see that very sincere madness and drive, which were so lacking before.

Peppy, but too late action

Of course, from such a film, first of all, they expect driving scenes and fun. But there are problems here too. The really active action will start only after the middle of the movie. The beginning is very slow, only rare antics of the main character help out.

Of course, Harley was given most of the action scenes here. As a result, the fights look not very memorable, but extremely witty. Only she can turn the pogrom at the police station into a kind of carnival, leaving the action as cruel as possible: the film's 18+ rating is not at all accidental.

Otherwise, it is a rather pleasant choreography with obligatory slow-mo, the use of surrounding objects, an excellent soundtrack, which is one of the main advantages of the picture, and incessant jokes.

But the ending seems to be justified for all the previous parts of the plot, allowing you to enjoy the perfectly staged action. At the same time, one condition is important here: you cannot take it too seriously. No wonder even the entourage itself hints at the obvious comic nature of what is happening. There will be a massive brawl in a very unusual setting, and then a chase (again in a style that only the story of Harley Quinn is capable of).

Birds of Prey has fixed many Suicide Squad bugs. The villains here are not so bland, the action looks more cheerful, the humor is brighter. But by abandoning controversial Batman v Superman-style experiments, the DC Universe began to produce films that were too predictable.

Birds of Prey will surely delight a group of friends on Saturday night. But like Wonder Woman, Aquaman or Shazam, this film is unlikely to be remembered for long. The picture simply offers a flamboyant Margot Robbie and two hours of fun that you don't need to think about. Sometimes this is good. Although DC lacks the courage to do something more original, even in a humorous way.