Review

"Birds of Prey": Harley Smashes Her Way Onto the Big Screen

Reporter Maggi Belvin

On February 7th of 2020, the unofficial sequel to 2016s Suicide Squad was released under the title of Birds of Prey. The movie follows Harley Quinn, fresh out of a break up with her “puddin” Joker, as she deals with the many residents in Gotham who want her dead as she teams up with three other women of Gotham. The movie stars Margot Robbie returning as Harley Quinn, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Winstead as Huntress, Rosie Perez as Renee, Ella Baco as Cassandra, and Ewan Mcgregor as Black Mask. These stars took their roles and created the movie.

The visuals for the movie were very different from the normal darkness of the DCU, with bright colors throughout and color-filled wardrobe (which cannot be a surprise with Miss Quinn as our leading lady.) The tone of the movie also left the more serious style of DC movies for a more comedic, Deadpool-like mood. It was a nice change of pace from the previous DC movies brought to screen, especially when compared to the other most recent DC movie, Joker, which was a polar opposite to Birds of Prey.

Even with the joking moments throughout the movie, it still contained a serious undertone when needed to drive the plot forward and bring forth conflict. The film did a great job transitioning these moments, especially when motives and characters were being introduced by Quinn (giving a quick introduction to the characters who we will need to know and remember.)

The movie also makes good use its characters' anti-hero status, since none of the characters are actually good. None of the characters had unselfish motives to do what they were doing. Even if our group of girls ultimately saved Gotham, it was not out of the kindness of their hearts. Every character had their own motive and reason for being in the situation. They did not have any of the stereotypical motivation of saving the world or anything; it was purely personal.

Quinn also goes through a serious look change as she chops off her long pigtails, crosses out her Joker-themed tattoos, and changes her clothes from her old red and blue fit to many new outfits. Quinn wears a plain pair of demon shorts that have stripes going down the fabric, a hot pink sports bra as a shirt, and many other things including a clear jacket with the sleeves covered in caution tape and confetti. The outfits worn by her and the other characters showed the difference in the personalities of the characters. It also brought a less serious image to the story, which showed Harley as less serious but still crazy nonetheless.

Birds of Prey took the normal expectations of the normal DC movie and tore it up. Going in a different direction as the majority of the DC movies and switching completely to another tone and visual effect was refreshing to DC fans. Especially after most DC movies seem repetitive and tedious. This was a fresh idea though and brought a ray of hope back to the DC universe when it comes to time on the big screen. It was also a huge step up from Suicide Squad and is one of the few sequels that is better than the first movie. The characters were all fun to follow and the plot was enjoyable without being too simple nor too complicated.