Review for Birds of Prey and The Fabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn
Blerdy Report family, we are back with a review for Birds of Prey and the Fabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn.
Interestingly I enjoyed the film, yes I will be the first to admit I have my reservation on all comic films, DCEU Films, primarily due to it seemingly disintegrating before our eyes, but this was refreshing.
Without further adieu, let us start this review.
Summary
“They became the king & queen of Gotham city, and god help anyone who disrespected the QUEEN.” – Amanda Waller
We all know it the whirlwind romance that lit up the city of Gotham with colors so lively they bled, generating all-consuming laughter leaving their patrons to fall into a deep sleep a smile twisted permanently on their faces. However, all good things and terrible ones must come to an end. Harley has had enough of her abusive lover and decides to end the relationship. Unfortunately, curel consequences arise for Harley. Bring linked to the clown prince of crime came many perks no more valuable than immunity. Serving the link with joker turns queen into target calling every past grievance to come back to retribution. Hopefully, a diamond and a few good associates could win the day, or will Harley fall to the world’s greatest comedian (Karma) and taste the gleeful sleep she graces so many.
The Good:
Storyline: This storyline is very alluring, it pulls seemingly from the New 52 Harley ( you will even get a great nod to a classic animal companion) and provides an exciting take on that incarnation of her, the film does a great job at displaying the characters complexity. I think we often are blinded by the flash costume, and overall madness, there exists a criminal mastermind in her own right, highly intelligent, skilled fighter, acrobat able to stand with or without the joker. The introduction of the birds of prey was also an intriguing idea, and it was great seeing them on the big screen. They were able to form this nearly perfect chemistry under dire circumstances to ensure a balanced dynamic that worked well for the film in many aspects.
Fight scenes:
They were great, action-packed, fun, exciting. It called on the essence of Harley. Throughout the fight scenes, you see her fantastic adaptability; she isn’t a one-trick pony. She has a multitude of resources that she exploits to ensure her victory.
Daylight: it was nice to see Gotham city in the daytime, considering we often see it shrouded and darkness and seem to correlate that the underworld is only functioned in the dark of the night. The film reconfirms the insanity that goes on in complete daylight.
The Bad:
Birds of Prey? Or Harley Quinn:
Despite the title of the movie, it is centered on the birds of prey with the addition of a Harley Quinn storyline. This isn’t the case in reality. As we are more familiar with Harley and the way the movie is centered, it becomes Harley, and these three additional women who aren’t explored. This makes their appearance wasteful, their presence specifically to help Harley and not standalone.
Cassandra Cain: This was probably the biggest let down of the film, Casandra is anything and everything but a helpless child under any circumstances. Cassandra cane is the daughter of two incredible assassins Lady Shiva and Cane; she is also apart of the bat family, taking on the mantle of Batwoman. Using her name is waste. The writer would have used a standard nobody pickpocket.
Villians: I don’t know whether Harley was manipulating this universe reality, but Black Mask and Victor Zsasz were not significant. They seemed to be infected by Harley’s madness, so as a result, it never truly felt like the characters were in any real danger. This is slightly annoying because these characters are mentally unstable but generally in a linear way. The mobster and the hitman/ torture master are notoriously cruel with limited room for comedy.
Dayshawn Gaines is a co-editor for the Blerdyreport. You can follow him on twitter @daygaines. We’d love to hear from you so please share your thoughts in the comments!
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