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

Well, since "Suicide Squad" was released in 2016, there has been talk of yet another film with some of the characters. Not sure if there will be an actual sequel to "Suicide Squad", but the makers of it thought that taking one of the lead characters from that film would be a pivotal idea. So with that we are offered "Birds of Prey" (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). 

You ever hear the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the mafia princess? This story is a twisted tale told by Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham's most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), and his zealot right-hand, Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), put a target on a young girl named Cass (Ella Jay Basco), the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and cop, Renee Montoya's (Rosie Perez) paths collide, and the unlikely foursome reluctantly have no choice but to team up to take Roman and Victor down and save Cass from their deadly grips. 

Others to round out the cast are Ali Wong as Ellen Wong, Daniel Bernhardt as Sionis' chauffeur, Francois Chau as Mr. Keo and Derek Wilson as Tim Evans. 

This was surprising well directed by relative newcomer Cathy Yan ("Dead Pigs" '18) plus shorts. This film was amazingly as slickly directed as "Suicide Squad" and that obtained a different director. For a director to follow another filmmaker's work and pull off a similar feel is not an easy task to perform and this director executed this in spades. She will receive more work. It was frenetically and wildly written by Christina Hodson ("Shut In" '16, "Unforgettable" '17, "Bumblebee" '18). Evan though this writer doesn't have a ton of experience, she still pulled out all stops with how this story unfolded. Since this is narrated by Harley, I get that her storytelling style is a bit erratic--she is a psycho after all, but as the story went back and forth and back and forth again, it had a tendency to meander a bit and became a little choppy in a couple of places. Now, why are all these thugs wanting to track down this young girl? Suffice it to say, she has something that Roman and Victor are desperate in getting. That's as far as I want to go with that. Like "Guardians of the Galaxy", this is about bad guys coming after worse bad guys, but only a darker, more gratuitous film. If you like this writer's style, her "The Flash" and "Batgirl" have both been announced. 

I'll tell you, the trailer did not sell this film--maybe to the 18-34 single male demographic, but not to a general audience. Its gratuitousness is certainly something that is not for all filmgoers. But if stunts are your thing, the stunt coordinators are as much the stars as the stars--they are incredible. This was certainly better than I ever thought it would be--not great, but certainly kept one's interest. Will there be another? Not sure, but if it makes a ton of money, Hollywood will definitely do it. Cha-ching!!

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                       Rated: R                                              108mins.