BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN

US, 2020, 109 minutes, Colour.
Margot Robbie, Rosie Pérez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Junee Smollett Bell, Ella, Jay Basco, Ewan Mc Gregor, Chris Messina.
Directed by Cathy Yan.

Not a fan of The Suicide Squad. Not a fan of Birds of Prey. Becoming less of a fan of film versions of DC Comics. And Harley Quinn is definitely an oddball, to say the least.

While everybody will refer to the title as Birds of Prey, there is also the addition of the subtitle, especially with its emphasis on fantabulous – and this is a reasonable word to describe some of the bizarre adventures – as well as the emphasis on emancipation, implying that Harley Quinn was subjugated in some way and is now free. And, that is true. Audiences need (if they must) go back to Suicide Squad and see Harley Quinn’s relationship with Joker.

There is an animation prologue to this story, a pop and humorous account of Harley Quinn’s origins, her parents, her schooling, becoming a psychologist, working in a mental institution, a co-dependence on one of the inmates, in fact, Joker, leaving with him and falling in love with him. Since 2019 had a far different story about Joker, he is absent from this account except for his influence, his criminality, his madness, and this being absorbed by Harley. She wants to embark on a criminal career, looking like a young adult schoolgirl, with her short overalls, with her plaits, with her bright colours, with her tendency to giggle. She also supplies the voice-over with some explanations/rationale of who she is, what she is doing.

Actually, there is not all that much plot in her story. She establishes herself as a bad girl. She encounters the local Gotham City kingpin (looking rather shoddy) in his club. This is a Roman, the local sociopath/psychopath/narcissist villain of the piece, ultimately putting on a Black Mask which relates him to the DC comics. His played, surprisingly, with a mixture of the effete and the violent, erratic moods, conscienceless, by Ewan Mc Gregor. Chris Messina is his dislikeable offsider, always kowtowing to him.

In one sense, these men are superfluous. This is a women’s film, produced, written and directed by women, heroics by women, men fairly negligible except as adversaries (and there is an army of brute-looking types to fulfil these roles).

The main story concerns a young girl on the street, Cassandra (Ella Jay Basco), a fairly expert pickpocket who steals Roman’s diamond from his assistant’s pocket. Needless to say, Roman is not happy and posts a half million dollar reward for the recovery of the diamond. However, he has encountered Harley who has befriended Cassandra (and takes her to extensive supermarket shopping, no, not shopping, but shoplifting) to buy all kinds of laxatives because Cassandra has swallowed the diamond.

The other leading women in this story are Rosie Perez as Detective Montoya, obsessed with getting Roman and finding herself fired. There is the young woman, Black Canary (Junee Smollett Bell) who is hired by Roman as his chauffeur. Then, suddenly, there is an extensive back story about a little girl surviving a Mafia massacring of her family, going into training, emerging as a crossbow expert, Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

It is not really giving away anything to say that there is a huge confrontation between the group of women and Roman and his thugs and indicating that the women win. Lots of fights, slow motion, choreographed moves, quite a lot of rough and tumble in a violent kind of way.

Rather oddball, but a tribute to Margot Robbie who, in 2019, played such diverse roles as an unglamorous Queen Elizabeth in Mary, Queen of Scots, Sharon Tate in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…, the fictitious target of Fox News boss in Bombshell as well as Harley Quinn. She is certainly a screen presence as well as a capable producer behind the scenes. So, fan of Margot Robbie. Not fan of Harley Quinn.

1. The title? Expectations? Harley Quinn and the other women, DC Comics? Sequel to The Suicide Squad? Further adventures of Harley Quinn?

2. The elaborate title? The back story? The animation sequences? Harley, her birth, her parents, education, psychology, the institution, the encounter with Joker, escaping with him, the relationship, her absorbing his perspective, the buildup to the separation?

3. Gotham City, the ugly side, the touches of chaos? The club, the apartments, the streets, the Chinese restaurant and Harley’s apartment? Going to the warehouse? The gangs? The musical score?

4. A film for the fans? The impact for non-fans?

5. The focus on the women, the perceptions of men? The heroics of the women? The villains all men? The women involved in production, Margot Robbie, the writer, the director, the cast?

6. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn? Her appearance, the school girl look, the plaits, the make up, the clothes? The manner of speaking, the blend of the smart and the frivolous? The eccentric personality? The relationship with Joker, her admiration for him, his influence on her manner, life, perspectives?

7. Harley seeing herself as a criminal? The visit to the club? The encounters with Roman, with his assistant? The animosity? The explosion at the Energy Centre and the consequences?

8. Detective Montoya, after Roman? With her colleagues? Her intensity? The clashes with Harley, with Black Canary? Her falling foul of authorities, the detection, the information, her being fired? On her own, her determination?

9. The Superheroes, introduced in a rather low-key way, Black Canary and her breath, finally used in the confrontation? Huntress, the details of her back story, the elimination of her family, her training, her return inventions, destroying the killers? The end of her mission? Becoming more involved with Cassandra and Harley? A rather strong personality

10. Black Canary, the encounter with Roman, the destruction of his chauffeur – Harley’s intervention? Her being employed as chauffeur, the driving? The encounters with Cassandra, the stealing of the diamond? Her pursuit?

11. Cassandra, her background, on the streets, pickpocket, the encounters with Harley, Black Canary, the issue of the Diamond, Roman and the Diamond, her swallowing it, the police, Montoya? The encounter with Harley, the truth, going to the supermarket, their stealing and rushing away, the attempts to deal with the Diamond, failure?

12. Roman, psychopath, sociopath, narcissist? Being effete and violent? His assistant, kowtowing to him? His behaviour in the club, towards Harley, towards Black Canary? His moods, vengeance? The search for Cassandra, the diamond? His getting the Army? The Black Mask? The confrontation – and the suddenness of his death in the river?

13. Roman’s assistant, his manner, with Roman, with the women, violence, a sadistic, attacking Cassandra? His defeat?

14. The buildup to the confrontation, the huge squad of men? The women? Their trusting each other, working together?

15. The visuals of the battles, the stunt work, martial arts, camera work? The skills of each of the women?

16. The Diamond, Harley retrieving it? The decision for the women to work together as a team?