Prey Tell

As previously discussed on the blog, the movie Suicide Squad was a loaded diaper fire. But also as previously discussed on the blog, the animated TV series Harley Quinn was a flawless jewel. So good was the latter, in fact, that it compelled me to give a chance to the next DC movie to feature the character, the ponderously titled Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). It follows Harley Quinn as she teams up with an all-female squad of not-quite-heroes-not-quite-villains as they stand up to a sadistic crime boss.

I'll say right out of the gate, Birds of Prey is a better movie than Suicide Squad. You might even say it's a far better movie, though that's reflection on how much room there was for improvement on Suicide Squad than a reflection on any true quality here. Indeed, this movie suffers from many of the same flaws as the earlier one. An avalanche of cultivated "needle drops" is once again used to jump start emotion in the scenes that fail to generate any organically. Comic book details seem to weigh on the story like an anchor rather than serving as a springboard to anything exciting.

There are some moments that work, but they generally feel like they do so in spite of some off-putting creative choices. Some of the new characters introduced here are actually rather fun -- though not used nearly enough. Huntress, played to droll perfection by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, is a perfect meta commentary on how the DC movies take themselves too seriously... but she's as underutilized in this movie as Harley Quinn herself was in Suicide Squad. Ewan McGregor goes broad as over-the-top villain Roman Sionis, managing to strike a compelling balance of danger and fun... until he pointlessly dons a "Black Mask" that conceals his theatrics and consumes his personality.

The narrative starts out fairly well. It maybe leans a bit too heavily on Harley Quinn's narration and a purposefully jumbled sequence of events to pull you in, but it's generally engaging and rather effectively sprinkled with moments of genuine comedy. But around the halfway point, the story morphs into pretty standard "diabolical scheme" territory and becomes quite boring. I found myself regularly checking my watch, wondering how the back half of a less-than-two-hour movie could somehow feel at least twice as long as the front half.

All told, Birds of Prey landed in a sort of "not bad by DC standards" but "not good by general standards" neutral zone. I could see this batch of characters (and actors) being interesting under someone else's creative control, but I also don't really care if that's a thing that ever comes to pass. I'd give this movie a C-.