I’ve had some pretty deep thoughts over the past week and my most abundant and least deep thought was: Why haven’t I seen Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of the One Harley Quinn)? I loved Suicide Squad (fight me).  I know most people didn’t, but the movie heads eliminated the shitty Joker part (sorry Ayer and Leto, you guys fucked that one up bad) so, that’s a win. You also have a bunch of badasses running around fucking shit up and they are all women, so what’s not to like? Well actually, nothing really. I went and saw it last night and it was the most fun I’ve had at the movies since The Gentleman. I know it’s only been like 3 weeks but how often do you get to see two good movies in a row? I don’t know the answer to that one either. 

Margot Robbie brought back Harley Quinn to grace us with an even more abundant portrayal this time around, and she even produced it which shows heart. Cathy Yan came out strong in her direction of this flick as well, she really retained the overall vibe that David Ayer gave us with Suicide Squad which was really nice to see. It was good to see that familiarity of tone that I saw Zack Snyder carry through with his own direction of DC movies.  The R rating goes H.A.M. in this movie as well, which is a giant bonus and a lot of that harsh violence is what was missing in Suicide Squad. Birds of Prey pulled no punches when it came to showing recreations of parts of the movie Face/Off, which I welcome if done properly and not just there as torture porn…I hate torture porn…I love Face/Off.   

It was nice to see Rosie Perez come out of the woodwork as well, she didn’t strike me as a Renée Montoya but did an alright job of portraying the character. Montoya has been one of my favorite characters ever since I read Gotham Central, so getting to see her on-screen was cool. My one gripe is her being a Bird of Prey. She was a fantastic cop and then turns into The Question after she loses all faith in the GCPD… the only hero team she was in, that I know of, was in the MCU and I ain’t talking no Marvel Cinematic Universe here, I’m talking Major Crimes Unit, handpicked by Jim Gordon. That being said, it was also nice to see The Huntress portrayed quite hilariously at times, but still pretty solid. The Black Canary came out pretty rad as well. Ewan McGregor surprised the shit out of me with his rare out-of-line performance.  Bravo on bringing the Black Mask to life… I think I was actually more scared of him than I was of Victor Zsasz, and he was creepy as fuck. 

The movie sets were quite over-the-top and it worked really well, especially with one of the most ridiculous yet most exciting fight scenes I’d seen in almost like, ever (but of course you’d leave it to the Clown Prince of Crime’s Ex-girlfriend to fight bad guys in a funhouse). The violence was just the right amount and the fight sequences and choreography were super on point. The storyline was only half cheese but it kinda’ had to be and overall I’d say this is one of the better DC movies to come out. I’d almost say this one was the most fun.  You’d be doing yourself a disservice if you like comic book movies and didn’t watch Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of the one Harley Quinn) in the theatre. They really need to find a shorter name. 8/10