Birds of prey dc movie release date driver#
Birds of prey dc movie release date series#

But Robbie and McGregor are indeed excellent, with Black Mask being one of the more memorable villains within the DCEU’s adversary stable - campy, flamboyant, and dangerous, McGregor is incredibly fun and entertaining as Sionis…until he’s not. The story itself is also quite lackluster, involving a Macguffin diamond and hidden mob money, told in a convoluted nonlinearity that’s wholly unnecessary. Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes a dazzling impression with her limited screen-time as Helena Bertinelli, The Huntress, but the other characters - especially Renee Montoya and Dinah Lance - come across as relatively thin archetypes.

With Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor chewing up all the scenery, there’s noticeable slack when they’re absent, and there just simply isn’t enough space to service all the characters in a satisfying manner. Not everything within Birds of Prey works.

Birds of prey dc movie release date driver#

There’s Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a Gotham City detective Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Roman’s lounge singer and private driver that may or may not moonlight as a crime fighter a mysterious vigilante known only as the Crossbow Killer (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), the teenage grifter at the center of it all. Eventually, this puts her on a collision course with crime boss Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor, having the time of his life) and a number of other women caught in his orbit. Taking place after the events of Suicide Squad, Harleen Quinzel has broken up with “Mistah J,” sending countless thugs out of the woodwork to collect their pound of flesh now that her carte blanche status as Clown Princess of Crime has been rescinded.

Margot Robbie slips back into the role with ease, complete with the character’s signature Northeastern drawl and chaotic charm, absolutely owning the role. And make no mistake, Birds of Prey - even without its confusing title change (which was altered from Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey post-release) - is a Harley Quinn story. With Birds of Prey, director Cathy Yan’s defter approach fully embraces Harley’s roots as an anti-heroine with her own agency, fully capable of carrying her own film without the presence of a certain villainous clown. 2016’s Suicide Squad - the much-maligned first appearance of the character in the DCEU - offered a glimpse of the character’s depth and complexity, but instead, mostly settled for simple objectification and exploitation.

Birds of prey dc movie release date series#

Little do they know, Harley Quinn’s struggle for independence and her masochistic love for the Joker have always been in the fabric of her character created in 1992 by Batman: The Animated Series scribe Paul Dini, Harley Quinn has been a commentary on unhealthy dependency and abusive relationships since her early days. There is a small but loud subsection of the DCEU fanbase that has taken umbrage at the fact that Birds of Prey revolves around Harley Quinn’s breakup with the Joker, accusing the film of pushing a “woke” agenda biased against men. While there’s not much substance to its story, Birds of Prey’s narrative shortcomings are outweighed by its confidence and bombastic action, including a pitch-perfect performance from Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. More “DC” than “EU,” director Cathy Yan assembles a squad of DC Comics heroines in a rollicking, stand-alone adventure.

Baffling title drama aside, Birds of Prey is a boisterous and colorful addition to the DCEU.