Birds of Prey

Following the disastrous Suicide Squad in 2016, DC has worked hard to get a grip on its franchise and turn things around. This included the entertaining Wonder Woman and Aquaman films, the overly dark Joker that gathered a few Oscars and made amends with letting Zack Snyder release his highly anticipated cut of Justice League last year but it hasn't all been a flying success for the studio as I struggle to wrap my thoughts around the 2020 action flick, Birds of Prey. 

Loosely connected with Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is a spin-off film for Margot Robbie's character Harley Quinn following her break-up with the Joker. This attracts the attention of a lot of Gotham's criminals who have been wronged by Joker and who now seek their revenge on her now she is no longer protected. Directed by Cathy Yan, this is a violent yet light-hearted spin on the character that also includes Ewan McGregor as the crime boss, Black Mask, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress. 

Robbie continues to make Harley Quinn her own in a continued OTT fashion but I can't help feeling this is like the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels where they took Jack Sparrow's supporting character and put him in the centre of the story which is where things started to fall apart. The story here is very light and intentionally disconnected to reflect Quinn's fractured mental state but the end result is rather unengaging, particularly during a tedious middle act where the story loses any sense of pace.

McGregor chews the scenery as the underdeveloped villain which provides some entertainment but it is Mary Elizabeth Winstead's underutilised role who really needed a bigger part given her character's story that could have won me over. Her role as Huntress is one I hope we see again in a sequel even if this failed to find much success at the box office, which is a shame as there is potential in the overall story here. What also doesn't help is how disconnected this depiction of Gotham feels from everything else; were DC caught not knowing whether to wipe the slate entirely clean as they seemingly ditched the DCEU? 

Birds of Prey finds itself in an entertaining third act that is suitably bonkers and makes the most of its talented cast but I can't see myself wanting to return to this. The story needed more substance and a compelling antagonist to really make me care following how little interest I had in either Quinn or the Joker following Suicide Squad. The film isn't trapped in its shadow and has won over many critics but this really is for fans of Robbie only and as for everyone else, that depends on how you have enjoyed DC's work so far.