Revisited - Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)

So even though this film released last year, I only got the chance recently to watch it. I mainly didn't watch it when it came out for two reasons. One being that I felt burnt out from watching DC films and second, I didn't find much interest in the film besides Harley Quinn who is played amazingly by Margot Robbie. Warner Bros seem to think the same thing, knowing that most people would watch this film based on just Harley Quinn alone so they kind of used her to tell the birds of prey story in this film which is smart thing to do to sell a story not only to executives but also the public. However, after finally watching this film I must say I enjoyed it. All the characters are great and steal the show in their own way but the best performances are clearly Harley and Black Mask. The film is fun, colorful, and just a plain amazing ride and a quite unexpected coming from DC which shows them heading in the right direction.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team the Birds of Prey. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the eighth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and a spin-off/sequel to Suicide Squad (2016). It was directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, and it stars Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor. The film follows Harley Quinn, who after breaking up with the Joker, is threatened by Gotham City crime lord Roman Sionis, and joins forces with Helena Bertinelli, Dinah Lance, and Renee Montoya (who go on to form the Birds of Prey) to save Cassandra Cain.

Robbie, who also served as producer, pitched the idea for Birds of Prey to Warner Bros in 2015. The film was announced in May 2016, with Hodson being hired to write the script that November, followed by Yan signing on to direct in April 2018. The majority of the cast and crew were confirmed by December 2018. Principal photography lasted from January to April 2019 in Downtown Los Angeles, parts of the Arts District, Los Angeles, and soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Additional filming took place in September 2019.

Birds of Prey is the first DCEU film and the second DC Films production to be rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America, following Joker (2019). The film had its world premiere in Mexico City on January 25, 2020, and was theatrically released in the United States in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX and 4DX on February 7, 2020. It grossed $201 million worldwide, falling short of its widely reported break even point of $250–300 million. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics for its visual style, Yan's direction, and Robbie's performance, but criticism towards Hodson's screenplay.

Four years after the defeat of the Enchantress, the Joker breaks up with Harley Quinn, throwing her out on the Gotham City streets. She is taken in by Doc, the owner of a Taiwanese restaurant, and recovers from her relationship by cutting her hair, adopting a spotted hyena (whom she names after Bruce Wayne), and taking up roller derby.

Harley gets drunk at a nightclub owned by Roman Sionis, a ruthless crime lord, and cripples his driver after said driver insults her. She meets burlesque singer Dinah Lance, who later rescues an intoxicated Harley from an attempted abduction. Sionis is impressed by Dinah's fighting skills and appoints her as his new driver. The next night, Harley blows up the Ace Chemicals plant as a way to publicly announce her breakup with Joker. Meanwhile, GCPD Detective Renee Montoya investigates a series of mob killings carried out by a crossbow-wielding vigilante. Finding Harley's necklace at the scene of the Ace Chemicals explosion, Montoya notes that Harley is in danger without the Joker's protection. She tries to recruit Dinah as an informant, but Dinah rejects the offer.

Sionis sends Dinah and his sadistic right-hand-man Victor Zsasz to retrieve a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the fortune of the Bertinelli crime family, who were massacred years ago. Young pickpocket Cassandra "Cass" Cain steals the diamond from Zsasz and swallows it after she is arrested. Harley, fleeing from Montoya and several other people she had wronged, is captured by Sionis's men. Zsasz informs Sionis that Cassandra has the diamond, and Dinah warns Montoya. Sionis kidnaps and makes Harley recover the diamond for him, under the threat of death, and also places a bounty on Cassandra. Breaking into the GCPD with a variety of firework-inspired non-lethal grenade launcher rounds, Harley frees Cassandra and the pair escape.

After escaping, Harley and Cassandra bond while hiding out at the former's apartment. Doc is approached for information by the "crossbow killer", who is revealed to be Helena Bertinelli. Having survived her family's massacre and becoming trained as an assassin, Helena has been targeting each of the gangsters responsible for her family's murders, preferring the moniker "Huntress". Harley's apartment is later bombed by criminals looking for Cassandra, and Doc sorrowfully reveals that he sold Harley out. Harley calls Sionis and offers to turn Cassandra over in exchange for his protection, agreeing to meet at an abandoned amusement park. Dinah notifies Montoya of the rendezvous, but her betrayal is noticed by Zsasz, who informs Sionis. A devastated Sionis dons his ritualistic mask from which he gets his nickname, "Black Mask".

At the park, Montoya confronts Harley, but Harley knocks her out of a window. Zsasz arrives and tranquilizes Harley before holding Dinah at gunpoint, but he is killed by Helena, who reveals Zsasz was the last of her family's killers. Montoya returns and a stand-off ensues until they realize Sionis has arrived with a small army of masked criminals. Using Harley's old gear, the makeshift team successfully withstand and repel their attack. During the battle, Cassandra is captured by Sionis, while Dinah reveals her metahuman ability of supersonic-level screaming, defeating a number of Sionis' mobsters. Harley gives chase on roller skates, and with assistance from Helena, the pair pursue Sionis. At a nearby pier, the final confrontation occurs. Sionis prepares to kill Cassandra, but she pulls the ring from a grenade that she slipped in his jacket after taking it from Harley's weapons chest earlier. Harley throws Sionis off the pier just before the grenade detonates, killing him.

In the aftermath of destroying Sionis's criminal empire, Montoya quits the GCPD. Using the money within the accounts hidden inside the diamond (which had been recovered from Cassandra), Helena joins with Dinah and Montoya in establishing a team of vigilantes called the Birds of Prey. Harley and Cassandra escape, selling the diamond itself to a pawn shop and starting their own business.In a post-credits audio sequence, Harley is about to reveal a secret about Batman, but the film ends mid-sentence.

In general, this film is fantastic and fun. Yes, it does have it flaws here and there with its bit all over the place story, a pushing of an agenda instead of just showcasing how amazing these characters are and how badass woman are, and not that much of Black Mask which I loved as a character and how he was portrayed by Ewan McGregor. However this film delivers in many ways such as in it's acting, effects, wardrobe, character moments, and also the overall storytelling for the most part. This film is very good and I was surprised how much of it I enjoyed and even hoped for a sequel in the end just to see what wackiness happens next but of course that's what the new Suicide Squad film is for featuring of course the great Harley Quinn so we may have to wait a bit longer to see all these characters back in action. Ricardo Signing Off