BIRDS OF PREY AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN

Yasss Quinn!

- Matt Maytum

Since largely binning off the extended-universe gambit for more offbeat stand-alone, DC Comics has been getting its groove back on the big screen. Post-Justice League, we’ve had Aquaman, Shazam! and Joker all doing their own thing, unconstrained by any requirement to fit into a broader world. Birds Of Prey continues to prove that DC is at its best when it cuts loose.

While this picks up with Harley Quinn after 2016’s Suicide Squad, you wouldn’t exactly call it a sequel; it’s tonally very different and doesn’t carry over any characters besides Harley herself. In fact, the film it most resembles is Deadpool, with its R-rated antihero, fourth-wall demolishing and irreverent tone that takes its cues from the (sub)title character.

As Ryan Reynolds did on that film, star Margot Robbie also produces, and her affection for the character is clear. Robbie is once again a chaotic delight as the psychiatrist-turned-crime-queen formerly known as Harleen Quinzel and has shepherded a film worthy of Harley’s eccentric sensibilities to the screen.

Harley was the undisputed breakout of Suicide Squad, and both star and character delight in having her uncaged and flying free in her natural habitat. There’s no need to have seen David Ayer’s villain team-up movie in order to follow