Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Based on a long-running comic book, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn follows Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn as she runs afoul of a vicious nightclub owner (Ewan McGregor’s Roman Sionis) and must eventually join forces with Rosie Perez’s Renee, Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Helena, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Dinah to stop him. It’s clear fairly on that Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is just another overblown, over-the-top blockbuster with few elements designed to win over older viewers, as the movie, which finds itself saddled with a hopelessly one-note protagonist, predominantly comes off as a generic and bland piece of work that rarely strays from the genre’s well-established formula – which effectively paves the way for a midsection that unfolds almost exactly as one might’ve anticipated (and feared). Filmmaker Cathy Yan does little to allay the mostly tedious atmosphere, ultimately, as the director floods the proceedings with a series of hackneyed and aggressively uninvolving action sequences. (Such moments are refreshingly coherent, admittedly, yet Yan proves unable to infuse them with an ounce of excitement.) The hands-off vibe is compounded by an almost total absence of engaging, interesting characters, as Robbie and her various costars prove unable to breathe any life into their underdeveloped heroes. (McGregor’s gleefully scenery-chewing work remains an ongoing highlight, at least.) By the time the typically excessive third act rolls around, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn has undoubtedly cemented its place as an often prototypically ineffective comic-book adaptation.

*1/2 out of ****