Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn had one long shadow out of which it needed to step: Suicide Squad. The movie, which gifted us with Harley Quinn, also gave her the albatross of a relationship with Joker and a subpar film through which her backstory was told.
Now it's 2020, and this year belongs to the Birds of Prey. As was revealed in the trailer, the story follows Harley Quinn in the aftermath of her explosive break-up with the Joker.
When Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask, places a hit on the young Cassandra Cain, Gotham City's worst turn the city upside down looking for her. Out of necessity, Harley joins forces with Dinah Lance, Helena Bertinelli, and Renee Montoya in order to protect the girl and defeat Black Mask once and for all.
We use the word 'necessity' because this is definitely not a "girl power" film. These women aren't banding together out of a shared, well, anything – they just need to survive, or as Harley says, get their emancipation. And oh boy, do they ever.
The film does well with the arduous task of explaining how we got where we are without being boring if you've already seen Suicide Squad. And if this is your first foray into the bizarre world Harley inhabits, you won't be disappointed.
As the trailers indicated, the movie is definitely Harley's show, but that doesn't mean the other stars get the short shrift. Each character gets their action-filled background explained without being weighed down by a "now for some exposition!" moment. Those fretting that an all-women action movie would be dull (a baseless fear anyway) will be relieved to know that the action is as explosive as the trailer makes out. Birds of Prey is choreographed with its specific characters in mind – ie women.
Things that might be a disadvantage are turned into strengths through the choreography. Each woman has their own unique skill set and way of fighting that feels realistic both to their being women, and because there is actual human effort put into the incredible stunts. And speaking of each woman, it's impossible to make a movie – especially a superhero movie – starring women without wading into misogynistic waters. Twitter has been rife with commentary around about the sex appeal – or lack thereof – of the characters.
The "defence" of this clearly sexist argument (since when do women have to be 'sexy' to be... anything?) is that women want sex appeal in their films just as much as men.
This isn't wrong (eye candy of all types is appreciated), but it also ignores the fact that this film has four exceptionally talented, strong, conflicted, nuanced, and, yes, beautiful women at its core (plus a child, so like... remember that when you start talking about sex appeal in Birds of Prey, everyone.) A foil for Birds of Prey is, as unlikely as it may seem, Charlie's Angels. Despite how much we enjoyed it, the Kristen Stewart reboot didn't do well at the box office in part due to the "social justice" marketing angle that obscured the movie's humour and action.
Birds of Prey seems to have learned from that mistake, and though the movie is clearly about women teaming up, neither the marketing nor the film leans on feminism as a ploy or its perceived sole draw. It is first and foremost a neon-blood-soaked, funny, violent, anti-hero caper that stars women. But wait, there's more! It was directed by a woman and the screenplay was written by a woman.
These factors mean Birds of Prey inherently carries a base level of authenticity without being heavy-handed, and the male gaze is happily obliterated in a technicolour firework display. And there's another thing to remember if you think Birds of Prey has suddenly gone "woke"...
It's a DC Comics movie! There's a hyena named after Batman in it! The movie stars women and is uproariously fun.
