Birds of Prey: Ladies Take Over Gotham

I didn't love Birds of Prey, but it is certainly the best possible movie you could watch on Valentine's Day when you've just been broken up with and hate all men. As denoted by its subtitle, this is a movie about "the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn" after she is dumped by the Joker, and watching her psychotically take down a bunch of villains in Gotham City alongside the women who will eventually team up to become the Birds of Prey offers up quite the catharsis. I don't want to worry anyone, but given that I live in New York City, which is the real-life Gotham, you might want to watch out for me slathering my face in colorful makeup, and going on a crime spree to really purge my soul.

There isn't much plot to speak of in this movie - there's a diamond that everyone wants, Harley Quinn (played by the inimitable Margot Robbie) is determined to get it, and along the way she runs into the Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), the Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and a jaded cop named Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez). The villain of the piece is Roman Sionis (played by a terribly menacing Ewan McGregor). It's a fantastic, diverse, kick-ass cast, and watching them come together is a lot of fun. But the story itself is rather bland and insipid, filled with meandering action sequences, which, while terribly well choreographed, are overlong and don't propel the story forward in any meaningful way. There are plenty of attempts to inject humor into the proceedings so that it isn't a leaden slog like most DC movies, but unfortunately the plot by screenwriter Christina Hodson is too generic to command your attention.

What IS compelling however, is the visual style of this movie from beginning to end. It is an absolutely bewildering riot of color and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. Every costume, no matter how deranged, was something I immediately wanted to wear, because they were all so eye-catching and glorious. Kudos to costume designer Erin Benach for putting together such a feast for the senses. Similarly, Harley Quinn's makeup, while extreme, is so much fun, and at one point I legitimately wanted to draw a little heart-shaped beauty mark on my cheek. Director Cathy Yan completely leans into the visual aesthetic of this film, with every frame suffused in all the colors of the rainbow and every action sequence offering up a spectacle. Yes, the story is dull, but the setting is endlessly fascinating.

Birds of Prey is a mediocre movie, but it is indisputably a work of art. Crafted by a bunch of women (it is directed, written, and produced by women, as well as boasting a predominantly female cast, apart from the villains, natch), it is a reminder that women can be allowed to make mediocre superhero movies too, and at least when they do it, they do it with style. Harley Quinn is a sociopath, but watching her take on the scum of Gotham City is a whole lot more fun than having to watch the Joker origin story last year. So DC, please give us more of this colorful psychosis rather than the bleak sagas of men seeking vengeance. It makes for far more compelling cinema.