Haven’t been to a theater in a few months, and I haven’t finished a book in longer than that. Covid-19 - wow! But, I finally had the time to watch “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” and I must say the wait was SO worth it! I’m a Batman fan, so I see/collect pretty much anything in that universe, but I have found Harley Quinn a delightfully deep character since her introduction nearly 30 years ago. It’s great to see her finally get her own movie.
From the beginning, this movie embraces its irreverent, violent tendencies, but in a delightful way that so many other action movies (cough - looking at you, 6 Underground) just can’t get right no matter how hard they try. It takes place after “Suicide Squad,” and it even uses a bit of that film’s unused footage, which was nice to see. Harley’s out of jail, but she and Joker broke up, and she’s trying to figure out who she is on her own. Turns out that she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself and living her own life when she’s not codependently following in Joker’s wake. She helps a girl who’s in trouble, makes friends with a police officer, and helps a couple other women get out from under the thumb of the Black Mask - played by Ewan McGregor, who is obviously having the time of his life in this role. (It reminded me of the fun he had in “A Life Less Ordinary,” one of my favorites with him.)
“Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn” is a very fun popcorn flick, certainly one of the best DC has released in a while (although that bar has been set pretty low most of this decade). Regarding the film’s Bechdel’s, it does well: 1) There are many women in this film, 2) They all speak to each other frequently, 3) And even though the film starts with Harley & Joker breaking up and includes quite a bit of Joker-related content early on, the women quickly move on to other things unrelated to their relationship statuses. Overall, I heartily recommend it.