Birds of Prey

Grade: C-

Margot Robbie is a considerable talent. There is a well-deserved Oscar in her future, I think. Unfortunately, she is behind pounds of makeup and reduced to an over-the-top shallow caricature in Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. Her dialect is a weird hybrid of Brooklyn, her native Australian, and some awkward third accent she seems to have made up that randomly comes and goes. I have not seen Suicide Squad – the film that this one seems to have been spun off from. Maybe she was better as a supporting character there, and this is a “too much of a good thing” situation, like Finding Dory. She does her best with the…material. Can I even call it material? Of the supporting cast, which includes Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor is the most successful – hamming it up as the villain. The big climactic battle takes place in one of those abandoned amusement parks that only seems to exist in the movies. Everybody has unlimited access to it, and everything is in perfect working order where it’s convenient for the plot – here, it’s the interior of the funhouse. The electricity in there is fully functional, and the floors are perfectly clean and securely nailed. Ideal for a meticulously choreographed fight, with some forced opportunities for the cinematographer to show off. Outside, on the other hand, everything is run down and falling apart.

Birds of Prey is an empty shell of the superior movies it draws inspiration from. There is lots of fourth-wall-breaking and irreverence, but it lacks the sharp wit of the Deadpool films. Heart’s Barracuda blares on the soundtrack during one of the funhouse battles, yet it lacks the impact of Captain Marvel fighting while being accompanied by No Doubt’s Just a Girl. Birds of Prey is a lame, tedious, lugubrious march through the swamp. It’s like watching confetti cannons shoot off. It looks cool for a couple of seconds, then you have one hell of a mess to sweep up.

Grade: C-