A WIN FOR QUINN

MOVIE
Birds of Prey
Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor
Director Cathy Yan
Review Ray Chan

THE eccentric Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) has broken up with her psychopathic lover, the Joker, with whom she had a relationship in 2016’ mediocrely-received Suicide Squad.
    And now, without the big J’s protection, the scatter-brained Harleen Quinzel faces a life confronting previous enemies ready to cash in on karma, to the extent that she can’t even eat an egg sandwich without being pursued by a variety of riff raff that she has managed to offend in the past.
    That’s the basic setup as director Cathy Yan jumps around haphazardly in time, from mere hours ago to several weeks before, and then even further back to ‘80s Sicily, as she tries to introduce the players in this all-female ensemble.
    Surrounding Harley on centre stage are Dinah Lance/Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), an employee of the movie’s villain, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor); Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a detective whose accomplishments go unrecognised; young pickpocketing thief Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco); and The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a staple DC Comics character given a light-hearted treatment in the movie, and the recipient of many comedic scenes.
    Although the adventure is set in Gotham, there's no appearance of a certain caped crusader, or even the estranged prince of clowns. Which is a good thing, for there is little need for such cameos.
    Certainly, there are some frustrating plot inconsistencies. However, such maladroit machinations can be overlooked when Birds of Prey makes it abundantly clear that fun is on the menu.     
    Keeping the shortcomings of the storyline at bay becomes a lot easier thanks to the cast’s performances and the multiple running gags that stick their landing.
    Robbie’s frenzied energy suffuses life, but Ewan McGregor’s tongue-in-cheek flamboyant take on Sionis – as Black Mask, who’s in a complicated relationship with henchman Victor Zsasz – is a scene-stealer.
    Despite the high level of candy-coated fun, the movie earns its R-rating with its forays into violence. Harley loves crunching bones and smashing people with baseball bats and carnival mallets. The Huntress lives for stabbing opponents and slaying with crossbows. Zsasz is a sadistic creep with a penchant for skinning flesh and collecting human faces.
    And yet the combination of whimsy and wildness works far better than it should. Eventually, the narrative ties the plot threads together to deliver a satisfying finale, with the cast finally getting to play off each other as a dysfunctional unit.
    But there’s a feeling that the story could have been told much better without the Tarantino-style structure that requires some work on the viewer’s part to stitch various sequences together.
    As well, most of the characters are only fleshed out minimally, as they’re only developed as much as can be done in an hour and 49 minutes.
    Still, Harley and the gang deliver a high-level of entertainment to the proceedings, and offers up an enjoyable cartoonish romp that whets the craving for the next ladies’ night out.

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