There is a common understanding that Margot Robbie’s portrayal of
Harley Quinn was the best part of 2016’s Suicide Squad by a country mile. Despite the bombing of that film it was soon
announced that Harley would star in her own spin-off entry, the end result arriving
this year in the form of Birds of Prey
– or rather to be complete the unwieldy full title of: Birds of Prey: The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.
And that gives you a good idea of what the film is like – garish,
chaotic and a touch too try-hard. It’s no coincidence that Deadpool is the obvious touchstone – with DC attempting to chase
that R-rated comic book film moolah. However despite some flashy costume design
and fun fight choreography you never really feel the film has let loose as much
as it could have done. Perhaps too much time was spent on the formation of the
Bird of Prey ‘team’ (not as interesting as when the film focuses on Harley
herself) and there is another tired trope of ‘looking after an annoying kid to
ultimately learn some responsibility’ that was already tired at the point when
it was used in Deadpool 2.
So the film’s plot is kind of forgettable, but the most interesting
part of it is Harley Quinn taking centre stage (for a while at least) as her
own character, free from both the emotional and associational trappings of the
Joker. The appeal is to see the character set free and to stand on her own terms
– and in that respect the film succeeds as that is much of what the film’s
first act concerns itself with.
Much the same idea is explored in the Harley Quinn animated series
from last year. The central conceit is the same – Harley has split from the
Joker and is struggling with her own conceptions of identity, purpose and
trust. However the big surprise is that this series is notably violent, sweary,
chaotic and irreverent, even more so than the Birds of Prey film. As would be expected from the cartoon style of
its presentation, her adventures are significantly more madcap, with Harley
being presented as far more mentally unhinged instead of just kind of desperate
and ditsy as in the film version. It’s wonderfully snappy and inventive (with a hefty dose of satire thrown in) and
isn’t afraid to poke fun at the various characters in the Batman universe in much the same way as 2017’s The Lego Batman Movie was successful in doing.
Harley eventual ‘crew’ that she ends up
with consists of long suffering best friend Poison Ivy, the short tempered
Dr.Pyscho, wannabe thespian Clayface and a sweet King Shark providing the tech
support. In comparison, Birds of Prey’s
supporting characters feel dull and muted: hard-ass cop Renee Montoya, the determined
Huntress (who looks lost soon after completing her own mission), and Black Canary (whose power is unused up until the very end of the
film). Oh and the aforementioned annoying kid who acts as a plot device more
than anything.
The animated series cast of characters are way more fun to be
around and overall, although both of these screen versions of Harley Quinn do
explore the interesting concept of the character striking out on her own post-Joker, I would
recommend the animated series more out of the two.
Some may suffer a bit of whiplash in hearing a cartoon character
drop the f-bomb multiple times before caving in a henchman’s head with a
baseball bat, but if you are on board with more mature-oriented cartoons then
the Harley Quinn animated series is far more engaging and worthwhile.
18th May 2020
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