Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey is Violent Fresh Delight

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Despite the abundance of superhero movies, it's been a long time since we've had something as violent and fun as Birds of Prey. It feels as though Marvel and DC movies are so wrapped up in maintaining their own lore and reaching the next beat in the plot that they've forgotten the most important part about superhero movies - fun. Admittedly, I've never really been a superhero movie person. I had fun with Guardians of the Galaxy, I liked Watchmen in all its sad introspective existential dread, Joker made me cry a lot about the plight of those of us who struggle with mental illness, and I'm excited to see Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, and Paul Dano all in the new Batman movie. Outside of that, I have the tendency to get bored during most superhero movies. I either hit a wall where the action is mind-numbing or I feel like I already know what's going to happen next and I'm just waiting to be proven right.

Birds of Prey is different. Admittedly, its main difference comes from the fact that it's violent. Like, really violent. The violence Harley Quinn brings to the screen is cartoonish with loud bass-heavy thumping music and fun text effects splashed in neon. Its fun and purposefully repulsive when it needs to be, and it has a cast of characters who are well-rounded enough that I actually cared about their survival. Its animated intro gives a quick backstory to Harley Quinn's life both pre- and post- meeting the Joker, and then it brings us into Gotham.

For the first time, Gotham has been dragged up out of the bland and strange landscape its previously occupied as another generic city. Now, it's remade into something that feels real and alive. Gotham has food trucks, markets where people sell little sparkly fanny packs covered in sequins, there's a warmly lit deli for citizens to enjoy a fantastic egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, Harley has a little apartment above a Chinese restaurant where the food isn't very good (so you just order it with extra chilies), and there are days where Gotham is warm and bight and it makes sense why people would actually want to live there.

Perhaps due in part to Suicide Squad putting a bad taste in audience's mouths, Birds of Prey isn't getting the audience it deserves. It's a wonderful movie and Ewan McGregor's performance as the antagonist is a delicate balance of repulsive and charming (admittedly he's the most entertaining villain I've seen in a superhero movie I've seen since Loki in the first Avengers).

So, if you have an afternoon to kill and feel like watching the deranged fun sibling to those Saturday morning cartoons you used to enjoy, go ahead and watch Birds of Prey.

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