Superhero Media: Birds of Prey And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Despite the full title of this film being Birds of Prey And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, I'm sure my readers will forgive my referring to it as merely Birds of Prey for the duration. After the solidly uninteresting Joker, I was not expecting much of, what was essentially, a sequel to Suicide Squad, but in the cinema I was blown away by the most Riot Grrl film I've seen in years. Picking up on the night of a post-breakup bender, Harley finds herself embroiled in a chaotic wingding plot encompassing a missing diamond, Black Mask, Cassandra Cain, Black Canary, Renee Montoya and Huntress. Despite the mixed reviews and disappointing box office returns, Birds of Prey is probably one of the best of the DCU films to date, just edging out SHAZAM! in my estimation. It's not perfect, but even I, with my film degree and high expectations for this genre especially, came out with only a couple of notes. I do think a more "comics-accurate" version of Cassandra Cain could have worked in the film, especially as she first appeared in the "No Man's Land" storyline, but the Bat-fans that hold that element against the film are really being a bit petty. 

The soundtrack is a glorious post-Riot Grrl explosion of vitriol and third wave feminism, though not including any Bikini Kill seems a waste, and, as an Aussie, I like hearing Spiderbait, but "Buy Me A Pony" would have worked much better in the evidence locker fight scene than "Black Betty". On a more personal note, I think Rosie Perez is an amazing Montoya, it's astonishing to see a mature, Lantina woman in an action role, especially playing queer; the only shame is I'm unlikely to ever see her play The Question. The Gotham presented in Birds of Prey is a vibrant, multicultural metropolis, with the kind of blended population that real cities of that size have, giving perhaps the most grounded and "real" version of Gotham in the history of film. Crime is still rampant, and the police are bent, but there are ordinary people just trying to get by, running shops, driving cabs and cooking the best bacon sandwiches in the city. It's a Gotham City I can see people living in despite the costumed vigilantes and attendant psychopaths, as there is opportunity and plenty of sunshine between the patches of grime. 

In terms of plot, Birds of Prey isn't truly deep by any measure, but the narrative is strong enough that the fast pace keeps it all together more than well enough and gives plenty of room for the characters to flex. And it is the characters that drive Birds of Prey, Harley is in the centre, as her name is in the title, but everyone gets to shine, even if doing so takes some odd forms, like Huntress finally getting to make a badass line after killing someone. I think the best evidence that Birds of Prey is truly solid and well-formed is that I honestly want to keep seeing the characters having further adventures, and not just because I have all of them as miniatures. I'm honestly not big on Harley Quinn as a character, and did not enjoy pretty much any part of Suicide Squad, but I'm keen to see another film in this series; not to mention hoping that Montoya, Huntress and Black Canary get another outing as well. The shift of the DCEU films to only being so linked as they feel like being means that "Glitterbomb Riot Grrl Deadpool" can exist and be its own entity at the same time as more dour and generic films in the Batman franchise. More of this please.