Birds of Prey is a Glittery and Grimy Party

“This is a man’s world” sings Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary in an early scene of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous. Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). The comic book movie genre is now well over a decade into its golden age, and its been crowding theaters long before that. But, besides the ill-fated Elektra and Catwoman, studios have been afraid of attempting one of these superhero films with a woman as the lead. In a way, Marvel Studios dominating DC Films both at the box office and among critics was a blessing. It forced DC to try something different. Their two biggest male heroes, Batman and Superman, had disappointed. So the studio beat Marvel to the punch three years ago with Wonder Woman, the first woman-led superhero film for the current era.

Naturally, it was a hit. So hey, maybe they’re actually is money you can make with easy representation! Who knew? Birds of Prey, the newest addition to DC’s jumbled extended universe, is years ahead of Marvel as well. Besides a brief moment in Endgame that many viewed as pandering, the House of Mouse still doesn’t seem too interested in a woman ensemble film for Marvel. DC is already embracing it though, and Birds of Prey, a film starring women, the majority of which are POC, directed by Chinese-American Cathy Yan, and written by Christina Hodson (who also wrote the wonderful Bumblebee), is something that deserves celebration.

And the film seems to be exactly that: a celebration. Harley Quinn opens the movie by blowing up Ace Chemicals in a spectacularly colorful explosion. This is the place where her life reached the point of no return; where she dedicated herself to a toxic relationship. So burning it to the ground is how she chooses to symbolize her newfound freedom from that relationship. It’s the first gesture of many in this genuinely feminist film. I don’t love the way that last sentence comes across either; what I mean by that is too many films, mostly made by men, that are attempting to be forward-minded and pro-women often just end up feeling shallow or come across as pandering.

But Birds of Prey never feels like that, despite having gestures as big as one character saving another from implied date rape, to ones as small as a character handing another a hairband in the middle of a fight. The film’s villain is a man who wields a deadly sense of entitlement. He believes that everything is his, including people. When he’s showing off his collection of tribal masks from around the world, someone comments that the country he got one from must’ve been beautiful. “It was dirty.” he recalls with racist disgust.

Warner Bros, who own DC, has always been the cigarette-smoking uncle to Disney’s perfect child. Looney Tunes is Mickey Mouse cartoons with more edge, more bite. It’s only natural that their comic book movies would be the same: grittier and dirtier than Marvel’s sanitized aesthetic. Birds of Prey takes place in the grimy alleys and clubs of Gotham City, where even though Harley dresses herself in glittery outfits (that are blessedly free from the male gaze), they never appear too clean or too bright. Harley herself is an offbeat protagonist. She’s foul-mouthed (“If that burrito doesn’t make you shit, I don’t know what will” is my new favorite line), constantly intoxicated (which might explain her strange pattern of speech), and at one point defeats a group of hit men after gleefully breathing in lots of cocaine. And these aspects of her do not change by the end of the film.

There’s so much to enjoy in this film, and after writing about it, I find myself appreciating it far more than I initially did. The cast is great and all seem happy to be there, the film’s Hot Topic design is fun, and its refreshing to see a comic book movie that features almost zero superpowers and a plot that’s simply “the characters need this diamond”. Still, like other DC films, it feels like its been edited and rearranged to death. This is especially true for the choppy first act, which jumps around in time over and over and has way too many asides for exposition. This is made to appear as a stylistic choice, but it feels completely unnecessary - keeping the narrative linear would’ve been just fine if not better. The movie also never goes far enough with both its wackiness or its R-rating, which seems to only have been earned due to language.

These issues don’t detract from the film too much, thankfully. Like I said, there’s a lot to enjoy and admire in Birds of Prey. Turns out that woman ensemble blockbusters can both be empowering and entertaining! Who. Knew.