MULTI-COLOURED, stylised and violent, Birds of Prey takes a while to find its feet and by the time it does it is a little too late.
After being dumped by the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is having to learn who she is without him.
She is also finding a lot of people in Gotham are after her now she is not under his protection.
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READ NOWThe person to succeed in capturing her is rich and spoilt nightclub owner and crime lord Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), also known as Black Mask, who gives her until midnight to recover a large diamond he needs to pay for an army to take over the city.
But there are other people in the fray – Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), pickpocket Cass (Ella Jay Basco) and police detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) – and when they realise that they all have a reason to want Roman gone, they decide to group together and fight back.
Unfortunately this grouping does not happen until the final act in a great action sequence that emphasises the chemistry between the women and the way working together makes them stronger, giving us a glimpse of what the whole film could have been like.
The wink to the audience style humour is not nearly as funny as it wants to be and excessive exposition makes most of Birds of Prey feel like it is waiting for the plot to get started.
What is refreshing is the non-sexualised portrayal of women realising that under the current system they will never truly be allowed to succeed, but as a group they have the power to tear that system down.
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (MA)
Director: Cathy Yan
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell
Three stars
Now showing
