Harley Quinn (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of The DCEU)

A few years back, I made some disparaging remarks about The DCEU. In particular, I said the following:

“Until the DCEU proves that it knows what it’s doing, I’ll forever be turned off. It hurts to say that, but it’s true.”

This was in 2016, when The DCEU was in its “gritty edge-lord” phase. Since then, the franchise has turned around, following the successes of Wonder Woman, Shazam! and, to a lesser-extent, Aquaman and Joker. Now with Birds of Prey receiving solid reviews, I jumped the gun too early. I’m sorry.

Anyway, Birds of Prey. What do I say? Do I mention its Deadpool-esque vibes? How it tackles the effects of toxic masculinity on men and women? That it’s the best femme-fatale team up movie I’ve seen? Or that it’s incredibly trippy and irreverently stylish? Because it’s all of those.

I’ll tackle each point individually. As far as the movie goes, this is DC’s answer to Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Harley Quinn’s a female Wade Wilson here, except with boyfriend issues. She spends much of time narrating, and frequently contradicting herself, to great effect, and the flashbacks, flash-forwards, live-time rewinds and narrative diversions actually help keep the movie’s chaotic aesthetic engaging.

I like that. One of the reasons why the Deadpool movies worked, questionable content aside, is because they were unafraid to lean into absurdity. In particular, they were unafraid to lean into the absurdity of Deadpool’s character, showing how bonkers he is. So for Birds of Prey to take that same approach? It’s a nice change of pace given that Harley’s last movie, Suicide Squad, over-sexualized her.

The film isn’t afraid to dissect toxic masculinity, either. Specifically, it tackles the dangers of toxic masculinity on those around us. Harley has seen and endured a lot of physical and sexual abuse, and the film doesn’t let us forget that. She’s “damaged goods”, she’s been gas-lit by The Joker, and while the film doesn’t excuse her behaviour, you definitely get her. You understand how her life has been nothing but misery because of the men in her life.

The dangers of toxic masculinity also surface in how the other “Birds” have been hurt by it. Huntress is vengeance-filled as result of her family being murdered. Black Canary is scarred by her life as a singer and chauffeur for Roman Sionis. Cassandra Cain had a bad upbringing, and she resorts to thieving to escape that. Even Renee Montoya, arguably the “straightest” character, has her accomplishments stolen by a male colleague.

Toxic masculinity can be extended further in how the movie plays out. This is a violent film with a high carnage count, like the Deadpool franchise, but while another movie might play that up with glee (and this movie does too), there’s bitterness in the way the carnage is depicted. There’s gratuity to the bloodshed, with much of it feeling empty. Like Harley’s life until this point, it’s meaningless.

But Birds of Prey doesn’t forget that Roman Sionis is the catalyst. He wants Harley dead, after all, but he also messes with the other Birds. His presence actively makes everyone’s lives, male or female, worse, and the movie uses that to maximum effect. It definitely helps that Ewan McGregor gets to ham it up as the character.

Speaking of characters, the eventual team-up of Harley, Huntress, Black Canary, Cassandra and Renee is the best part of the movie. Past superheroine films have struggled with their leads (see Supergirl, Catwoman and Elektra), and until Wonder Woman a superheroine movie was cinematic poison. Yet here’s Birds of Prey actively succeeding. And not only succeeding, but juggling five characters at once. That’s not only impressive, it’s actually awesome!

I’m not kidding: watching these antiheroines at work is great. Watching them bounce off one-another is greater. And watching them do both is the greatest. This is the stuff that was reserved for men and male-centric films for decades, so it’s nice to see the women get to do it too. The aforementioned message about toxic masculinity helps.

Finally, the action. It’s a combination of, as I said, trippy and stylish, feeling like Deadpool-meets-Mad Max: Fury Road-meets-Kick Ass-meets-John Wick. The unusual combination of illogical framing, loony action beats, stylish camera work and clean, well-defined composition makes the fights rich with detail and flow organically. It’s also amusing seeing the characters use mundane objects to make the set-pieces pop.

Is Birds of Prey a masterpiece, though? No. Aside from the schizophrenic narration, the story itself is the, “Gotta save the kid from the bad dudes!” premise that we’ve seen before in other movies. (Cassandra is even a gender-bent Russell from Deadpool 2, except minus the superpowers.) It also feels like a small story that could’ve been something bigger. But for what it is, I really enjoyed it. It took several misfires in a row for The DCEU to gain its footing, and now that it has, by not aping The MCU, it feels tangible and viable as a franchise willing to go places not even The MCU would venture. Maybe that’s for the best?

Too bad about the movie’s box office numbers. What gives?!