Birds of prey shows that DC has finally righted the ship after several early stumbles in this franchise. By focusing on smaller, more personal stories with more personal stakes. Birds of prey is a very entertaining movie, albeit one with some irritating flaws.
Firstly, Cathy Yan directed the hell out of this movie. She really knows how to frame an exciting action scene with nice wide, full body shots to show off the great stunt work. The movies style and colour pallet are very eye catching and visually interesting. Margot Robbie continues to be excellent as this franchises version of Harley Quinn, and Ewen McGregor looks like he's having the time of his life as a sleazy but intimidating villain.
Most of the movies problems for me come from the script. The first half is very messy as the movie bounces around and moves back and forth in a Rashomon attempt that really didn't work and kind of annoyed me. Once an action scene in a police evidence locker takes place though, the movie calmed down considerably and is a lot more watchable. Also, while the other members of the cast and the villain are entertaining to watch, they only have only surface level characterisation, seemingly interesting on the surface, but not really much underneath. Some ardent birds of prey fans may be disappointed in the lack of actual birds of prey, given about 85% of this is a Harley Quinn movie, which leads me to wonder if they side the birds of prey name for brand recognition only.
In conclusion, birds of prey is a fun, colourful time at the movies, But some serious screenplay flaws prevent it soaring to the heights of the DCEU, but it comfortably pitches high above the trainwreck that was suicide squad.
