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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 19 February 2020

Review: A charismatic Robbie gives

Harley Quinn her wings

suffer through a brutal inter- movie doesn’t dig deeper to Zsasz who is truly, deeply
rogation. into some of these idiosyn- creepy.
He’s a psychopath — well, cratic intricacies of char- Without going too far into
so is Harley, for that matter acter — but hey, there’s plot here — the movie’s
— but Roman has the right always the sequel. title stretched our word
idea. As portrayed by the You don’t need much pre- count, anyway — let’s just
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Margot effortlessly charismatic Mar- vious knowledge to get quickly mention that things
Robbie in a scene from "Birds of Prey." (Claudette Barius/Warner got Robbie, Harley’s always up to speed, thanks to a really get going when
Bros. Pictures via AP) gonna be the most interest- clever animated intro, nar- young pickpocket Cassan-
ing person in the room — or rated by Harley (in a less- dra Cain (Ella Jay Basco)
By JOCELYN NOVECK Sionis, aka Ewan McGregor, on the screen. Grab your than-convincing Brooklyn- steals and then swallows
At one point in “Birds of sits down with a tub of pop- popcorn, indeed. Gotham accent, it must be a precious diamond, in
Prey,” crime lord Roman corn to watch Harley Quinn Robbie is certainly killing said). Born Harleen Quinzel, which crucial secrets are
it these days, and we’re Harley became a shrink embedded. Harley offers
not just talking about the only to fall in love with Mr. to get the diamond; other-
escalating body count J at Arkham, proving once wise, Roman will kill her. The
(especially if you include again that advanced de- other major players, joining
violence by glitter gun) in grees are no protection forces to fight Roman, are
this visually arresting and against bad taste in boy- Montoya, a tough Gotham
often clever — if not par- friends. detective (the reliable
ticularly profound — install- As the action begins, Har- Rosie Perez); Black Canary,
ment of the DC Extended ley has been given the or singer Dinah Lance (a
Universe. Heartbreaking in boot by her mercurial lover. lovely Jurnee Smollett-Bell);
“Bombshell” and poignant “I handled it real mature,” and the Huntress, aka Hel-
in “Once Upon a Time ... she notes with sarcasm. ena Bertinelli (an under-
in Hollywood,” Robbie is Revenge is topmost on her stated Mary Elizabeth Win-
looking more and more like mind. She decides to blow stead), a mob daughter
she can do most anything. up the Ace Chemicals Pro- bent on avenging her fam-
And she’s a producer here, cessing Plant, a place im- ily’s killers.
too, as if being a ginor- portant to the Joker, just as Ultimately it all rides on
mous movie star at age 29 some people “have their Robbie, who, along with
weren’t enough. Eiffel Tower, or their Olive her blond, color-dipped
But back to “Birds of Prey,” Garden.” pigtails, brings an appeal-
or more precisely, “Birds of Harley quickly learns that a ing blend of looniness
Prey (And the Fantabulous byproduct of her new sin- and grit to the role, and a
Emancipation of One Har- gledom is that she’s no lon- hint of something sadder
ley Quinn),” an extended ger shielded by people’s and darker. Still, one gets
title that hints at what Rob- fear of the Joker — in other the sense the filmmakers
bie, director Cathy Yan words, everyone she ever weren’t quite sure how far
and screenwriter Christina slighted is now out to get to go with the feminism
Hodson are trying to do: her. And those slights, we thing. When she says sadly
free Harley once and for all learn in a witty, lightning- that “a harlequin’s noth-
from her ex-boyfriend, that quick graphic, include ev- ing without a master,” you
Joker guy, and plant her erything from possessing don’t immediately get the
firmly within a girl gang. a female reproductive or- sense that this is a post
And even though the Joker gan to — did we catch this #MeToo Harley Quinn.
is all the rage these days, right? — voting for Bernie, Like we said, there’s always
thanks to Joaquin Phoenix presumably against Hillary. the sequel.
in that other movie, Harley Most dangerously, her new “Birds of Prey,” a Warner
proves a worthy subject enemies include Roman Bros Pictures release, is rat-
of her own film, especially and his sadistic assistant, ed R by the Motion Picture
with her intriguing back- Zsasz (Chris Messina). Ro- Association of America “for
ground (a PhD and per- man likes to hang people strong violence and lan-
haps a medical degree), upside down and order guage throughout, and
her broken past, and her their faces scalped off, but some sexual and drug ma-
“obsessive-compulsive in McGregor’s wry perfor- terial.” Running time: 109
need for attention,” in her mance, he’s less than terri- minutes. Three stars out of
words. It’s a shame the fying, especially compared four.q