Birds of Prey

I am so eternally thankful that I did not have to find myself in the pages of a Harlequin Romance novel at the age of 30! Originally developed as a sidekick to the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, anarchistic goodball Harley Quinn was first brought to life by actress Mia Sara on the WB’s short-lived Birds of Prey TV series as a resident psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum.  Without question, Margot Robbie turned the character inside out in Suicide Squad, making her the center of attention in an otherwise mediocre film. This movie, Birds of Prey, is a travesty that illustrates the difference between Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, which follows the floorplans designed by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby to build its mansions, while the DC Universe rigs up lean-to gender-centric hovels hoping no one will notice. It’s beyond belief that though it’s laid out for them in the comics, Birds of Prey is yet another missed opportunity – in this case, DC appears to be struggling with a Deadpool-style satire under the guise of an original story. After breaking up with the Joker, and without his protection, Harley teams up with passed-over Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), the vigilante Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has ALL the best dialog in the movie), and the Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), employed by Gotham mobster Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), to chase down a missing diamond. And by making this its focus, the movie comes across as a $1.98 version of Ebony, Ivory & Jade (who can lick any man ever made!) This movie is graphically choreographed but never…NEVER funny. Hell, there’s a hyena in the movie and it doesn’t even laugh!

[R]