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Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts

REVIEW -- Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)



Wonder Woman 1984 (stylized as WW84) is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Wonder Woman. It is the sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman and the ninth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film is directed by Patty Jenkins from a script she wrote with Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham, based on a story by Johns and Jenkins. Gal Gadot stars as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, alongside Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, and Connie Nielsen. Set in 1984 during the Cold War, the film follows Diana and her past love Steve Trevor as they face off against Max Lord and Cheetah.

Discussion of a sequel began shortly after the release of the first film in June 2017 and the decision to proceed was confirmed the following month. Principal photography began on June 13, 2018, with filming taking place at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England, as well as the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia in the United States, London and Duxford in England, Tenerife and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, and Almería in Andalusia, Spain. Production wrapped on December 22, 2018, after a six-month shoot, with additional filming in July 2019.

Wonder Woman 1984 premiered on December 15, 2020, via the DC FanDome virtual platform. It was theatrically released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 25, 2020, and also made available to be streamed digitally on HBO Max for a month before it will go to premium video on demand. In international markets that do not have HBO Max, the film was theatrically released beginning on December 16, 2020. It was praised for its "escapist qualities" and Jenkins' take on the 1980s, but many critics found it "overindulgent or cliché". It has grossed $85 million worldwide, and became the most-watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020. A sequel is in development, with Jenkins and Gadot returning.




Cast: 




Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Lilly Aspell reprises her role as young Diana from the 2017 film.
Lambro Demetriou and Jonny Barry appear as young Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano at ages 8 and 15, respectively.
Robin Wright as Antiope
Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta

Additionally, Lucian Perez appears as Alistair, Maxwell's son from his divorce; Amr Waked appears as Emir Said Bin Abydos, the ruler of oil-rich Bialya; Kristoffer Polaha appears as the man whose body Steve inhabits (credited as "Handsome Man"); Natasha Rothwell appears as Carol, Barbara's boss at the Smithsonian; Ravi Patel appears as Babajide, a man who keeps documents of the Dreamstone's history; Gabriella Wilde appears as Raquel, Maxwell's assistant; Oliver Cotton appears as Simon Stagg, Maxwell's corporate investor; Kelvin Yu appears as Jake, Barbara's colleague at the Smithsonian; and Stuart Milligan appears as the President of the United States.

Lynda Carter, who played the titular heroine in the 1970s television series, makes a cameo appearance in the end credits as Asteria, a legendary Amazon warrior who anciently possessed the powerful winged suit of armor. Gadot's husband, Yaron Versano, and their two daughters, Alma and Maya, make brief appearances near the end of the film.









*** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ***

Plot: 



In her youth, Diana Prince participates in a multi-stage athletic competition on Themyscira against older Amazons overseen by Queen Hippolyta. After falling from her horse, Diana takes a shortcut to catch up to it and resumes the competition. Just before she wins, her aunt Antiope removes her from the competition, lecturing that "no true hero is born from lies".

In 1984, 66 years after the first film, Diana works as a senior anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., specializing in ancient Mediterranean civilizations; Diana also secretly fights crime as Wonder Woman. At work, she meets new employee Barbara Ann Minerva, an insecure woman who comes to idolize and envy Diana. After Wonder Woman foils an attempted robbery, the FBI asks Barbara to identify a cache of stolen antiquities from the robbery. Both Barbara and Diana notice that one object — later revealed to be the "Dreamstone" — has a Latin inscription.

Diana unknowingly uses the stone by wishing that her deceased lover Steve Trevor was alive; his soul then returns and inhabits another man's body. Later, after Diana saves her from an assault, Barbara wishes upon the stone to become like Diana, inadvertently attaining Diana's superpowers and godhood. Failing businessman Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano visits the Smithsonian under the guise of a wealthy donor, secretly coveting the Dreamstone in hopes of saving his failing oil company. During a gala at the Smithsonian, Max seduces the unwitting Barbara, who is taken by his charm to gain access to her office and steal the Dreamstone. He later wishes to become the embodiment of the stone and gains its power to grant wishes while also having the ability to take whatever he desires from others.

Steve and Diana steal a plane and follow Max Lord to Cairo. Max becomes a powerful and influential figure while leaving chaos and destruction in his wake as his powers trigger worldwide instability and conflict. Barbara, Diana, and Steve later discover that the Dreamstone was created by Dolos, the god of lies, treachery, deception, and mischief. The stone grants a user their wish but exacts a toll. The only way to reverse the exchange is by renouncing the wish or destroying the stone itself. Steve realizes his existence comes at the cost of Diana's power, while Barbara's newfound life has drained her humanity; both women are unwilling to renounce their wishes.

Max learns from the U.S. President that the nation's satellite system can broadcast signals globally. Max uses it to grant wishes to the entire world while regaining his now-deteriorating health. Diana and Steve confront him, but Barbara joins forces with Max to prevent Diana from impeding him. Steve convinces a tearful Diana to renounce her wish and let him go, restoring her strength while gaining the ability to fly. She returns home and dons the armor of the legendary Amazon warrior Asteria. She then battles Barbara, who has further mutated into a cheetah-like creature after wishing to become an apex predator.

After defeating Barbara, Diana confronts Max at the TV station and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, convincing everyone to renounce their wishes. She also shows Max visions: first of his own unhappy childhood, then of his young son, Alistair, wandering the streets terrified and crying for his father, amid the chaos Max created. A tearful Max renounces his wish and rushes to find Alistair. Reunited, Max repentantly promises to be a better father.

Sometime later, Diana meets the man whose body Steve possessed, while she continues to watch over the world. Meanwhile, in a mid-credits scene, Asteria is revealed to be secretly living among humans, much like Diana.








The Verdict:
 


When WW84 dropped on HBO Max at 12PM EST on Christmas Day, I was one of the first people to fire up the app and hit play to watch this like many people that day. 

And boy, was I let down with this film...

It's no secret that I wasn't a fan of Patty Jenkins' work on the original Wonder Woman film, but I understood the praise for it and its cultural significance. I won't knock the film for that much. The thing that I can't stand even to this day is this notion/idea that a man can't understand the message of these two films unless they have a vagina. Seriously, I have seen that exact wordage quoted on multiple articles, message boards, and across social media. I don't have an issue with feminism, but this film goes in so hard into that mindset to the point that Wonder Woman can't do anything without the love of her life while every other man (outside of Steve Trevor) in this film is depicted in some sort of negative connation. The best offender of this in action is the action sequence in Egypt where she flips a tank over with ease one second then mere moments later that she can't stop another until Steve Trevor gave the assist. There's a moment like this throughout the film until after she renounces her wish. 

I could excuse that but there's so many potholes and inconsistences in this film that it makes Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad look like strokes of genius in comparison. 

If that wasn't bad enough, this film just drags on and on and ON until it kind of starts in its third act. The film clocks in at roughly two hours and half hours. An hour of that is where essentially NOTHING happens to contribute to the point and only serves to add more cringe material to pad up this film's runtime. 

As much as I liked the flashback to Themyscira to open the film, it did nothing to affect the events later in the film. That flashback only served as a meager excuse to bring back one of the highlights that defined the original Wonder Woman film - the display of female empowerment on display in Themyscira. Patty Jenkins used that to bring back Robin Wright (Antiope) and Connie Nielsen (Hippolyta), along with a laundry list of female athleticism to don those Amazonian suits of armor for this short opening scene. This flashback ended with Diana allegedly learning the lesson of using shortcuts to get ahead in life or rather cheating to win. If she doesn't already have enough aces in the hole from being the Queen's daughter along with their father being Zeus himself, then why in the blue hell does she need to cheat at anything to win? That lesson was already lost on deaf ears by the time the film fast forwards to 1984. It was painfully obvious that Diana didn't learn a damn thing from that ordeal as a child when she was willing to cast all reason and logic aside just to have Steve Trevor back in her life. Damn everyone else and who else that could possibly affect with her selfishness. 

Another bold question... Diana stops the burglars in the present day portion of the film at the mall to start things off, but why wasn't the jewelers' shady dealings behind closed doors ever brought up again? It seemed like such an interesting piece of information to disregard as a throwaway scene. 




The overall theme of this film is the good and bad that comes with wish fulfillment. The MacGuffin (a modern term coined online for an object that drives a film's plot forward in a cliched manner) of this film is a stone that is somehow acquired by the anthropologist team at the Smithsonian Institution that both Barbara Minerva and Diana both work for that grants one wish of those who comes into contact with it. It first grants Diana's subconscious wish of bringing Steve Trevor back to life then later grants Barbara's wish to be "more like Diana" - in terms of beauty and superhuman powers. Maxwell Lord then somehow learns of the stone and uses it to become essentially this "Dreamstone" itself, granting wishes to anyone he comes in contact with. This creates the conflict of this film as Lord goes around granting everyone's wishes while manipulating the "side effects" of these wishes as every wish, no matter how noble they may be, have horrible consequences. Diana's wish brought back Steve Trevor in the body of an innocent man (how fucked that whole ordeal is another bag of shit altogether...) while also causing her powers slowly fading away throughout the film. Barbara's wish gave her the beauty and power that she wanted, but at the cost of her humanity and compassion for others. Lord's wish to become the stone is at the detriment of his own health and by the end of the film, it leaves him even more estranged and distant from his own son. Lord specifically points out that one person can only receive the benefits from ONE wish as the film proves on multiple occasions that he is unable to grant more than one wish from any individual, but somehow at the film's climax, he's able to grant a second wish for Barbara Minerva to transform her into his own bestial guardian (an "apex predator" if you will) during the film's finale. 


The sad part of the matter is that Kristen Wiig isn't bad looking to start with, even with glasses, so the whole nerd to knockout trope was lost to begin with.



This film uses the Barbara Ann Minerva version of the Cheetah, portrayed by Kristen Wiig, and while I had no issues with her performance, even though more people are still shitting on her from her similar role that she played in the all-female Ghostbusters reboot a few years ago. She plays the lovable geeky/nerd girl fine and it worked here for the few minutes that it lasted before she was granted her wish. As she continues to reap the rewards from this wish throughout the film, she gets more aggressive in nature and abandons her gentle tendencies to be driven mad with power. She aligns herself with Lord as she essentially becomes Diana's polar opposite. Where Diana is desperate to hang onto the memory of Steve Trevor and won't let this farse of him go for she could regain her powers, Barbara is desperate to hang onto this false sense of power that she has acquired by being beautiful and confident while refusing to let that go and return back to her nerdy self. 


It's too bad that we didn't get more time with these women standing off as polar opposites of each other.


It's one of the few great moments of this film to see them stand-off in the White House, where we are matched with a good vs. evil Wonder Woman. It's really unfortunate that they completely shit the bed with her character a few minutes later with her awkward transformation into the Cheetah (even though the film NEVER calls her by that name), rendered in horrible looking CGI that would make that Cats movie from a while ago look great in comparison. That's why that fight scene was so dark too for audiences wouldn't be able to make out how bad that character looked. (Laughs) Patty Jenkins is 2 for 2 in terms of shitty climatic battles in these two Wonder Woman films - first with Ares and now this shit with Cheetah. 

Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzo differs in this iteration from the comics and other mediums, such as his recent portrayal on the CW/CBS's Supergirl. I couldn't help but laugh at Pedro Pascal's portrayal here as there were moments where I could hear nothing but Trumpisms and others where it sounds essentially like he was still reading lines from The Mandalorian. If Hollywood ever wanted to do a "proper" reboot of RoboCop, I could totally see him as one of OCP's dirty politicians or various "oil salesmen" on those parody commercials in that continuity. I remember reading various articles prior to this film's release that Pedro Pascal stated that the comparisons to then-President Donald Trump were not intentional, but you cannot watch this film and not see it. There are a lot of points, especially at the heights of Lord's delusional behavior, that precisely mirrors the former President's irrational behavior. 

I'm not going to lie, but Pascal's performance makes for a charismatic villain, but he makes for an underwhelming one by the time the film comes to a close. It's really a double-edged sword. Lord is known to play both sides of the coin when it comes to heroism and villainy in the comics and we saw that here too. For everything that he did while acting as the Dreamstone, he still had enough good in himself to see the error in his ways and renounce his own wish to save his son - the only person who liked him just the way he was when he had nothing. It's just a darn shame that Patty Jenkins and the crackpots who wrote this screenplay don't have any sort of an imagination. 

Lord and so many others had the Dreamstone's infinite power at their disposal but no one thought of just wishing Wonder Woman dead at their feet?

Some suggestions in that scenario...

"I wish this bitch would leave us alone..." - White House Secret Service guards

"I wish I had something that could beat this chick..." - TV station guards

(Laughs) Or how come Bruce Wayne didn't wish for his parents back in this continuity? That would have made for one hell of an Easter Egg. It was hilarious when they did it in Justice League Unlimited. 






This whole Dreamstone ordeal screws up the DCEU continuity even more with a lot more plot holes between this film and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. 

At the end of the film, everyone renounces their wishes (why should they really though?) and the nukes and walls disappear "Phantom Menace" style (a trope that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is often heavily criticized for), but the fact of the matter, the ENTIRE world remembers this incident and are dimly aware of Wonder Woman's presence in this world. Remember that it was firmly established in Batman v. Superman that she had remained "hidden" from the world until present day DCEU. Sure, she went out of her way to knock out a few cameras in a few fight scenes in this film, but the public were aware of her existence. I seriously doubt that her existence would be completely swept underneath the rug after roughly two decades when Superman made his existence public. That's just asinine to think of, especially after the global awareness that was established here. 


Busting up a few surveillance cameras is all well and good, but you have hundreds of eye witnesses of your exploits here, Diana. People aren't just going to forget seeing an Amazonian warrior goddess beating the tar out of some criminals.  



I'm no expert on the character of Wonder Woman, but I know a shitty depiction of her when I see it. The best thing Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot did in the first film was highlighting and showcasing Diana's love for all living things that defined her heroism. The original film's "fish out of water" theme took that and ran with it to make audiences fall in love with this live-action depiction of this iconic heroine. That's why I understand why a lot of people have "blinders" up about any sort of negativity or any negative connotations about these films whatsoever. On the other hand, I don't sympathize with those people either who hide behind the delusion that this depiction of Wonder Woman does no wrong within Patty Jenkins' jaded vision. 

Explain to me this... Why would Wonder Woman be so selfish to put her own wants over the needs of so many, especially at the cost of this world that she loves so much? She foolishly casts aside her godly powers in order to keep the farce of Steve Trevor's revival alive until he talks enough sense into her until she is essentially forced to renounce her wish during the film's climax. She was willing to die to keep that lie alive. One could excuse her selfishness in this film as she is one of the only people who never spoke their wish aloud, but it's selfish nonetheless - something that I couldn't ignore as very uncharacteristic for her character. She comes off as foolish or rather stubborn in her ways as how Batman comes off in both Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. 

I won't deny that Diana, or rather Gal Gadot, shows more range of emotions in this film than she did in the first film, but why did we have to rehash the "fish out of water" theme from the original film with Steve Trevor? If they wanted to keep Chris Pine around then they shouldn't have killed Steve Trevor off in the first place. This film just makes that decision even stupider in hindsight. 

Speaking of Steve Trevor, can we talk about how fucked up that it was that he was occupying the body of another man? Diana was completely fine with him stealing the life of an innocent man for she could have her boyfriend (of whom she maybe spent a week or two with in the previous film) back? It was even more messed up that Diana was having sex with this guy while Steve Trevor was inhabiting his body and living in his apartment while everyone else sees her with this other guy instead of Steve. 


I'm convinced that Patty Jenkins just saw a photo of Diana's Kingdom Come golden armor that seems to pop up in the comics every few years one way or another and said, "I DUNNO WHAT THIS IS OR WHAT SENSE IT WOULD MAKE IN MY FILM BUT WE GOTTA GET THIS IN THE MOVIE SOMEHOW BECAUSE IT LOOKS SO GODDAMN COOL!"


Another question for my readers... If Wonder Woman had Asteria's Golden Eagle armor had the entire time throughout the film then why the fuck didn't she use it until the film's climax when she knew it was bulletproof and could protect her from harm when she was losing her godly powers?

(Laughs) I can't forget about the moment where Diana and Steve are in the airplane together though... I gave them a pass on Steve somehow having the knowledge to fly a modern airplane after not flying one since World War I, but I drew the line at the stupidity of Diana being able to make the airplane invisible when she was already losing her powers this far into the film's runtime. That fact that she could even use that ability that was never brought up again and one that she said that she clearly didn't master was downright comical that she pulled this feat off just because the plot demanded it to move forward. 


If Wonder Woman can fly on her own, then why does Diana need to swing from lighting bolts?



Here's a better question though... Couldn't Diana fly in the last film? If so, then why the fuck would she need a goddamn airplane in the first place? Between the first film, this one, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League, it seems like every director has selective memory when it comes to her utilizing that ability. 

I can't condone that Diana blatantly kills Cheetah in the film's climax. One can argue that Barbara brought it onto herself, but when that live wire hit the pool of water that they were in, Diana stood there and held her in that water until she was incapacitated. Barbara would be fine after all of the wishes were renounced in the film's climax, but who knew that would have magically brought her back to life? There was no way that Wonder Woman would have had the foresight that Barbara would revert back to her human self after that and be perfectly fine. To say that the film goes out of its way to protect innocent bystanders, Wonder Woman didn't hesitate to engage in lethal force in that scenario. To say that Diana was standing in that water wearing a goddamn metallic, yet highly conductible suit of armor and wasn't fried to death along with Cheetah is puzzling too. 

(Sighs) Between the waste of Cheetah here, Max Lord, and even Simon Stagg earlier in the film, it seems like a massive waste of time for these characters. Dr. Poison was criminally under-utilized in the first film and the Cheetah was regulated to a minor appearance here. Given the ending of this film, it's very unlikely that we will see that character - or at least that version of her - again in this continuity anyway. Same goes for Max Lord. 

I did enjoy the minor Easter Egg of Lynda Carter appearing in the mid-credits scene as Asteria though. That was a nice little callback for her. 

I will applaud this film for one thing though. It's the first and only DC Extended Universe film that resolved it's core conflict without violence. Plus, this film went out of it's way for no innocent lives/casualties would be avoided. That "destruction porn" as how most people referred to the utter destruction of Metropolis during the climax of Man of Steel was how a lot of people frowned heavily on the DC Extended Universe and the films that followed - including this one - go out of their way to remedy that mistake. (Laughs) Remember that they used the destruction of Metropolis as the catalyst for the conflict between Batman and Superman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice? That hesitance for violence in this film proves to be a costly mistake though. All of the fight/action sequences were all revealed in the trailers for this film, outside of one minor sequence. For a film clocking in at roughly two and a half hours, you would think that they would use some of that runtime for a little bit more action, but nope. It's almost to the point where I think Patty Jenkins is allergic to action scenes due to the sheer lack of them in this lengthy film. 

I wanted to like this film - I really did, but at the end of the day, it turned into another misstep for the DC Extended Universe. And here I thought they were finally turning this ship around following the successes of Aquaman and Shazam!, but nope. The failure of this film is merely going to put more pressure onto Warner Bros. to take more drastic measures to potentially fix this continuity. Justice League: The Snyder Cut is going to be a temporary Band-Aid, even if it's regarded as a success following so much hype and anticipation. If that film is anything short of brillaint then I think all remaining faith for any sort of DC Comics-based cinematic universe is out of the window. 

As of this posting, Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot are already confirmed to direct and star in a third Wonder Woman film, with two more potential sequels and/or spin-offs to boot. Jenkins is also pegged to direct a Star Wars series for Lucasfilm/Disney as well. I'm sorry but I don't see her brilliance at all. Cool, you want to have more female directors, but that doesn't excuse her from having stupid ideas and mismanaging these characters. Maybe she can prove me wrong with another sequel, but after WW84, I'm convinced that these superhero films isn't her strong point. I'm definitely not racing out to see the next installment on release day. 

Patty Jenkins expects viewers to be in awe at the pomp and circumstances of this film and completely dismiss its shortcomings for another dose of her own brand of so-called female empowerment when this film does little more than to "empower" the top brass at Warner Bros. and Jenkins' own egos that this plot was a very good idea in the first goddamn place.

Watch It or Don't Bother?


If you enjoyed the first Wonder Woman film by Patty Jenkins, then you're not going to see anything wrong with this entry that continues Diana's adventures, but for everyone else, I humbly suggest that you stay far, far, far away from this one. 

Sure, it's free to watch on HBO Max, but by the time this was over and all said and done, I wanted those two and half hours of my life back. It's hard to hate on Gal Gadot's bright smile that could melt the hearts of even the coldest of hearts and the stellar ensemble cast, but the writing for this film is utter garbage.

Wonder Woman 1984 stands as another example of the lack of proper planning and long-term storytelling that Warner Bros. and DC Comics have for the DC Extended Universe. In the grand scheme of things, this film does more to add more plot holes and inconsistencies to an already muddled up continuity. 

I'm sure that I may have missed some points, but ScreenRant has a hilarious video parodying the sales pitch to the Warner Bros. executives. 



If you want to see a better Wonder Woman film, there's two animated feature films that are definitely worth your time than giving this your time of day. 

QUICKIE -- The New Mutants (2020)



The New Mutants is a 2020 American horror film in the superhero genre, based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name and distributed by 20th Century Studios. It is the thirteenth and final installment in the X-Men film series. The film was directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay he wrote with Knate Lee, and stars Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga. In the film, a group of young mutants held in a secret facility fight to save themselves.

Boone and Lee first began work on the film after Boone completed The Fault in Our Stars (2014). The pair pitched a potential film trilogy to X-Men producer Simon Kinberg, and in May 2015 were officially signed on to the project. Taylor-Joy and Williams were rumored to be cast in March 2016, and were confirmed over a year later when the rest of the cast filled out. Filming took place in Boston, Massachusetts, from July to September 2017, primarily at Medfield State Hospital, with an April 2018 release in mind. The film was then delayed while reshoots were planned and Disney began the process of acquiring production company 20th Century Fox. After the acquisition was completed, Boone returned to work on the film, and it was completed without reshoots in March 2020.

The New Mutants was finally theatrically released in the United States on August 28, 2020, after facing many delays from its original April 2018 date. Critics called the film "middling," "so-so," and "perfectly fine." Originally planned as the first in a trilogy of films, Disney's purchase of Fox reverted the film rights to Marvel Studios, making the possibility of future films unlikely.





Plot:



Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, a young Cheyenne Native American, escapes the destruction of her reservation during a tornado. Dani's father William hides her before an unseen entity kills him, leaving her the only survivor. After being knocked unconscious, Dani awakens in a hospital run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes. Reyes comforts Dani, telling her she is a mutant, and advises her to remain in the hospital until she learns what her abilities are and controls them.

Dani is introduced to four other young teenagers; Samuel "Sam" Guthrie, Illyana Rasputin, Roberto "Bobby" da Costa and Rahne Sinclair. Reyes has brought each of them to the hospital after they have all suffered tragedy; Sam brought down a whole mine on his father and coworkers, Roberto burned his girlfriend to death, Rahne escaped her religiously strict village after being branded as a witch, and Illyana was haunted by her past in child slavery, which manifests itself as otherworldly beings called the "Smile Men". All of them are manifesting mutant abilities; Roberto can manipulate solar energy, Sam can fly at jet speed, Illyana has inter-dimensional sorcery powers, and Rahne's lycanthropy allows her to turn into a wolf. Reyes herself is a powerful mutant who keeps her patients from leaving the facility by surrounding it with unbreakable force fields.

Collectively, the five of them believe that they are being trained to join the X-Men, hence the strict supervision, as well as Reyes reminding them that they are considered dangerous and should not leave until they have mastered their abilities. Dani immediately befriends Rahne, eventually forming a romantic relationship, while Illyana continues to antagonize Dani. When Dani fights back, she discovers that Illyana's only friend is a hand puppet of a purple dragon who she calls Lockheed. Soon, the group all begin to have horrifying visions of their past tragedies, one of which results in Rahne getting branded in the neck. Illyana deduces that the visions are the result of Dani's powers manifesting; she has the ability to create illusions based on a person's psyche. Reyes consults her employers, the Essex Corporation, who instruct her to collect Dani's DNA and have her euthanized.

As Reyes takes Dani away, Rahne suspects that something is wrong. Illyana and Sam are attacked by the Smile Men while Roberto tries to break through the barrier, which has shrunken down. Dani uses her powers to learn of Reyes's true intentions before Rahne arrives in half-wolf form and mauls Reyes, forcing her to flee. The five regroup and realize that, in order to escape, they have to kill Reyes to deprive the force fields of their power source. They find her and Reyes traps them, revealing that she was training them to be killers for Essex. Before she can crush Dani to death, the entity, Demon Bear, who had been following Dani and was the true reason her reservation was destroyed, arrives and mauls Reyes throwing her body down to the floor.

Illyana summons her powers to jump between "limbo" and recruits a real life version of Lockheed to take on Demon Bear. Eventually, Sam and Roberto join the fight, overcoming their insecurities in the process. Rahne tries to reach through to an unconscious Dani until she is forced to fight the Demon Bear alone. Dani is visited by her father's spirit, who encourages her to face her fear. Dani awakens and confronts Demon Bear, calming it into submission and allowing it to rest. As day breaks, the group, now calling themselves the New Mutants, learn that the force field is down and head out together to face the unknown.



Cast:




Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair:
A Scottish mutant who can turn into a wolf and is struggling to reconcile this with her religious beliefs. Williams was convinced to join the film after discussing the character's religious background with director Josh Boone, who identified with the comic book character due to his own strict religious upbringing.
Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin:
A Russian mutant with sorcery powers, she can manifest the Soulsword and use teleportation discs to travel. Illyana is the sister of Colossus, a member of the X-Men seen in previous films in the series. She has a purple dragon companion, Lockheed, in the film. Colbi Gannett portrays Illyana as a child.
Charlie Heaton as Samuel "Sam" Guthrie: An American mutant who can propel himself into the air, and is invulnerable while doing so.
Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes: A mentor to the group and a medical doctor who can generate protective fields around herself.
Blu Hunt as Danielle "Dani" Moonstar:
A Native American mutant who can create illusions based on the fears and desires of other people. The film includes a love story between Rahne and Dani, which Williams felt was a natural extension of the comic book characters having a telepathic connection. Boone described this as "the spine and focus" of the film's "character-driven stuff".
Henry Zaga as Roberto "Bobby" da Costa: A Brazilian mutant who can manipulate solar energy.
Adam Beach as William Lonestar: Dani's father of Cheyenne descent.

Additionally, the character Demon Bear is featured in the film. Thomas Kee appears as Sam Guthrie's father Thomas, while Happy Anderson portrays Reverend Craig from Rahne's village, both are the result of illusions created by Dani. The Smile Men are physically portrayed by Dustin Ceithamer while Marilyn Manson provided their voices. Archive footage of Dafne Keen as Laura and Rissa Rose Kilar, Salef Celiz, Aidan Kennedy, Nayah Murphy, Chase Cubia, Emma Teo, Vincenzo Lucatorto, Noell Jellison, Haley Glass, Ella Rowbotham, Hudson Wright, Sebeon Jackson, Allegra Novikov and Sophia Rosales as other mutants held prisoner by Alkali-Transigen from Logan is shown when Dani uses her abilities to read the mind of Dr. Reyes.




The Verdict:


(Laughs) I honestly don't have much to say about this film, despite all of the delays and alleged re-shoots after Disney bought out 20th Century Fox and got all of the X-Men properties under the House of Mouse and the Marvel umbrella in general. EW.com did a great write-up on all of the ups and downs this film suffered as a result of the constant delays and rewrites.


I know I'm biased toward Magik and Anya Taylor-Joy's portrayal of the character. I knew I was going to love her in this role from the second I saw the first few trailers for this.

I gave them a pass for finding a reason to get Lockheed in this film. I'm sure fans of Chris Claremont's X-Men run geeked out at this inclusion as much as I did.



I can't speak for everyone else, but I got EXACTLY what I wanted when I went into this film. I was eagerly anticipating Magik's live-action debut and she didn't disappoint in the least. Hell, we even got Lockheed as a bonus to that. Magik's powers weren't explained that well here (if at all...) but holy shit did they look awesome. In that regard, it makes me sad that we won't be seeing this story continue to peter out for three films like the trilogy that was originally set out prior to the Disney/20th Century Fox buyout. I could see where they wanted to go with this in later sequels.


There's horror elements in this film, but they are tame in comparison of the potential that they could have gone with this subject nature if this film maintained it's original R rating.



Speaking of the story, I can't complain too much about it as anyone who as somewhat familiar with these characters and their powers would be able to tell casual and new fans that the "horror" aspects of the New Mutants' powers could be explained due to Dani's mutant ability to create illusions based on the fears and desires of other people. In relation to the horror aspects of this film, I have to admit that I was really underwhelmed in that regard when this film was originally pitched as a R-rated affair when the trailers for this film were initially released. Now it seems like almost all of the horror sequences were straight out of the teaser trailers with little to nothing new in the final release. I would have preferred to see exactly how far that they were willing to go in terms of diving into the depths of that genre, but no dice here. It seemed like a completely missed opportunity too when the superhero genre has seemingly done all that it can do at this stage of the game.


Dr. Cecilia Reyes and Alice Braga's portrayal. 


While we're on the subject of missed opportunities, I can't forget about how this film uses Dr. Cecilia Reyes. I have no issue with Alice Braga's performance, but this was a complete waste of one of my favorite part-time X-Men members. When I heard the character was going to appear in this film, I thought she was going to act as a pseudo-mentor of sorts and help the teens escape the facility as she was only treating them as any good doctor would and should. Whoever wrote this script has completely no understanding of that character in any way, shape, nor form. The narrative miscast her as a devious mutant doctor, loyal to the Essex Corporation to the bitter end. 



Too bad we never got to see Nathaniel Essex himself in this film as it would have made for a better climatic finish than what we got with the team squaring off against the Demon Bear. We got that one mention of the Essex Corporation, which was mentioned in X-Men: Apocalypse as well without any further reference in neither Logan nor X-Men: Dark Phoenix either. This is pure speculation but I'm guessing that if Fox were allowed to make this three film trilogy that they originally intended with this spin-off, they would have built towards a final confrontation against Mr. Sinister in the third film where they had some members of the X-Men guest-starring as well since he had a hand to play in their fates too. 


This film concludes with this team of unlikely heroes facing off against a Demon Bear... Don't laugh, I'm dead serious. 


That entire final climatic battle was merely to showcase everyone's powers more or less and use up whatever was left of the special effects budget. I can completely understand while casual fans and newcomers would be underwhelmed by this narrative as it wasn't a strong film in the least to end on, especially for something within the X-Men mythos. Unfortunately, that's the price that was paid when this film was originally set out to be the first in a trilogy of films involving these characters, only to be diminished to a singular cinematic outing. 


The New Mutants with the actors and actresses portraying them in this film.


It makes me sad that we won't get to see more of these characters in this universe nor see where their adventures would have taken them next. This film played it safe for the most part and that proved to be a costly mistake as it results in an easily forgettable film within this overcrowded superhero genre. This would have been acceptable roughly two decades ago, but not today, when audiences have been conditioned to expect so much more out of these films and the genre itself. Like I said though, it bums me out even more as I loved the castings for these characters: Game of Thrones' Maise Williams as Rahne Sinclair, Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin, Stranger Things' Charlie Heaton as Samuel "Sam" Guthrie, Blu Hunt as Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, and Henry Zaga as Roberto "Bobby" da Costa. I thought this was a great ensemble of actors to play these characters. I hope Marvel Studios provide them the opportunity to reprise these roles in some capacity. They were all great fits for these characters and I would love to see them return in some capacity. Alice Braga's Dr. Cecilia Reyes was fine for what she was worth in her portrayal of that character when she was given opportunities in the narrative to present herself as a kindly doctor that she's known for in the comics continuity. I thought she could have been the teens' confidant by the time the events of the film came to a close instead of her being mauled to death by the Demon Bear - if her wounds and gashes from Rahne weren't going to do her in already... 

(Shrugs) I don't know... I just had a different ending in mind from how I saw where this was going to end. The ideal ending would have had the teens work together to overcome Dani's illusions for the first half of the film and confront the Demon Bear that was spiraling out of her control until she was able to tame it like things played out here, but the twist I would have thrown in was that she unleashes that force against a platoon of Essex Corporation soldiers/mutants under Mr. Sinister's control. Sinister would deem the hospital ran by Reyes to be a liability and wants it neutralized since he cannot control the mutants there after Reyes rebels against him with their combined efforts to escape. The film would then end with Reyes as a pseudo-Professor Xavier-style leader for this group of teens as they are on the run to confront Mr. Sinister himself as they look for clues where the main headquarters for Essex Corporation's base of operations and free more mutants like themselves from being used like weapons against humanity. 

With my idea, maybe we could have gotten this line-up of members for the team by the third film. (Shrugs) Who knows?



You could end with Magik saying something along the lines of, "It's what the X-Men would do." Cue end credits. 

Watch It or Don't Bother?




I know it's easy to write this film off as a complete waste of time, especially following the heights that this genre hit with Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. What people fail to realize is that these films are going to have to go back to a simpler time for a bit before they start hitting home runs again. It's obvious that this film will go down as whisper in a crowded room that is this superhero genre, but I still feel like this left me with a better impression than I had when I walked away from X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Did expect this film to blow me away, given that it will stand in history as the last X-Men film under the 20th Century Fox banner? No. It didn't blow me away with it's very few horror-themed elements either. This will be one of those films whereas you either love it or hate it - simply put. Like I said when I went into this, my expectations weren't high at all, so it helped in that regard. 

I do feel like this film would have fared better as a television series, much in the same vein as Marvel's Runaways did for three seasons or Marvel's Cloak & Dagger for two seasons. Imagine if this crossed over with The Gifted? Oh the possibilities...  


REVIEW -- Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)




Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team Birds of Prey. It is the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe and a follow-up to Suicide Squad (2016). It was directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, and it stars Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor. The film follows Harley Quinn as she joins forces with Helena Bertinelli, Dinah Lance, and Renee Montoya to save Cassandra Cain from Gotham City crime lord Black Mask.


Robbie, who also served as producer, pitched the idea for Birds of Prey to Warner Bros. in 2015. The film was announced in May 2016, with Hodson being hired to write the script that November, followed by Yan signing on to direct in April 2018. The majority of the cast and crew were confirmed by December 2018. Principal photography lasted from January to April 2019 in Downtown Los Angeles, parts of the Arts District, Los Angeles, and soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Additional filming took place in September 2019.


Birds of Prey is the first DCEU film and the second DC Films production to be rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. The film had its world premiere in Mexico City on January 25, 2020, and was theatrically released in the United States in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and 4DX on February 7, 2020. It grossed $201 million worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2020.[7] The film received praise from critics for its visual style, Yan's direction and the performances of Robbie and McGregor, but criticism for Hodson's screenplay.




Cast: 


Margot Robbie as Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli / The Huntress
Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance / Black Canary
Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya
Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz
Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain
Ali Wong as Ellen Yee
Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis / Black Mask

Additionally, Steven Williams portrays Captain Patrick Erickson, Montoya's superior at the GCPD; Dana Lee portrays Doc, Quinn's friend who owns a Taiwanese restaurant; François Chau portrays Mr. Keo, a rival crime boss of Sionis; Derek Wilson portrays Tim Munroe, a GCPD detective; Matt Willig portrays Happy, previously a henchman who worked for the Joker and for Stefano Galante; and whose face was tattooed by Quinn and the Joker; and Bojana Novakovic portrays Erika Manson, a night club patron who gets harassed by Sionis. Charlene Amoia and Paul Lasa respectively portray Maria and Franco Bertinelli, the mother and father of Helena; Robert Catrini portrays Stefano Galante, the mob boss who killed the Bertinelli family. The Joker appears in the film, through animated-special effects during a flashback sequence, as well as through the combined use of archive footage of Jared Leto from Suicide Squad and a body-double, Johnny Goth, on set. These techniques were used because Leto was not available during filming. A still photograph of Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness / Captain Boomerang also appears on a wall in the Gotham City Police Department.


Plot:


After the Enchantress' defeat, the Joker breaks up with Harley Quinn, throwing her out on the streets of Gotham City. She is taken in by Doc, the owner of a Taiwanese restaurant, and recovers from her relationship by cutting her hair, adopting a spotted hyena (whom she names after Bruce Wayne), and taking up roller derby.

One night, Harley gets drunk at a nightclub owned by Roman Sionis and cripples his driver after said driver insults her. She meets burlesque singer Dinah Lance, who later rescues an intoxicated Harley from an attempted abduction. Roman is impressed by Dinah's skills and appoints her as his new driver. The next night, Harley blows up the Ace Chemicals plant as a way to publicly announce her and Joker's breakup. Meanwhile, GCPD Detective Renee Montoya investigates a series of mob killings carried out by a crossbow-wielding vigilante. Finding Harley's necklace at the scene of the Ace Chemicals explosion, Montoya notes that Harley is in danger without the Joker's protection. She approaches Dinah about being an informant on Roman for them, but Dinah rejects the offer.

Roman sends Dinah and his sadistic right-hand-man Victor Zsasz to retrieve a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the fortune of the Bertinelli crime family, who were massacred years ago. Young pickpocket Cassandra "Cass" Cain steals the diamond from Zsasz and swallows it after she is arrested. Harley, fleeing from Montoya and several other people she had wronged in the past, is captured by Roman's men. Zsasz informs Roman that Cassandra has the diamond, and Dinah warns Montoya about the situation. As Roman prepares to have Harley killed, she offers to recover the diamond for him. Roman agrees but also places a bounty on Cassandra. Breaking into the GCPD with a variety of firework-inspired non-lethal grenade launcher rounds, Harley frees Cassandra and the pair escape.

After escaping, Harley and Cassandra bond while hiding out at the former's apartment. Doc is approached for information by the "crossbow killer", who is revealed to be Helena Bertinelli. Having survived her family's massacre and becoming trained as an assassin, Helena has been targeting each of the gangsters responsible for her family's murders, preferring the moniker of "The Huntress". Quinn's apartment is later bombed by criminals looking for Cassandra, and Doc sorrowfully reveals that he sold Harley out. Harley calls Roman and offers to turn Cassandra over in exchange for his protection, agreeing to meet at an abandoned amusement park. Dinah notifies Montoya of the rendezvous, but her betrayal is noticed by Zsasz, who informs Roman. A devastated Roman dons his ritualistic mask from which he gets his villainous nickname, "Black Mask".

At the park, Montoya confronts Harley, but Harley knocks her out of a window. Zsasz arrives and tranquilizes Harley before holding Dinah at gunpoint, but he is killed by Helena, who reveals Zsasz was the last of her family's killers. Montoya returns and a stand-off ensues, until they realize Roman has arrived with a small army of masked criminals, known collectively as the False Face Society. Using Quinn's old gear, the makeshift team successfully withstand and repel their attack. During the battle, Cassandra is captured by Roman, while Dinah reveals her metahuman ability of supersonic-level screaming, defeating an additional number of mobsters aligned with Roman. Harley gives chase on roller skates, and with assistance from Helena, the pair pursue Roman. At a nearby pier, the final confrontation occurs. Roman prepares to kill Cassandra, but she pulls the ring from a grenade that she slipped in his jacket after taking it from Harley's weapons chest earlier. Harley throws Roman off the pier just before the grenade detonates and kills him.

In the aftermath of destroying Roman's criminal empire, Montoya quits the GCPD. With the money within the accounts hidden inside the diamond, she joins Dinah and Helena in establishing a team of vigilantes – the Birds of Prey. Harley and Cassandra escape, selling the diamond itself to a pawnshop and starting their own contract killing business.

In a post-credits audio sequence, Harley is about to reveal a secret about Batman, but the film ends mid-sentence.





The Verdict: 

(Laughs) I'm going to get shit for this, but I honestly fell asleep watching this in the theater when it first came out. Since I missed a good portion of the film, I figured it would be best that I watch until the film was available digitally for I could re-watch in its full capacity.

Still looks trashy to me.

It's the feminist bullshit like that is what makes me shake my head in terms of the reception and dick-riding or rather, vagina pleasing, to this film. The costumes didn't need to be revealing to still be contributors to the male gaze. Even Laura Mulvey herself would shake her head at Robbie misusing any reference to her work. There's still several gratuitous moments of the film that cater to portraying  these women sexually. So that argument about this film is so much different with a female director in charge is completely invalid right there.

That being said, I thought it was comical from the early reactions to this film from the angry feminists who claimed that you required a vagina to like this film. Seriously, what the fuck? I don't need a fucking vagina to point out that this film was mediocre. Sure, there's some glimpses of something that could have been much, MUCH better, but it ultimately falls short and feels under-utilized, especially for most of these marquee comic book characters involved. 

There's some VERY noticeable reshoots in this film too as you could tell the difference between the John Wick-esque fight scenes and the not-so brilliantly choreographed other fight sequences. You cannot watch this film and tell that there's some scenes that aren't like the other in terms of the action. I don't understand why there was a decision to reshoot some fight sequences, but keep others in that were just flat out boring as hell to watch. 

Characters


Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel (Margot Robbie)


It's sad really when the first reactions to this film weren't met to Warner Bros.' expectations and they had to rename the film Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey in most markets. Margot Robbie was financially backing this film, so that couldn't be helped, along with the fact that she's the most recognizable and easily the most popular character out of the film's cast.

I can't really say that I liked Robbie's Harley Quinn here more than her previous performance in Suicide Squad, especially after seeing the version of the character presented in DC Universe's animated series of the same name, voiced by Kaley Cuoco. Her Boston accent feels a tad more forced here than it was in the previous film, but that's just something that I have come to expect from all of these actresses that have portrayed this character following Arleen Sorkin in Batman: The Animated Series. I still feel like this another "audition reel" for Margot Robbie landing a bigger part for this character in a much better film (and a better cinematic universe to boot) than this.



Roman Sionis/Black Mask (Ewan McGregor)

Between animation and comics, I have seen multiple iterations and different takes on this particular Batman villain and I have to say that McGregor's take is definitely something. It's not bad, but I think a common theme that plagues a lot of these human villains in the DCEU, ranging from Lex Luthor (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice) to The Joker (Suicide Squad) now Roman Sionis/Black Mask, is that they border on the eccentric and unorthodox to the point of bizarre and silly, rather than truly terrifying entities as they should portrayed as from the source material. It's a darn shame too as I thought McGregor was growing into the role in the third act, but Sionis is killed off before we could seen how McGregor would have evolved the character further in another DCEU appearance down the road.

I think the biggest disservice this film did to this character was killing him off in the last act before he could get his iconic mask grafted to his face and we could have gotten the traditional psychopath that this character was notorious for being in the comics. Instead, he is reduced to a whiny, spoiled brat who is too prissy to get his hands dirty most of the time, but yet, everyone is afraid of this guy from all of his temper tantrums in public.



Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina)

Zsasz comes across as a bigger waste as Shades in the second season of Luke Cage from Marvel Studios' Netflix television properties. He seems to have a homoerotic relationship with Roman Sionis that's never really fleshed out nor explored properly. He just seems to be highly protective of his employer to the point of borderline infatuation.

Huntress kills him off unceremoniously in the film's final act and doesn't offer Sionis any screen time to grieve his most loyal henchman. It felt like such a massive waste for this character. Much like Cassandra Cain (who we're about to discuss shortly), they could have named Sionis' lead henchman anything else and not waste this character.



Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco)

What a massive waste of a character. The writers of this film could have named this character anything BUT Cassandra Cain for a warmer reception from comic book fans. This one decision alone has shot the DC Extended Universe in the foot for yet another blunder, much like Mercy Graves (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice) and countless other "throwaway" characters in this cinematic universe to date. I swear, the folks at Warner Bros. and DC Comics' film divisions have no sense of long-term planning with these films.

By the end of this film, Cassandra is made out to be Harley's "sidekick" or rather protege as they run away together with the money they made from the Bertinelli diamond. Her past with the League of Shadows and potential to be a future member of the Bat Family isn't even mentioned nor established in any shape nor form in this film. This film took absolutely no regard to this character's established history and just made her a blank slate and only exists in the DC Extended Universe as Cassandra Cain in name only. I guess we'll never see Orphan in a live-action Batman film unless this cinematic universe is rebooted with different people involved.

I don't fault Ella Jay Basco for the role as she did the best what she could with this script and it didn't bother me that this iteration of Cassandra Cain wasn't mute either as I knew that going in from seeing the initial trailers for this film. The number one thing that pissed me off about including this character in this film was that there wasn't even a minor nod or anything here to show that the writers had any clue that this character had ties to Batman lore. You could've name her ANYTHING but Cassandra Cain to avoid pissing comic book faithfuls off.



Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez)

I'm sure most people are more familiar with Renee Montoya from her appearances in Batman: The Animated Series rather than her lesbian, true to comics iteration presented here. I grew fond of this character from DC Comics' New 52 graphic novels (where she would take over the mantle of The Question) and in the Injustice: Gods Among Us comics adaptation, namely her lesbian relationship with Batwoman and her own tenure into being a costumed heroine.

Right off the bat, Harley (as the film's narrator) points out that Renee comes off as a parody of  '80s cop movies and I couldn't unsee that for the duration of this film's runtime. From that moment on, Renee came off as a parody of a generic cop in any other one of these action films. I couldn't take her seriously from that fact, along with the fact that they got Rosie Perez of all people to portray this character. Her and Linda Hamilton (Terminator: Dark Fate) must be running for the Oscar for most irrelevant female to come back into relevancy in a mediocre film in 2019-2020.






(Laughs) At least she's still got a nice rack though...

In all seriousness though, Renee's character arc seems incomplete as she solves the case with Sionis, but she doesn't get the credit for it at all among her peers at GCPD, leading her to quit the force and join up with Huntress and Dinah to form the Birds of Prey. It would've been a better slap to the face of the men who tried to discredit her at every turn by slapping the Sionis case in their faces, but not giving her the last laugh so to speak didn't do anything for her character arc. She didn't get to arrest Sionis and no one knew about the Bertinelli diamond and all of that drama surrounding the case other than her, so it was all for nothing. You could say that she quit the force for a "higher calling" as a vigilante, but whatever at this point.



Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)

The recreation of the infamous murders of the Bertinelli family was well done, while simultaneously serving as the emotional catalyst for Helena's training as an assassin. They pretty much pegged her to be Batman but without his line he won't cross to kill. Instead, Huntress doesn't have any issue whatsoever with crossing that line to exact her revenge on those who murdered her family in cold blood.





I'm going to be completely honest. I couldn't take Huntress seriously at all in this film from start to finish. When she would open her mouth to speak, the only thing I could see and hear was Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World each and every time. It was bad enough that they gave her an abysmal costume to wear in this film too. She gets a more comics-accurate costume during the closing moments of the film, but it still didn't look very good in that regard either. I don't know what the fuck they were thinking with her costume here at all.

Any attempts to take this character serious are diluted by the fact that once she pairs up with Harley and the other Birds of Prey, her serious nature is made out to be a complete joke, no matter how bad ass she comes across in combat. She got revenge by killing all of the men responsible for the murders of her family, but there wasn't much else to write home about her character arc. The tie-in with Sionis just felt tacked on at the last second in all honesty.



Dinah Lance/Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell)

Black Canary is a character that's traditionally portrayed as Caucasian blonde female, but I didn't have an issue with Jurnee Smollett-Bell being cast as racially diverse take on this character. I can't put my finger on it, but her character in this film is a tad muddled in terms of her direction. At the same time, she has the most "complete" character arc than anyone else in this film - other than Harley Quinn herself to an extent. She shows promise in the first half of the film, where she's content of making enough money to get by singing at Sionis' nightclub that was frequented by Harley Quinn and other shady individuals of Gotham City's criminal underworld. She was content with not getting involved in bringing those individuals to justice, as it was the same vigilante lifestyle that saw her mother get killed (something that Renee Montoya points out via exposition dialogue later in the film). What makes her stand out is no matter how much she tries to run away from that "responsibility" to use her powers for good, she finds herself being forced to answer that call time and time again. The first time was when Harley was about to be "taken advantage of" (read: more likely raped...) by that guy that picked her up at the nightclub during one of her drunken trysts and ready to load her into his van until Dinah stopped in her tracks and beat the shit out of him and his cohorts. Sionis notices her skills on display and employs her as his new driver and enforcer/bodyguard, much to her dismay. Her resolve to not get involved is pushed further by Renee Montoya approaching her about providing intel on Sionis' shady dealings after she reminds Dinah about her mother's heroic exploits.

Dinah struggles to stay within the middle of either side (good and evil) at play here, only to find her hand forced into action once Cassandra Cain was put into the crossfire of Sionis' plans. She informed Montoya of Sionis' deal with Harley Quinn, but found herself still struggling to follow in her mother's footsteps as a heroine. It wasn't until these Birds of Prey were forced with their backs against the wall against Sionis' army that she finally made a stand. She used her signature sonic scream (metahuman ability) to incapacitate most of Sionis' men and finally stepped up as a true heroine. She was done running and hiding from her destiny and true calling. Out of all of the characters in this film, I loved the fact that her narrative was brought around full circle.


Narrative

The film focuses primarily on Harley Quinn chronicling her exploits following her break up with The Joker following the events of Suicide Squad. It should be clarified that this film goes out of its way to keep the ties and references to Suicide Squad to an absolute minimum as Warner Bros./DC Comics wanted to treat this film as it's own standalone feature. Harley Quinn recaps that relationship with a rather cute animation montage at the start of the film.







In an attempt to drown her sorrows away by drinking heavily and partying every night in Gotham City, Harley Quinn abuses her status as The Joker's (ex) girlfriend without fear of repercussions until she foolishly blows up the Ace Chemical Plant that was their beloved "hangout". This clues in everyone to their break up and puts Harley Quinn into the cross hairs of every maniac in Gotham City looking to get even with her or The Joker in some capacity. All of this chaos leads Harley Quinn onto the bad side of Roman Sionis after she broke his drivers' legs during one of her drunken trysts. When she was held at gun point, Harley pleads to curry a favor in the form of retrieving the lost Bertinelli diamond that was stolen by the pickpocket, Cassandra Cain. Cassandra just happened to get arrested for petty theft and swallowed the diamond before she was detained.

The rest of the film has each of the main characters pursuing either Harley Quinn or Cassandra Cain in hopes of retrieving the diamond or cornering Sionis for they could land him in jail after collecting enough evidence.

  • Dinah and Renee happen to cross paths with Cassandra out of pure coincidence. 
    • Renee sees her as a regular at GCPD being brought in for petty theft and pickpocketing
    • Dinah meets her on the way home as they happen to live in the same apartment building
  • Huntress meets all four women after following Zsasz trail to fulfill her own revenge for the murders of her entire family
    • She kills Zsasz and was ready to leave until Renee points out that Sionis was the mastermind behind the plot to murder her entire family
    • Harley was under the impression that Huntress was after her, due to bounty on her head by Sionis
  • Sionis wants the diamond from Cassandra as it would give him complete financial control of Gotham City, even though he had enough power over the city as it is, even down to his moles in the GCPD 

Huntress being involved is sheer coincidence since she had no ties to Sionis until Renee Montoya informed her that he was the one who staged her family's murder. With the dynamic between Renee and Dinah along with their unlikely partnership with Huntress, they could have taken down Sionis and Zsasz on their own without Harley's half-baked "let's work together" speech during the film's climax. On any other given day in Gotham City, those three women wouldn't beaten the shit out of Harley and along with Sionis' men.

I should mention that I watched that final fight sequence rolling my eyes at the sheer stupidity of how all of Sionis' henchmen are fighting these women with melee weapons or hand-to-hand instead of running into Amusement Mile with guns. They wised up when they had the women forced into the choke point as they were filing out of the main entrance, but that proved to be an excuse to resolve Dinah's character arc by making her use her powers in this film for the first time. Seeing that I felt like War Machine in Ironman 2, "How about next time you just lead with that?"

Harley confronts Sionis one-on-one and doesn't even beat him on her own, but by the odd chance that Cassandra Cain picked up one of Harley's hand grenades and pulled the pin at the last second before Harley knocks him off the pier to explode to his own fiery demise. I repeat - that was such a complete waste of that character. With Sionis dead, the five ladies go out together and bond over tacos (yeah... really) until Harley and Cassandra dupe them to take the Bertinelli diamond for themselves. Renee, Huntress, and Dinah form a new alliance as the trio of vigilantes dubbed the Birds of Prey, aimed to taking down other criminal exploits in Gotham City like Sionis' own. Harley takes Cassandra under her wing in a sense as they ride out to make a life of their own with the fortune they've acquired from the Bertinelli diamond. I get that this is supposed to be like "redemption" story of sorts for Harley coming out onto her own away from The Joker, but I can't say that this journey for her did anything for me.

That's well and all that she has the kid (Cassandra Cain) to tag along with her and fill the empty void that Mistah J left in her life after he dumped her, but this doesn't feel like an independence story like it comes across as it should. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for female empowerment and this film has a lot of moments where that is in full swing, but as an overall package, it doesn't feel very significant as a whole across the board. Five women down in their luck happen to cross paths and join forces against the common threat of Roman Sionis - I can buy that narrative for sure, but getting to that point is pretty muddled up with a lot of unnecessary red tape. Not to mention, there's Harley's cringe-worthy "rallying the troops" speech at the film's climax.

A few minor changes would have made this work better in my eyes. First of all, rename the kid anything BUT Cassandra Cain as that leaves that character on the table for the DCEU could bring her into the Bat Family in this continuity properly down the road. Keep Renee, Dinah, and Huntress' stories roughly the same, but add that they were getting tipped off by a mysterious informant throughout the film, who refers to themselves as "Oracle". Savvy comic book fans will know where I'm going with this. A mid-credits scene can reveal Oracle to be Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's wheelchair-bound daughter who has been monitoring Sionis' activities and looking for the means to take him down before they all came into the picture. Dinah, Renee, and Huntress can agree to continue working together and that's the proper start to the Birds of Prey. Sionis isn't killed off, but he's stuck in jail for a while from all of the evidence that's stacked against him from Renee's detective work, the evidence at the crime scene(s), and Oracle's own networking. Harley can still bond with the kid and all that, with the main change being that she allows the diamond to be returned to the proper authorities. Harley's true intentions are made clear after she tucks the kid in bed at her apartment, only to go out to steal the Bertinelli diamond for herself from police custody. This is where the film ends on a big cliffhanger where she bumps into Poison Ivy breaking into the police station for the very same thing. That way the film ends with a tease of what is to come with Ivy and Harley potentially teaming up while simultaneously laying a proper foundation for the Birds of Prey in this continuity.

But yeah... That's just my two cents on how I would have tweaked this film.




Watch It or Don't Bother?

I'm still laughing at the comments from the first week of this film's theatrical debut going along the lines of "you need a vagina to understand this film" along with Margot Robbie herself saying that people need to read the comics to get this film. I laughed hysterically and said, "Bitch, please." It's painfully obvious that those who were involved with the creation of this film were looking at comic book covers and was looking for "cool" ideas to shoehorn into this film with little knowledge of how these characters should be presented in any capacity.

If you like Harley Quinn (especially after her live-action debut in Suicide Squad), then it's going to be a no-brainer that you are going to want to see this. For everyone else who is already on the fence leery about everything that the DCEU has put on the table after Man of Steel, I say don't go out of your way to see this. It'll be on free television sooner more than later.