What critics are saying about ‘Birds of Prey’

Suicide Squad’s breakout star Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is liberated from Jared Leto’s big, bad Joker, and returns to the big screen in her own superhero adventure, Birds of Prey, in theaters on Feb. 7, 2020. 

The wacky foray into the DC Comics extended universe boasts a contemporary soundtrack and a star-studded cast to flank Robbie, including Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ewan McGregor, Chris Messina, and newcomer Ella Jay Basco. 

In her review, Mashable’s Angie Han lauded Robbie’s “shining performance,” which “cuts through the murk like a neon sign in a dark alleyway,” and adds “more depth and shading” to Harley Quinn. 

However, Han explained that the sequencing of the film was a bit subpar, as “the time-jumping is oddly paced, making the narrative unnecessarily confusing in the early going, and the brutality and humor don’t always sit well together. It’s difficult, sometimes, to figure out exactly what to make of what we see onscreen…”

Here’s what the critics are saying about Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).

The plot is a bit confusing

Kate Erbland, IndieWire:

It’s hard to ascertain if some of the film’s narrative missteps are the product of bad editing or shoddy writing — or perhaps both in one messy stew… Even the film’s conclusion — offering both sewn-up satisfaction and the inevitable open door for other franchise adventures — is marred by a weirdo break in logic that could have been fixed with some swapped pages or more coherent editing. 

Meg Downey, Gamespot:

The one notable sticking point Birds of Prey runs into is a poor sense of pacing. Harley’s non-linear storytelling is funny, sure, and while it does work in the context of her character, it can get hard to track what is happening when. The problem becomes more obvious as the multiple plot threads begin to weave into one. At worst, the cut-and-paste style feels like a fun but ultimately unnecessary time sink that stands in the way of the team coming together… 

Laura Prudom, IGN:

The plot swerves, skids, and doubles back on itself… overcomplicating a fairly straightforward story in which various factions are on the hunt for a stolen diamond… or on the hunt for those who are hunting it. Thankfully, Yan’s stylish direction and keen sense of comedic timing keep things lively even when the story starts to strain under the weight of so many competing storylines.

John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter:

Christina Hodson’s screenplay indulges in a couple of epic flashbacks as it lays this premise out, sometimes disrupting chronological momentum for no clear purpose.

Sean Keene, CNET:

However, Birds of Prey is more about its characters and mood than its plot — Harley’s narration jumps between various points in the few days over which the story takes place, which makes the first half of the movie a bit more chaotic than it needs to be.

The Birds of Prey (Huntress, Black Canary, and Detective Renee Montoya) deserved more screen time 

Owen Gleiberman, Variety:

The actresses who come together to form Harley’s posse, like Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Roman’s nightclub chanteuse Black Canary or Ella Jay Basco as the wily Cassandra, have presence to spare, but you wish they’d been given more to do.

Laura Prudom, IGN:

Birds of Prey has a lot of masters to serve between emancipating Harley, setting up her antagonists, and establishing the other women crammed into that very long title, and unfortunately, the Birds of Prey are the ones who get shortchanged by the ambitious scope of this tale… you can’t help but wish that Birds of Prey leaned a little harder into the team-up aspect of the title, especially when Smollett-Bell, Perez, and Winstead imbue their characters with such depth in such a short period. 

Sean Keene, CNET:

Huntress is a bit underserved in terms of character development — she feels like a character whose story is playing out its own movie — but Winstead will make you forget that with her exceptional comic timing. Each of the ensemble brings their own energy to the group and the tension between them is fun, but it’s overcome a little too easily before the climax.

The film’s action sequences are the most fantabulous part 

John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter:

Extravagant action choreography makes the most of colorful set design, unlikely gimmicks and wrasslin’-style brutality. 

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly:

And [Yan] has a gift for kinetic fight scenes, though there are only so many creative-kill scenarios before the death toll becomes numbing.

Meg Downey, Gamespot:

The aforementioned ultraviolence comes care of some truly outrageous fight scenes. A car chase on roller skates? Check. A police evidence locker brawl that ends in a cloud of cocaine while a remix of Ram Jam’s Black Betty blares? Check. A massive showdown in the world’s coolest funhouse? Check, check, and check… These are some of the most fun-to-watch fight scenes the superhero genre has showcased thus far, and with any luck, they’ll go on to inspire the next generation of R-rated cape-and-cowl madness.

Laura Prudom, IGN: 

The fight scenes in Birds of Prey are jaw-dropping and more than earn the movie’s R-rating – utilizing all manner of props (from baseball bats to bags of cocaine), satisfyingly squelchy sound editing, and a deranged sense of humor to create something truly thrilling. And, thanks to an emphasis on practical stunts and well-choreographed camera movements, the smackdowns have a tangible, bone-crunching quality that sets them apart from the overly CGIed slugfests found in many other superhero films lately.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety:

Directing her first studio feature, Cathy Yan keeps it all hurtling along with impeccable ferocity. Her action scenes have a deftly detonating visual spaciousness, capped by crowd-pleasing moments like the one where Harley, brandishing a baseball bat, ricochets it off the floor with perfect slow-mo timing.