Birds of Prey (e a Fantabulástica Emancipação de Uma Harley Quinn)

O filme Birds of Prey (e por extensão, a própria Harley Quinn) é como uma prostituta bêbeda com uma espessa camada de maquilhagem - à primeira vista ela dá a impressão de atratividade, mas após uma inspeção mais atenta ela apenas parece repugnante e pegajosa. O enredo plano banal do filme é mascarado pelo seu estilo narrativo complicado, os seus personagens, na sua maioria pouco elaborados, realizam criações de representação irritantes, e as suas cenas de ação raramente conseguem libertar-se, pelo que pelo menos os estilos visuais ostentosamente pomposos correspondem à forma como a sua louca e extravagantemente perversa anti-heroína se apresenta. Mas com a combinação de glamour cintilante, espontaneidade e brincadeiras totalmente forçadas com a estética sombria das ruas sujas e dos locais em ruínas, é tão divertido como ir a uma discoteca, encher-se de tragos após tragos e depois vomitar furiosamente na sua bolsa (o que também acontece no filme). Algumas pessoas podem estar à vontade com este tipo de entretenimento, sem dúvida. (06/02/2020)

Como ultimamente tenho tido o hábito de elogiar o elenco, o elenco aqui é exemplarmente mau. A comediante esquecida dos anos 90 Rosie Perez como uma polícia séria? Ewan McGregor como um tipo mau com uma faca na garganta de uma menina? E o fraco elenco do grupo das Birds of Prey, negligenciado por uma caracterização ainda mais pobre? Outro grande mal: a combinação de «brincadeiras» propositadamente infantis que não fazem rir, com tons graves que o fazem estremecer (o despir-se da rapariga no bar). E o constante desleixo na visão criativa, direção estúpida e sem coração. (09/03/2020)

The proclamation of girl power and kicking someone in the balls are not the problems of the film at all. In my opinion, there could be more of them in an ideal world and they could hit elsewhere than the obvious targets, such as ruined demented sidekicks and a generic villain (does Gotham really need another sadistic mobster with daddy complexes?). Harley is a guide. Narratively and self-reflexively, the film copies Deadpool, including unreliable detours and chaotic bloopers. Unfortunately, before the film gets going in any direction, these moments of "let's start again" slow down the pace considerably. The film is accompanied by cheeky and imaginative choreographies by Chad Stahelský, in which there is more sparkle and playfulness than in the entire screenplay by Christina Hodson. He has trouble telling a trivial story with a hint of tension and turning photogenic emancipation figurines into characters. The impression that the DC universe suffers from a brutal fragmentation of personality is not helped by this tolerable and completely useless film. When it comes to Batman ... girls, damn it, I don't even know who this is about. But it doesn't matter. Let’s paint our nails, have margarita and feel satisfied that the straw-men got kicked in the balls. (07/02/2020)

Ignore it. Birds of Prey wants to be an edgy, perhaps even controversial film full of gritty and dark humour, bold directorial choices, strong characters and uncompromising atmosphere. But for that to work, the film would have to be made by someone more skilled than Cathy Yan, who gives it a pretty interesting visual look, but has absolutely no idea how to work with the characters and how to build relationships between them. And given that this is pretty much what Birds of Prey is supposed to be about, it's quite a problem. But she may also be a problem in that when Harley goes solo, she turns out not to be a very interesting character. This team-up wants to be something like Deadpool, but the the tough girls of Gotham can’t even hold a candle to the verbose mercenary. They're still good in the action scenes, but once they start talking and building relationships, it becomes apparent how boring these heroines are and how all that toughness and grit only works on paper. Behind the R-rating and the wild colours, there is a film can’t hide the fact that it has no ideas and is boring most of the time. (05/02/2020)

I really don’t know if Birds of Prey wants to be a "sharp, even controversial film” or anything else, but I enjoyed it for what it really is – a fresh, uncomplicated, deliberately trashy-in-places, playfully over-the-top and infantile post-breakup action comedy with an intentionally chaotic narrative that, like the main protagonist, gradually settles down and becomes more focused. Girl power is not so obviously on display as in Wonder Woman or certain Marvel movies (e.g. the painfully forced and TERRIBLY unnecessary “don’t say that name” scene in Avengers: Endgame). Feminism is a natural part of the fictional world. All of the men are malicious betrayers or dangerous, violent swine (which, however, does not mean that the heroines are saintly, not even a little – they are imperfect, but they don’t care) and we want them to die a horrible death. This film is based more on female friendship than on the antagonism between Harley Quinn and Sionis, which in the end is rather just a MacGuffin contributing to “female bonding”, an obstacle preventing the protagonist from enjoying an egg sandwich or watching Tweety in peace. This is where Birds of Prey differs from standard comics-based films, where a villain must be eliminated in order for the world to be saved. I surely would not mind if there was greater anarchy and more derisive mockery of all of the macho comic-book universes in which women serve merely as sidekicks, baddies and ornaments in guy adventures, but Birds of Prey is too radically feminist (er, lol) for some viewers, so for now it’s perhaps not possible to expect more from a major-studio genre film. 75% (07/02/2020)