Review: 'Birds Of Prey And The Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn' Packs a Punch

It's no longer a "super" man's world!

The war of the sexes has come to the blockbuster box office. The question of whether a female lead can carry a tentpole franchise to the top of ticket sales has overwhelmingly been answered... and the answer is: "You betcha!" Margot Robbie has already proven her big-screen versatility. The actress has gone from Oscar darling, to Tarantino toughie, to blond bombshell, all in the decade since she started getting our attention, so it's no surprise she'd turn her talents to nabbing her own franchise flick.

Arguably, Robbie was the only thing to mine out of the DC Comics debacle "Suicide Squad," which placed her amidst an ensemble that featured Will Smith and Viola Davis as a team of expendable anti-heroes. Paired up with Jared Leto, portraying a wildly different Joker than anyone has seen, Robbie slithered easily into the psychosis of the Clown Prince of Crime's paramour, Harley Quinn, and stole the entire movie as swiftly as she stole a purse. The film didn't make much of a dent and filled critics with a terrible unease, but if Robbie had her way Harley would return!

Her payback came in the form of the spin-off "Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn," available now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. Moving into the spotlight (much as how the character has in the comics, as well as popular culture), Harley Quinn is let loose in Gotham City, single and feeling her oats. Unfortunately for her, she's laid a trail of enemies in her wake that is out for revenge, and when she crosses the path of crime lord Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), the Black Mask means to collect!

With Sionis' dangerously sexy (and equality psychotic) henchmen Zsaaz (Chris Messina) doing his dirty work (as well as his laundry, we suspect), Harley has got to make friends, and fast, if she's going to escape their wrath. Alongside a disgruntled beat detective (Rosie Perez), a high-caliber assassin with a score to settle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and a sultry songbird with a killer high note (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), a willful waif under their wing, these "birds" are no one's "prey things." Under the skillful eye of director Cathy Yan, "Birds of Prey" packs a punch!

The Blu-ray special features reveal all the goings-on necessary to bring this blockbuster to the big screen, including all the fashion hijinks and on-set decor that give the film its own unique perspective. "Birds of Prey" is able to rise above its contemporaries, and is a slam-bang thrill ride, a roller coaster ride that is both dangerously cool and violently ghoulish, but you never want to take your eyes off it. It may not convert many of the comics faithful, but as a film in the vein of what's been delivered by the studio, "Birds of Prey" is its own animal, and in a league of its own.

"Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn"
Blu-ray, DVD and Digital
$29.99
www.warnerbros.com/movies/birds-prey