February 20, 2020 – Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie of “I, Tonya,” first seen in “Suicide Squad” (2016) gets her own spin-off movie with the unwieldy name “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” now listed in theaters under one of three titles, that super long title, the short one, “Birds of Prey” and the middle length title of “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.” It is hard to have a hit movie if you mess up the title like this.

This movie's box office results are not only plagued by the name problem, but the R-rating (“Suicide Squad” was PG-13) and the fact that the story is dominated by several strong female characters, who routinely go around beating up men (with more than a few kicks to the groin area). That doesn't go over well in today's misogynistic social and political climate. So what you've got here is a movie which is better than “Suicide Squad,” but which isn't making anywhere near as much money as “Suicide Squad” made. This is not unusual at all. Box office results are often quite fickle.

Harley Quinn (a name which seems to be a play on the word harlequin, a word related to clowns or jokers) has broken up with her lover, Joker (who does not appear in this film) and suffers from a broken heart, but she doesn't want to tell anyone about the break up. If criminals know she is no longer the Joker's girlfriend, they won't be afraid of her anymore, even though they should be.

Harley has had enough of this situation. One night she steals a truck and uses it to destroy one of the Joker's properties. The resulting massive explosion is both catharsis and emancipation, announcing that she and the Joker have split up. Her enemies, and there are a lot of them, realize she is no longer under the protection of the Joker and they come after Harley, seeking their revenge.

Harley's main nemesis, however, is the head of a crime organization, Roman Sionis (played by Ewan McGregor of “Doctor Sleep”) who is after a big diamond, which holds the secret to a crime family's lost treasure. The diamond is a kind of McGuffin which drives the plot of the movie. The diamond is stolen from one of Sionis' minions by a street urchin, Cassandra Cain (played by Ella Jay Basco) who is taken in by Harley, and the chase is on.

Harley and Cassandra are being chased, not only by every crook in town, but also by a tough, determined police detective, Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez of “Pineapple Express”). The pair get some unexpected help from one of Sionis' employees, Dinah Lance (played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell of “The Great Debaters”). Lance is a nightclub singer, a chauffeur, and, in secret, is also a superhero with a super voice, the Black Canary.

Sionis puts a price on the head of Cassandra, and she, Harley, Montoya, Lance, and another woman (a mysterious assassin I won't name here) are cornered in an old amusement park. They must team up and fight, or die at the hands of a huge mob of criminals. What a fight that turns out to be.

This movie is built around the rollicking character of Harley Quinn, who enjoys causing mayhem wherever she goes. She is a kind of anti-hero along the lines of Batman, but not at all like Christian Bale's tortured Batman. She is more of a criminal, and less serious, like the title character played by Adam West in the 1960s Batman TV series. She is a criminal, but her basic instinct is to protect Cassandra. Similarly, Dinah Lance is also willing to work for criminals, but only up to a point. She puts herself in harm's way to protect both Quinn and Cassandra from being killed.

Despite the R-rating and the large body count of this action film, it is emotionally light in nature. Based on comic book characters, the action is comic, rather than serious, the opposite of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy with its dark, tortured characters. The plot, and much of the action is not believable, but the fact that it is not meant to be taken seriously makes it more palatable.

The fight scenes are well-choreographed, featuring some impressive acrobatics. Quite a lot of the fighting is confined to kicks and punches, although guns and various kinds of clubs, such as baseball bats are often used in the fight scenes. Margot Robbie is very entertaining as the mighty Quinn, and Ewan McGregor seems to be having a lot of fun chewing up the scenery as the evil, but somewhat silly criminal, Sionis. Cathy Yan does a nice job directing this wild film. I hope she gets more chances down the line, but it is tough for women directors to advance in Hollywood. This film rates a B.

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