Mr. Movie: ‘Birds of Prey’ is for the birds; ‘Reel Rock 14’ rocks
‘Birds of Prey’
The official title is “Birds of Prey: And the Fantbulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.” The title is supposed to laugh. Or at least smile. I did neither. The title is as bloated and as all over the place as the movie.
And it’s way far from fantabulous.
Margot Robbie is Harley Quinn. We met her in “Suicide Squad” in 2016. The movie was deadly dull. Robbie’s Quinn was a supporting character. She stole the movie and was so much fun that it earned the character her own movie.
Big mistake.
Quinn is Joker’s girlfriend. The plot has her breaking up with him and getting on the bad side of gangster Roman Sionis. He’s done by Ewan McGregor. Sionis wants a diamond picked from an associate’s pocket by a pickpocket. Quinn is forced to get it from her. And there are corrupt cops and an assassin who kills mobsters.
Other than the cop played by Rosie Perez, everyone in the movie is a bad guy.
Here’s the problem. Quinn is a one-note character. She’s the kind of personality that adds flavor to a movie. A punch line here or there makes a movie like “Suicide Squad” interesting. Put that type of character in a whole movie, make her the focus and in 10-minutes you’re tired of the schtick.
Very tired.
Robbie is as bad in this movie as she was good in “Suicide Squad.” However, this is not Robbie’s fault. She’s the perfect Harley Quinn and has a blast with the character. Robbie has mastered the giggly little girl persona and tosses her lines off with reckless abandon.
Fun stuff here and there. But a whole movie of it? Nah.
Blame the awful writing of Christina Hodson. She penned the much-loved Transformers flick “Bumblebee.” It was clever and sweet. Nothing in “Birds of Prey” is sweet and it’s overly clever. Then director Cathy Yan (“Dead Pigs”) takes the overly clever writing, overdoes it and pounds it — and us — to a pulp.
Yan must have watched — and liked — too many of the episodes of the old Batman TV series with Adam West and Burt Ward. It’s that style of moviemaking on steroids. Crafty and slick for a few minutes then it wears you down to the point where you’re practically screaming, “Enough already.”
“Birds of Prey” preys on those who loved Robbie’s acting in “Suicide Squad.” Fans will think they’re going to be treated to something as fun or even more fun. They will be disappointed and will quickly learn that “Birds of Prey” — to use a bad cliche in a movie full of them — is for the birds.
▪ Rated R for language, violence and mature themes. It’s playing at the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco and Queensgate 12s and the Southgate 10, at the AMC Classic Kennewick 12 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
▪ Rating: 1 out of 5
‘Reel Rock 14’
People are always asking me about movies and what I’m looking forward to seeing. There are the rare exceptions because — surprise! — I look forward to very few of them. That shocks people but it’s true.
It’s rare that one comes along that rocks my world and I can’t wait to see it. That’s deliberate word play because once a year the Reel Rock producers pop out a movie and it is one I always look forward to seeing.
This year it’s “Reel Rock 14”.
I’ve been reviewing Reel Rock movies for close to a decade. My hearing loss has upset my sense of balance and heights are now a no-no. So this is the closest I’m ever going to get to the dizzying heights of the climbers in these movies.
The biggest star the Reel Rock films have produced is Alex Honnold. His movie “Free Solo” took home the best documentary Oscar last year. He’s a mind-blowing climber who is the featured performer in this year’s film. He and Tommy Caldwell set out to top the speed record for climbing Yosemite’s El Capitan.
It is the focal point of the film. Honnold is always fascinating and this story is a lot of fun. So is a smaller piece about boulder climbing in Utah’s Joe’s Valley.
I recommend this one to climbers and non-climbers alike but do have a criticism. This year’s piece features the some fabulous cinematography but it’s not up to standards that the series has given us in the past.
It’s a small criticism. While “Reel Rock 14” doesn’t rock or climb to new heights like the other 13 you’ll still want to catch this one. It’s a lot of fun.
▪ Not rated but probably PG. It’s playing Saturday, February 8th only at the Richland High School Auditorium at 7pm.
▪ Rating: 4 out of 5
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘Birds of Prey’ is for the birds; ‘Reel Rock 14’ rocks."