Declaration of Independance: A Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) Review

Emancipation is an apt description.

Let’s get this over with: Suicide Squad sucked. After the divisive Batman V Superman, Warner Bros. tried hard to course correct their next movie, and, well, they drove it right into a wall.

But I think the one thing we can all agree on is that Harley Quinn was the very best part of that movie. Despite it not making sense that she was part of a team built to take on a Superman-level threat (what the hell is Harley supposed to do against the Man of Steel?), Margot Robbie took to the role and made it iconic, even amidst the horrible writing she was surrounded by.

So, naturally, she’s the only character (thus far) to get her own movie. When it was first announced, I thought the title was entirely too long and a little full of itself. Now that’s I’ve seen the movie, I realize that the title is quite on the nose (and Warner Bros. would be stupid to change it). Specifically, the word “Emancipation.” Because not only does it signal Harley’s journey to make herself her own character and step out of the Joker’s shadow, it announces to us, the audience, that she’s separated herself from the shackles of Suicide Squad’s failure. And even how the title is advertised…