'Birds of Prey' Breaks Down The Fourth Wall & Superhero Gender Stereotypes with a Multi-Colored Mallet!

Birds of Prey is finally here, and once again, Miss Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie) has stolen our hearts (probably to fix her broken one). 

The movie takes place right after the Joker kicks Harley out for what appears to be good this time (though, as her so-called friends say, we never really know with this pair). To deal with her heartbreak, Harley does what every girl does -- she gets drunk. After overhearing her friends' insensitive comments, Harley decides to prove to everyone that she and the Joker are broken up for good.

However, her drunken plan backfires when she suddenly learns that a lot of people want her dead, and the only thing standing in their way was the Joker. Without his protection, Harley now has to protect herself.

Along with a unique plot and beautiful cinematography and visual effects, there are a lot of reasons to love this movie. Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn is, once again, spot on, keeping viewers hooked. 

One of my favorite parts of the movie is getting to see Harley become best friends with 12-year-old Cassandra Cain (though I’m not completely sure if Harley ever did learn her name, as she only seems to call her "kid"). Harley acts like an older sister to Cassandra, even admitting that Cassandra made her want to be a better person. 

We also get a deeper look into Harley Quinn’s past life as Dr. Harleen Quinzel and a peek into her childhood. Though it would be interesting to learn more about her newest band of misfits -- Huntress, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain, as well as the main antagonists Roman (Romy), Sionis (also known as Black Mask), and Victor Zsasz -- the brief background of the characters can be forgiven as, after all, it is Miss Quinn narrating the story, so it’s no surprise she would make it all about herself.

The best part of the movie has to be the fourth wall-breaking way it mocks film and mocks itself. Roman Sionis is your stereotypical villain -- a young man who was shunned by his father and wreaks havoc in a misguided attempt to win back his attention (think Prince Zuko from "Avatar: the Last Airbender"). Before Roman can get into his background, Harley has already summed him up for the audience.

Harley also makes multiple jokes about stereotypical cops from '80s movies, using this to characterize Renee Montoya. One of the best lines in the movie is when Harley says that, like in every other cop movie, Renee wasn’t going to get anything done until she was suspended (and she was right).

Clearly, director Cathy Yan has been listening to female action hero fans -- or maybe she knows the struggle of having long hair. We finally get to see a female superhero struggle to fight with her long locks getting in the way. Harley tosses Black Canary a hair tie so she can finish fighting. Though subtle, this moment called out many other female action hero films where fans have questioned the hero’s ability to fight with her hair down.

Overall, Birds of Prey is the female action movie we’ve been waiting for. It combines comedy and action and does so without taking away from the female characters. Check it out in theatres now!