[This post was originally written on February 12, 2020. I don’t remember why I never published it.]

Starting this year, I’ve been writing about my favorite thing I watch each week. To see my previous entries, click here.

I’m late again but, hey, at least I’m not pregnant! In week five I watched the highly-anticipated ‘Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’, DC’s latest superhero film. For the uninitiated, the film follows the same Harley Quinn that was introduced to us in 2016’s ‘Suicide Squad’, portrayed by Margot Robbie, who was arguably the best part of that original film. With ‘Birds of Prey’, Harley is front and center, but along for the ride are four other women making their big screen debuts.

Set some time after the events of ‘Suicide Squad’, the new film starts with Harley and The Joker breaking up - apparently for good this time. Word quickly spreads that Harley no longer “belongs” to Gotham’s most dangerous villain, which puts a huge target on her from every bad guy she’s wronged in the city. The most prominent bad guy is Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), aka Black Mask, an eccentric but brutal crime lord with a habit of cutting people’s faces off and who wants Harley dead. In her survival, Harley crosses paths with other women who are connected to Sionis in one way or another: Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a young orphan and notorious pickpocket who steals an important diamond that happens to belong to Sionis; Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), aka Black Canary, a singer at Sionis’s night club who also has metahuman abilities; Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a detective building a case against Sionis; and Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), aka Huntress, a mysterious vigilante with her own agenda and hit list.

It isn’t as apparent in the trailers leading up to the film’s release, but ‘Birds of Prey’ ends up sharing a lot of similarities to ‘Deadpool’, and not just in their shared R ratings. The film shares the same nonlinear narrative structure as ‘Deadpool’, in which we zip back and forth between past and present, seemingly following Harley’s unfocused mindset. As with ‘Deadpool’, I’m not so sure the decision to feature a nonlinear plot adds anything to ‘Birds of Prey’, but it’s not too distracting. ‘Birds of Prey’ also features a surprising amount of blood and gore, though never gratuitous. Both characters tend to break the fourth wall a lot, which helps them stand out from other superhero films, and their thoughts are fun. I like the ‘Deadpool’ films because they’re still entertaining, but the reason I’ve never been able to be invested in the films, or love them, is the stakes never feel real. The main character is practically invincible and can do anything, so it’s hard to become emotionally invested. That’s where ‘Birds of Prey’ stands out, because Harley and the gang are not invincible, the threats they face are real.

The acting throughout the film is top-notch. We already know Robbie is fantastic as Harley Quinn, so it’s nice to see more of the character here. The other standout here is Ewan McGregor, who is absolutely having the time of his life playing Roman Sionis. He comes off both charismatic and bat-shit crazy, which makes him all the more dangerous. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a scene-stealer too, despite having little screen time. A lot of her scenes feel like they’re from a Tarantino film, which is great because her scenes are stylized and cool.

When it comes to DC films, I’m biased because I grew up watching shows like ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ or ‘Justice League’ over the Marvel equivalents. I actually really like all of the films from the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) that started with 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’. Sure, the franchise has been notoriously trashed upon compared to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, but I personally feel the DC films have their own charm. Despite the fact I like almost all the films in the DCEU, I can’t deny it was a mistake to try to replicate Marvel’s success so fast. But, thankfully, ‘Birds of Prey’ continues the winning streak that started with ‘Aquaman’ and then ‘Shazam!’, in which the films have become more director-driven instead of trying to connect each film to one another.

‘Birds of Prey’ features probably the most diverse cast and crew in front of and behind the camera. It’s historic because the film’s director, Cathy Yan (‘Dead Pigs’), is the first Asian woman to direct a major comic book/superhero movie. Not only that, but the film is written by an Asian woman, Christina Hodson (‘Bumblebee’), with cinematography by Matthew Libatique (‘A Star Is Born’, ‘Venom’), who is Filipino. And when it comes to onscreen representation, the film’s cast includes an African-American character (Black Canary), a Latina character (Renee Montoya), and several Asian characters: Cassandra Cain, Ellen Yee (Ali Wong), Mr. Keo (Francois Chau), and Doc (Dana Lee).

Unfortunately, the film isn’t doing as well at the box office compared to other superhero films. But I’m hoping the underwhelming financial success doesn’t hinder the industry’s ability to take chances on telling different stories, featuring different characters, with different filmmakers from the ones we’re so used to, ones that are often white-male oriented.

Week 5 Watchlist:

• 2/6: Birds of Prey

• 2/7: 8th Democratic Party Presidential Debate