Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

     D.C. comics gets this one right. After an introduction to the character of Harley Quinn in "Suicide Squad", Margot Robbie returns as the living embodiment of Ms. Quinn in her own film. While the title may be "Birds of Prey", make no mistake, this is a starring vehicle for Ms. Robbie, who also produced the film.

     Ms. Robbie is joined by Rosie Perez as detective Rene Montoya, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. They don't actually come together until late in the film, joining forces to rescue Cassandra from "Black Mask", played by a scenery chewing Ewan McGregor, and his right hand man, Victor Zsasz, play by Chris Messina. For most of the film, we are treated to Harley Quinn madness and mayhem as she struggles to accept her "break up" from The Joker and tries to be her own woman.

     Directed by Cathy Yan, with a script by Christina Hodson the Harley comic book is brought to life in all its craziness. This R rated action comedy is strictly for fans though, who will appreciate Ms. Robbie's commitment to the character and all the inside jokes. 

The Rhythm Section

           Despite star Blake Lively acting with conviction, "The Rhythm Section" is completely out of tune. It's a paper thin revenge story that flirts with an espionage connection that goes nowhere. A typical studio film released in the bleak movie month of February where bad films go to die.

            When she discovers the plane crash that killed her family was actually a terrorist bomb, Ms. Lively awakens from a three year stupor of drugs and prostitution to track down those responsible. She rather easily finds co-star Jude Law, an ex-MI 6 agent, living in the middle of nowhere Scotland who, out of the goodness of his heart, helps train her to locate the terrorists. Sterling K. Brown also co-stars as an rogue information broker living in Tangiers. No matter what role Mr. Brown takes in a film, he's always a variation of "Randall" from "This Is Us".

              Ms. Blakely tries hard with a script by Mark Burnell, who based the film on his novel but it's easier to find an MI 6 agent in the middle of Scotland than to take this story seriously. What the film does have going for it, is a beautiful world travelogue. Set in multiple countries, the scenery is lovely. Otherwise, things blow up, people die, there is a requisite twist and who cares....