How 'Birds Of Prey' is both everything right and everything wrong with the DCEU.

So, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous emancipation of one Harley Quinn is out, and as far as DCEU films go it's fairly average. Of course, it's a step up from Harley's film debut Suicide Squad, but it doesn't come close to the recent success of Wonder Woman and Shazam, and for many (including me), that makes this film massively disappointing.

This film felt like an opportunity for DC to really cement Harley's status as a great character, and more importantly, a character who can operate in films without her long-time love interest, the Joker. And for the most part the film does this, Harley is strong and unforgiving although it must be said that I think they tried much too hard to make her overly comedic (the long and drawn out joke about the egg breakfast wrap thing didn't work at all for me). Margot Robbie is, as expected, excellent in the role once again and I think the Quinn/Robbie pairing offers DC a lot of exciting opportunities.

My first real issue with the film, was how long it took to establish the other members of the Birds of Prey. Black Canary was well developed and interesting throughout, Renee Montoya was well developed but slightly dull and predictable, and Huntress is under developed which is a shame because she by far has the most interesting back story. I think the most frustrating character for me was Cassandra Cain. I thought there was huge potential for the relationship between Harley and Cassandra to carry this movie, just as the relationship between Deadpool and Russell carried Deadpool 2. Unfortunately, like much of the rest of the film, it all just feels a bit thrown together. One minute Harley's loving life with her young sidekick, the next she's making a deal to trade the girl for her own life. And this is not an isolated incident. The film consists solely of opportunities taken and opportunities missed.

Take Ewan McGregor's Black Mask for example, he was one of the most compelling, if not the most compelling, villains yet to be seen in a DCEU film. Then we take Victor Zsasz, a comic-book favourite who is reduced down to nothing but Black Mask's sidekick and in all honesty, a bit of a softarse. Then we have the Bertenelli diamond, the back story of which is once again slightly scrambled and confused as it's explained in the non-linear narrative, and although it was great to see, the Canary Cry comes out of absolutely nowhere and I'm sure people who aren't familiar with the character will have been left scratching their heads.

Don't get me wrong, the film is still enjoyable. The fight scenes especially, and the decision to stick with the R-rating is justified with every knee broken and skull cracked. It was also nice, if not slightly confusing, that this film exists largely independently of any other DCEU film. It's good that it gives us time to really focus on Harley and the Birds of Prey, but it feels slightly strange that Black Mask can terrorise Gotham without any resistance from either the Batman, or any of Gotham's other iconic villains. What's more, the Captain Boomerang wanted poster felt forced and unnecessary.

Still, DC do need to be commended. The decision to make a Harley Quinn film without the joker is an important one in the world of comic book movies, especially considering you have to doubt if Marvel would ever do the same (A Wasp solo movie for example). Yet, it was slightly strange that the Joker was cut entirely from the Suicide Squad flashbacks, although that could well be down to the fact that neither Jared Leto or the studio want to return to the role, especially after the buzz of Joker.

All in all, the film is enjoyable if slightly forgettable. The DCEU are in desperate need of some consistency in terms of film quality, and hopefully Wonder Woman 1984 and The Suicide Squad can raise the bar a little. While Robbie and McGregor are outstanding, the Birds of Prey feel like they've been shoehorned into their own movie. It seems to me that a little more work on the script could have unearthed the very good film that lies within this one somewhere. Overall, the film is a 6.5 out of 10 and at the very least it's a good time at the cinema.

The Birds of Prey in full costume is really disappointing though. Huntresses' goggles are slightly ridiculous. Fine, they're really ridiculous.