Birds Of Prey Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

5. It's A Proudly Feminist Blockbuster

Birds of Prey is, unsurprisingly, a shamelessly feminist blockbuster, and that's a damn good thing.

From its opening scene onwards, this is a film with some deceptively thoughtful themes on offer, cleverly flipping the oft-idolised romance between Harley and The Joker, exposing it for how toxic and abusive it actually is.

But more to the point, much of Harley's characterisation throughout the film explores how a person deals with trauma and tries to move on with their life, while Renee Montoya's subplot in the police precinct notes the difficulties of patriarchal society accepting powerful, self-actualised women.

And yet, the film doesn't glibly take an "all men are trash" through-line nor is it rife with on-the-nose, pandering dialogue (looking at you, Terminator: Dark Fate).

It's simply about a team of badass women banding together to bring down some incredibly gross men, and given how male-dominated the superhero landscape is, that's incredibly refreshing.