Netflix Friday - Volume 76

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: Birds of Prey (2020)
After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) joins superheroes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett, Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save a young girl from an evil crime lord (Ewan McGregor)
 

Drama: Freedom Writers (2007)
A young teacher (Hilary Swank) inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
 

Comedy: Dark Shadows (2012)
An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.
 

Animation: The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Egyptian Prince Moses (Val Kilmer) learns of his identity as a Hebrew and his destiny to become the chosen deliverer of his people.
 

Romance: Love and Other Drugs (2012)
In 1990s Pittsburgh, a medicine peddler (Jake Gyllenhaal) starts a relationship with a young woman (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
 

Horror: Ghost Ship (2002)
A salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.
 

Science Fiction: Jumper (2008)
A teenager (Hayden Christensen) with teleportation abilities suddenly finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between those like him and their sworn annihilators.
 

Crime: Richard Jewell (2019)
Security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) is an instant hero after foiling a bomb attack at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his life becomes a nightmare when the FBI leaks to the media that he is a suspect in the case.
 

Thriller: The Guilty (2021)
Demoted police officer Joe (Jake Gyllenhaal) assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.
 

Documentary: Britney Vs. Spears (2021)
Journalist Jenny Eliscu and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr investigate Britney Spears’ fight for freedom by way of exclusive interviews and confidential evidence.
 

Family: Marley & Me (2008)
A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog Marley.
 

Movie Review - Birds of Prey

Director: Cathy Yan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong

Description: After splitter with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) joins superheroes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save a young girl (Ella Jay Basco) from an evil crime lord.

Review: We met crazy anti-hero Harley Quinn in the essemble film “Suicide Squad”. Margot Robbie, as Harley Quinn, was the one that made this film better. And we all looked forward to seeing a movie about Harley. Again, Robbie is what makes “Birds of Prey” worth watching. But this is not a Birds of Prey movie, it’s a Harley Quinn movie.
In an animated intro we see some history on Harley, who was born as Harleen Quinzel. We see how she grew up with nuns and didn’t have a great childhood. Still she manages to go to college and become a pshychiatrist at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum. That’s where she fell in love with the Joker, who dragged her to the dark side.
Back to the here and now. Harley Quinn broke up with her Joker. And there isn’t a lot of time to let that rest. Quinn has made a lot of enemies along the way and police detective Renee Montoya is also breathing down he neck.
“Birds of Prey” is not a standard origin story, of how the group got together. Because as I stated before, this movie is mostly about Harley Quinn. They get together and work together almost at the end of the movie. We are introduced to the other characters, through narration by Quinn and flashbacks. But any other characters beside Quinn don’t get that much attention. Their development is rather seen through lightning-quick flashbacks and don’t get too much depth. For instance, the main villain Black Mask, is an evil man, he is more evil then Quinn and her companions. But there is hardly any backstory.
I like Quinn narrating the story, sometimes even breaking the fourth wall, but it happens very often that Quinn stops in the middle of her story and goes back in time with a flashback. It sometimes takes some time for the film to get back to the original story, which makes the film a bit messy at times.
Despite the profusion of madness and witty dialogues and one-liners, “Birds of Prey” excels with its action and fight scenes. They don’t only pop off the screen visually, but are also very original.
“Birds of Prey” is slightly better than “Suicide Squad”. Its power is in leading lady Margot Robbie and the amazing action sequences. That is enough reason to watch this film. But character-wise and story wise it is lacking substance.

Rating: 3/ 5