Birds of Prey et la fantabuleuse histoire de Harley Quinn
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Birds of Prey et la fantabuleuse histoire de Harley Quinn (plus)
Réalisation:
Cathy YanScénario:
Christina HodsonPhotographie:
Matthew LibatiqueMusique:
Daniel PembertonActeurs·trices:
Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Ewan McGregor, Ella Jay Basco, Chris Messina, Daniel Bernhardt (plus)VOD (4)
Résumés(1)
Vous connaissez l'histoire du flic, de l'oiseau chanteur, de la cinglée et de la princesse mafieuse ? Birds of Prey et la Fantabuleuse Histoire d'Harley Quinn est une histoire déjantée racontée par Harley en personne – d'une manière dont elle seule a le secret. Lorsque Roman Sionis, l'ennemi le plus abominable – et le plus narcissique – de Gotham, et son fidèle acolyte Zsasz décident de s'en prendre à une certaine Cass, la ville est passée au peigne fin pour retrouver la trace de la jeune fille. Les parcours de Harley, de la Chasseuse, de Black Canary et de Renee Montoya se télescopent et ce quatuor improbable n'a d'autre choix que de faire équipe pour éliminer Roman... (Warner Bros. FR)
(plus)Critiques (22)
Alors que je prends l'habitude de faire l'éloge des casting ces derniers temps, celui-ci est au contraire exemplairement mauvais. La comédienne oubliée des années 90, Rosie Perez, une policière sérieuse ? Ewan McGregor en méchant tenant un couteau sous la gorge d'une petite fille ? Et le casting fade de Birds of Prey, mis en retrait avec une caractérisation des personnages médiocre ? D'autres gros problèmes : la combinaison délibérément enfantine de « jeux » qui ne parviennent pas à faire rire, avec des tons sérieux qui donnent des frissons (le déshabillage d'une fille dans un bar). Et une vision créative constamment négligée, une réalisation stupide et insensible.
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Waw ! Encore un film d’action incroyablement mou qui s’échine à compenser sa ligne narrative rachitique, ses personnages génériques, ses scènes d’action statiques et ses idées pourries par un style enjoué pseudocool, un effort sur les couleurs et une exploitation extrême de la vague « girl power » moderne (ici, tous les protagonistes masculins sont soit d’ignobles criminels, soit des arnaqueurs, soit des traîtres). Après le film complètement barge Suicide Squad, mes attentes étaient au plancher. Il n’empêche… Le découpage passe bêtement d’un point à l’autre sans construire d’ambiance et on regrette son manque de cohésion. Au mieux, les protagonistes personnifient les clichés les plus éculés du style policier (une fliquette négligée, la fille vindicative d’un mafioso) et, au pire, ils font juste partie du paysage en faisant mine d’être occupés de temps en temps (la chanteuse de cabaret et la voleuse au diamant dans les intestins). Soit dit en passant, si on ingurgite de la sorte un gros diamant taillé, on meurt d’une hémorragie interne ! De plus, je n’ai pas capté pourquoi, sur les deux protagonistes (un méchant efféminé et maniéré, salaud sur les bords et qui tue des gens et une héroïne puérile et maniérée, salope sur les bords et qui tue des gens), on était censés se ranger dans le camp d’Harley Quinn plus que dans l’autre. Juste parce que c’est ce que le film nous demande ? Nan, c’est plutôt parce qu’Harley s’est déjà construit une solide réputation après deux films là où le méchant-looser insipide et inintéressant Black Mask est la honte du film. Il semble bien qu'Ewan McGregor ait essayé de rattraper son personnage avec un surjeu foutraque (faute de mieux), mais il faut dire que le scénario ne lui a pas fait de cadeau. Enfin, moi je dis qu’il y avait une autre solution : dire non au rôle. Pour ma part, c’est à tout le film que je dis non !
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Le film Birds of Prey et la Fantabuleuse Histoire de Harley Quinn (tout comme Harley Quinn elle-même) est comme une prostituée ivre couverte de paillettes et d'un épais maquillage - à première vue, il donne une impression attrayante, mais après un examen plus approfondi, il devient repoussant et collant. L'intrigue banale et plate du film est masquée par une narration compliquée, la plupart des personnages étant mal développés y présentent des performances ennuyeuses et les scènes d'action parviennent rarement à s'échapper de leur chaîne, mais au moins la surprenante stylisation visuelle pompeuse correspond à la façon dont son anti-héroïne folle et ostensiblement corrompue se présente. Avec cette combinaison d'éclat tape-à-l'œil, de spontanéité et de folie forcée, mêlée à l'esthétique des rues sales et des lieux délabrés, cela doit être aussi amusant que de faire des ravages en boîte de nuit, boire un verre après l'autre et ensuite vomir avec fureur dans son sac (ce qui se passe également dans le film). Certains peuvent apprécier ce type de divertissement, personne ne le conteste.
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Défi cinéma en situation de confinement – actrices préférées : Margot Robbie. Margot Robbie semble née pour le rôle de l'anti-héroïne cinglée et tragicomique Harley Quinn. Je l'aimais déjà dans Suicide Squad et je suis content qu'on lui ait donné l'espace d’un film dédié. Ceci dit, je trouve que l'absence du Joker est impardonnable. Pas besoin d’en faire forcément un autre personnage principal, mais ces deux-là formaient un couple parfaitement toxique, comme il en existe très peu dans le monde réel et fictif, que ce soit dans le septième art ou ailleurs. Et parler de lui et s'y référer ne suffit pas, car il est intrinsèquement lié à Harley Quinn. Les aventures et les escapades de Harley Quinn atteignant des sommets d’hilarité dans l'univers DC, il est nécessaire de prendre les choses avec un grain de sel et de se plier à toutes les fantaisies que l’on nous sert. Il faut dire que la narration de l’histoire est vraiment farfelue, mais en même temps, ça correspond à Harley Quinn. Par contre, je n'ai pas du tout aimé l’antagoniste principal joué par Ewan McGregor. Et puis, tous les Birds of Prey auraient dû s'y mettre bien plus tôt, ce qui nous amène au scénario lui-même : autant la narration chaotique ne me gêne pas, autant le contenu proprement dit pose problème. Eh oui, je m'attendais à mieux. C’est pas mal, mais ça ne m’a pas non plus scotché à mon siège. Enfin, au vu des mauvais résultats financiers, peut-être que Harley Quinn aura une autre chance…
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I really don’t know if Birds of Prey wants to be a "sharp, even controversial film” or anything else, but I enjoyed it for what it really is – a fresh, uncomplicated, deliberately trashy-in-places, playfully over-the-top and infantile post-breakup action comedy with an intentionally chaotic narrative that, like the main protagonist, gradually settles down and becomes more focused. Girl power is not so obviously on display as in Wonder Woman or certain Marvel movies (e.g. the painfully forced and TERRIBLY unnecessary “don’t say that name” scene in Avengers: Endgame). Feminism is a natural part of the fictional world. All of the men are malicious betrayers or dangerous, violent swine (which, however, does not mean that the heroines are saintly, not even a little – they are imperfect, but they don’t care) and we want them to die a horrible death. This film is based more on female friendship than on the antagonism between Harley Quinn and Sionis, which in the end is rather just a MacGuffin contributing to “female bonding”, an obstacle preventing the protagonist from enjoying an egg sandwich or watching Tweety in peace. This is where Birds of Prey differs from standard comics-based films, where a villain must be eliminated in order for the world to be saved. I surely would not mind if there was greater anarchy and more derisive mockery of all of the macho comic-book universes in which women serve merely as sidekicks, baddies and ornaments in guy adventures, but Birds of Prey is too radically feminist (er, lol) for some viewers, so for now it’s perhaps not possible to expect more from a major-studio genre film. 75%
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Ignore it. Birds of Prey wants to be an edgy, perhaps even controversial film full of gritty and dark humour, bold directorial choices, strong characters and uncompromising atmosphere. But for that to work, the film would have to be made by someone more skilled than Cathy Yan, who gives it a pretty interesting visual look, but has absolutely no idea how to work with the characters and how to build relationships between them. And given that this is pretty much what Birds of Prey is supposed to be about, it's quite a problem. But she may also be a problem in that when Harley goes solo, she turns out not to be a very interesting character. This team-up wants to be something like Deadpool, but the the tough girls of Gotham can’t even hold a candle to the verbose mercenary. They're still good in the action scenes, but once they start talking and building relationships, it becomes apparent how boring these heroines are and how all that toughness and grit only works on paper. Behind the R-rating and the wild colours, there is a film can’t hide the fact that it has no ideas and is boring most of the time.
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The proclamation of girl power and kicking someone in the balls are not the problems of the film at all. In my opinion, there could be more of them in an ideal world and they could hit elsewhere than the obvious targets, such as ruined demented sidekicks and a generic villain (does Gotham really need another sadistic mobster with daddy complexes?). Harley is a guide. Narratively and self-reflexively, the film copies Deadpool, including unreliable detours and chaotic bloopers. Unfortunately, before the film gets going in any direction, these moments of "let's start again" slow down the pace considerably. The film is accompanied by cheeky and imaginative choreographies by Chad Stahelský, in which there is more sparkle and playfulness than in the entire screenplay by Christina Hodson. He has trouble telling a trivial story with a hint of tension and turning photogenic emancipation figurines into characters. The impression that the DC universe suffers from a brutal fragmentation of personality is not helped by this tolerable and completely useless film. When it comes to Batman ... girls, damn it, I don't even know who this is about. But it doesn't matter. Let’s paint our nails, have margarita and feel satisfied that the straw-men got kicked in the balls.
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I wanted to write that everything is bad, but that wouldn’t be true, because the overall impression is multiplied by the fact that a lot of what was wrong didn't have to be. The choreography is imaginative, playful and built on honest stunt action, but doesn’t have any zest. As 1980s glitter-pop wannabe punk stylings go, it's an inconsistent "ten minutes of nothing and then two minutes of 110%", which goes hand in hand with an incongruously alternating overdriven tone and an almost serious attitude. On paper, the narrative is fast-paced, full of flashbacks, just like Ritchie, but that may have been the case on paper, because when translated into practice the effect was lost. And then there’s the casting… It's no match for the cultishly bad casting of Schumacher's Batman, but not a single role is well-cast, including Margot Robbie. Harley here is more over-the-top, ditzy and stylised into a Deadpool/Gwenpool concoction. It doesn't have much in common with the more restrained version of the same character from Suicide Squad (where she played second fiddle) and Margot doesn't deliver it. At the same time, scenes like the "egg sandwich" could be sold in a funny way (Deadpool and the animated Harley Quinn are founded on such scenes). Ditto the two villains and others; led by the casting of the nearly 60-year-old grandmotherly Rosie Perez in a gritty "written for Michelle Rodriguez, but she didn't exactly have time" role – the casting flop of the decade. Then there’s the artlessly disguised in action through constant back-taking with a wig. That would be frowned upon in an amateur fan film, let alone a blockbuster production. And no, it's not a disruptive element, plus, with the right casting, the character could have worked. And so it is with everything else. It could have worked, but it doesn’t. Unfortunately, not to the point where it would be unintentionally funny. So it's just the essence of boring dullness.
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Birds of Prey turned out tragically financially, and the movie itself is nothing to write home about. I may be one of the few who liked Suicide Squad, but this spin off with Harley Quinn was too feminist and girly for me and it irritated me for almost the entire running time. There's a difference between listening to the dialogue of a group of tough mercenaries versus a group of women, where the humor doesn't come across as funny at all, at times I was almost embarrassed. What elevates the film to the average is the nice color comic book visuals and decent over-the-top action, but I hardly noticed any violence apart from a few nice fractures. Compared to Deadpool, where guts and brains were flying in all directions, this was very tame, and Ewan McGregor as the villain overacted too much for my taste. Somewhere around 20 minutes before the end I was wishing for the ending and that's always a bad sign. It's okay for one viewing thanks to Harley Quinn and the decent action, but there wasn’t anything else I enjoyed. PS: Jurnee Smollett-Bell in gold leggings, however, was not to be missed! 5/10.
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Far from being as predictable and tired as the trailers or first reactions suggested, the film is even enjoyable, thanks to the compelling performance of the titular heroine. However, the biggest plus remains that, unlike its predecessor Suicide Squad, I was entertained. Margot Robbie embodies the Harley Quinn standard, occasionally going a bit overboard, leaving little space for the other characters, but most of the time her unrestrained madness is just right. The only criticism is that she still falls short of the comic book character, as Harleen Quinzel's essence is not just about laughter and bat-wielding. I also consider the main villain a success, despite unnecessarily calling himself Black Mask, Ewan McGregor is always good enough to take on a worthy role in a film that will become widely known. It's a pity that his sidekick, played by Chris Messina, has nothing in common with the menacing Victor Zsasz he's supposed to be representing. The movie is full of such inconsistencies. Huntress is amazing but hardly given any screen time. Some lines are good, but others are almost lame. In short, I expected everything except a unoffensive one-trick pony, running the gamut from A to B, and once again, there will be no follow-up. 50%
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After all of those painfully generic, would-be serious comic-book movies abounding with pathos and artificial CGI sequences, we finally have a properly entertaining flick from the superhero universe. Let’s just admit that only Nolan has managed to deal with superheroes in a truly complex way and everyone else is merely pretending to bring depth to the genre. And that clownish Deadpool, with its insipid “bloody R-rating” mythos is not an alternative, but just the other side of the same coin. Fortunately, salvation has come in the form of Harley Quinn’s solo movie, which is everything that comic books have traditionally been, without being what comic-book movies have been for the past twenty years. Here we again finally have a trashy, colourful and superficial farce with crackpot characters in a maniacal world. Furthermore, after those decades of CGI blockbusters (especially comic-book flicks) pushing action movies out of cinemas, Birds of Prey marks the return of proper kinetic and physical action spectacle (thus capping the trend started by the Mission: Impossible and John Wick franchises). Whereas other comic-book blockbusters have completely superficial action that is never memorable, Birds of Prey offers up several imaginatively designed and magnificently executed sequences with astonishing choreography by Chad Stahelski – the police station sequence is the highlight, but the carnival fun-house passage at the end is also great. This film does not entirely refrain from indulging in some tediously shallow CGI scenes, though fortunately only at the level of simulated exteriors. On the other hand, the film’s main virtue consists in the good, classic analogue work done by the people in the make-up, costume, set and action-choreography departments, as well as in the casting, of course. I very much hope that the incel whiners don’t win and that Harley Quinn gets another movie, because this is exactly what the contemporary bland production of comic-book flicks needs: A cheeky girl who isn’t saving the world in another dull spectacle, but just saving her own ass in a playfully trashy and boldly colourful fairy tale, a girl who knows how to swing a baseball bat and fire a grenade launcher, and who mainly loves an egg cheese sandwich (which, incidentally, is an essential defining moment for the character, as well as a great contribution to the home recipe book).
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If there's anyone in the American film industry who is irresistible, it's Margot. I don't care if Harley Quinn has a strong enough story or personality to pull off her own movie, because Margot Robbie does. And her Harley is damn watchable, cool enough, and cute to boot. Plus, she's not exactly on her own. In comic book movies, it's always the same script anyway, good guys versus bad guys, backstory, big final brawl, boom, ending, promise of a sequel. Whether any comes about in this case, I have no idea. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie, I'm happy with the cast, the editing was great, the music suited me. They’re weaker ones, but there are five of them. Stars, I mean.
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Chaotically told banality about a girl who needed to take a shit. Although the role of Harley fits Margot like a glove, the solo stories about her do not work in the comic book, let alone in a film. The affected wisecracks and vain attempts to generate humor just aren’t funny. On top of that, the whole film is wrapped up in some sort of weird girl-power package, which is getting more and more annoying in films these days. Luckily, the action scenes are very well filmed and are original, so there is still something worth watching. In this film, McGregor looks a little like Bono and his “I want it and it’s mine" approach is a fairly refreshing interpretation of a villain. You totally forget the other would-be heroines even before you begin writing your review on FilmBooster. Crime pays.
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Formerly, it was Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and now it’s Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and it’s a thoroughly entertaining action comedy. The set of posters and the great trailers alone made it clear how much of a fun ride it was going to be. I found the trailer for Björk's classic song "It's Oh So Quiet" absolutely brilliant. Margot Robbie was apparently the sole survivor of the infamous first Suicide Squad, and to keep her from getting bored, she was given another team to play with. This time it’s a girl's Birds of Prey line-up. The villain is the excellent Ewan McGregor and there is plenty of reminiscences of such hits as the classic song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." I don't need to explain that in comics the characters work differently, that cartoons work differently, etc. This is a classic action formula about how a former villain slowly becomes a good character. Those are the ones I enjoy most. It plays nicely with genre, winks at sequential art readers, and comfortably handles everything that needed to be put to rest and locked back in the closet for a while in the DC movies.
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Rough and tumble fun, right in the spirit of the comics, with Harley on a rampage, torn from the Joker's chain. A lot of comparisons will probably be made to Deadpool, and partly justified, but for me Birds of Prey is a cut above Deadpool, which was spoiled by too many adolescent jokes. Here, everything is in the right proportion, the film is very colorful, rich in everything from glitter to broken legs, and yet it holds together nicely and nothing sticks out. The queen, of course, is Margot Robbie, who gives her all to the role and enjoys it as much as I did. But besides the fine psychohumor, I have to highlight the direction and especially the perfect choreography of the action scenes, because the last time I saw something so hilarious was probably in John Wick 3. I predict that this film will be one of those that are much more loved by audiences than critics, and in one breath I would add: So Chad Stahelski was involved in the action scenes? That explains it all!
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A surprisingly well built narration that, mostly in the first half, portrays the unpredictable nature of its protagonists in an original way. Margot is always nice to look at and the maniac version of the likeable McGregor was innocently entertaining, rather than cringe or annoying. Having compared the motivations and set a clear goal, the narration quiets down and the film loses its momentum and progressive ideas – the action scenes become more routine (with the exception of the final chase on roller skates) and the feminism that was smartly pushed at first now becomes too forced. Also, the secondary characters aren’t interesting enough to be a valuable complement to this eager one-woman-show, which is the biggest shame because, formally speaking, I was quite satisfied and I also appreciate the fact that after some point I forgot this was supposed to be a super-hero movie. 65%
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I went into Birds of Prey with zero expectations, hoping that even if it was bad, it couldn’t possibly be as terrible as Suicide Squad. Imagine my surprise — and shock — when it turned out to be quite the opposite. DC clearly learned from the mess that was Suicide Squad and used Margot Robbie’s potential as Harley Quinn to the fullest. Harley was one of the few redeeming aspects of her debut, and with better direction, the film could do interesting things with her character. Thankfully, they scrapped the idea of focusing on her and Joker and instead centered the story on her and other female heroes, with Joker serving as just a springboard for Harley’s emancipation. The most significant and positive change is the R-rating, which Suicide Squad should have had — it wouldn’t have saved that movie, but it might have made it a bit more bearable. Birds of Prey’s R-rating gives it a style reminiscent of Kick-Ass, which I appreciated. The film doesn’t shy away from brutality, but it doesn’t go overboard either. Ewan McGregor as Black Mask was a lot of fun; he might be a somewhat generic villain, but McGregor’s performance gives him flair, providing plenty of entertaining moments. The other female characters were also enjoyable, with Black Canary getting enough screen time to build audience sympathy, making her feel relevant. I would have liked to see more of Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, but given her story, her screen time was adequate. A big plus for me was that the film didn’t rely solely on Harley; the other characters had their moments to shine too. Sure, the movie has its flaws and could be easily critiqued, but I’m giving it a thumbs up. I expected it to be a total disaster, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Birds of Prey feels like the start of DC redeeming itself from the Suicide Squad debacle, and I have high hopes that James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad will fully redeem and elevate the franchise.
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With Birds of Prey, I have to say (for the umpteenth time) that it is sometimes difficult to properly rate a film on a five-star scale. In fact, the girl version of Deadpool isn't as bad as other films from the DC universe. It offers a decent amount of brisk action, doesn't shy away from dark humor or gory scenes, and works with some interesting visuals and storytelling. On the other hand, though, I did feel that more could have been made of it. The humour felt very much pushed to the limit and the characters were rather bland (Huntress and Cass could certainly have been fleshed out better). In the cinema, the film passes by like water, no question about it, but to put it in a silly and slightly chauvinistic way, Birds of Prey lacked balls, unlike Deadpool.
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I was prepared to hate this movie, but in the course of watching it I found myself trying to like it instead. Unfortunately though, it mostly repeats the same tropes as the awful second Deadpool. It also repeats the patterns of other comic book originals, but thinks it rises above them by naming them out loud and breaking the fourth wall. Once again it lacks the courage to build this movie around one character and has to assemble an unlikely team (for god's sake, how many times?). Again, not funny, just disturbed and mischievous in the simplest way possible. Fortunately, unlike the above, at least Birds of Prey contains action scenes, and very decent ones at that, with funny ideas and, more tangible physics and realistic movements of the characters, especially for a comic book movie, since here they don't get back up in a split second. It's obvious that Margot Robbie didn't want to hand over her character to perhaps a more capable stunt double in these sequences either, and so there's a kind of sympathetic clumsiness emanating from Harley Quinn when she fights, though every punch here safely finds its face. It's just a shame that by the end, thanks to the development of the film, those action scenes turn into the usual fragmented team battle that lacks everything that has been achieved so far in terms of action. Further praise should be given to Robbie herself, who has reformatted the character of Harley Quinn from goofy manic pixie jailbait in Suicide Squad (which nerds have been fawning over since the trailers, and which in this form is actually what got Birds of Prey made in the first place) into a form that's fairly faithful to its comic book predecessor (who is so insufferable that no one in their right mind could imagine how anyone could turn this into a movie solo) and thankfully undergoes almost minimal development. At the same time, it has virtually no erotic appeal whatsoever, as it hovers somewhere between a mischievous kid and a manic diva who's been driven by years of drinking jimsonweed tea to come ringing your doorbell at 4:00 am to tell you she's seen a shooting star. With such an unlikely heroine, then, it's all the more galling that the filmmakers can’t seem to deviate from the stuffy team-up concept and thereby don't give her enough space to shine. Oh, and my last comment is the obligatory one, and that is that most of the exteriors and interiors are UNWATCHABLE. You just can't shoot a normal factory, or somehow digitally tweak it to your specific needs. You have to build the whole thing digitally. You can't find a suitable restaurant interior, so you build it in a studio and cram a spotlight into every window to represent daylight. And so on and so forth. There is barely a single space in this film that looks real. With the club and fairground scenes, I was already toying with the idea that this was intentional staginess, because some of the sets look like a Broadway musical and no one thinks for a second that it doesn't give the appearance of a real place. The good handiwork of the make-up and costume designers thus goes to waste completely, as the artificiality of the setting willy-nilly seeps into the other elements of the film and makes it all look equally cheap. In a contemporary sort of cheap way, where cheapness actually means that a scene where two people sit at a table and talk can be seen to have pointlessly cost a million and a half.
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(moins)
(plus)
Overall, it's quite an enjoyable little film that surprises with its catchy soundtrack and stylish, colorful presentation. As for the story, don’t expect miracles. Yes, the film tries to engage the audience with various flashbacks and such, but this doesn’t mask the very simple plot, which doesn’t have much to offer at its core. That’s a bit disappointing. In terms of acting, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn definitely carries the film, and she gets the most screen time, which really helps the movie. On the other hand, Huntress could have used more screen time for her character. Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of the villain Black Mask was intriguingly mad, while Viktor Zsasz was quite underwhelming. Now, let’s move on to another strength of the film: the action. Hiring the choreographers from John Wick really paid off; you can see their meticulous work in every fight scene, with varied settings and an eye-catching style. But I still believe the film’s potential was not fully realized. The R rating was a nice touch, though they were quite restrained with the blood (the most uncomfortable scene was when Black Mask forced a woman to strip, which was quite chilling). I give it 65%.
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Annonces