BIRDS OF PREY

Margot Robbie     Rosie Perez     Mary Elizabeth Winstead    Ewan McGregor

Chris Messina     Ella Jay Basco     Jurnee Smollett-Bell

     Girl power.  This movie’s got it. Coming off a breakup with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Robbie) is having to face all the people she pissed off when she was with him.  Seems like she can’t go around a corner without bumping into one of them. She can’t even down a much coveted egg sandwich for breakfast.  But she’s still a badass even though she’s in a bit of a dilemma adjusting to newfound independence and deciding what she will do next.  Birds of Prey has an answer for that.

     I can’t enumerate all the enemies Harley has made, but one of them is a cop (Perez) who is resentful about always getting the short end of the stick.  Renee Montoya has an almost clairvoyant knack for figuring out crime scenes, which her chief (ex-partner who took credit for her work) fails to recognize.  (He’s not as smart as she is.)  She is soon to be separated from her badge and gun, when narrator Harley Quinn, who is inclined to make sage observations about what is going on, says, “No cop ever gets anything done until they’re suspended.”

     What will bring Montoya and Quinn together?  (Montoya as a cop is chasing Quinn during most of the story.) It will take a common enemy and some other allies for them all to get fed up and work together.  These allies include Black Canary (Smollett-Bell) and The Huntress (Winstead).  Mixed in is young Cass (Basco), a street pickpocket who unknowingly picks up a valuable package.

     The common enemy is Roman Siomis (Ewan) who owns a nightclub but has aspirations to run Gotham City on his own, especially since the Joker is gone.  Roman shows his true colors in his temper tantrums, sadistic bent, and vulgarity.  He has employed a singer with a “killer voice” (Smollett-Bell) who has a history with Montoya, and whom he has now made his driver.  At first, he is unaware of her martial arts skills. 

     The film does a good job in giving back stories of all the characters so that what they’re doing and how they developed their skills make sense.  We hear enough even about the bad guy to understand why he does what he does (quick, on-the-spot analysis by now Dr. Quinn psychiatrist) and his father issues.

     Although I’m not usually a fan of the genre, I was entertained by Birds of Prey, remained engaged throughout, and—I must confess—had my feminist heart quickened by the female characters savaging all the bigger, “stronger” men—at least the bad men; I was less pleased with downing policemen and prison guards.  

     Margot Robbie must be praised for the wide-ranging characters she has played so well (designing ice skater in I, Tonya, ingenue broadcaster in Bombshell, movie star in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and a queen in Mary Queen of Scots).  And here she is in a comic book action movie, which is a sequel to Suicide Squad.  It seems like she can tackle just about any role.  

     Supporting actors Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, and even young Ella Jay Basco all stand out as well.  Music by Daniel Pemberton and choreography by Matthew Libatique complete the assembly of talented professionals director Cathy Yam has brought together.

     The production extends a bit too long, especially the repeated fight scenes. Although they are well executed and filmed, it’s too much of a good thing.  Writer Christina Hodson can be praised for the dimensionality of the characters she has drawn, but the number and length of time spent in bashing one another could have been shortened.

A fanciful—but satisfying—comic book thriller where it’s the women who kick a---.

Grade:  B+                                                By Donna R. Copeland

GEMINI MAN

Will Smith     Mary Elizabeth Winstead     Clive Owen     Benedict Wong     Ralph Brown     Douglas Hodge

     This is not your typical father-son drama, but that is one of the themes applicable to three characters in the film.  Clay Verris (Owen) dedicates himself to serving as a father figure for young men in training, seeing himself as a “loving, dedicated, present” father—words that will be thrown back at him at a later time.  Henry Brogan (Smith) is one he took under his wing, making him the top, universally acclaimed assassin in the world.  After Brogan became employed by the U.S. Government, Verris started his own company, Gemini, which specialized in DNA research and cloning. From the trailer, you know that he has made a clone of Brogan’s DNA, which Verris raises as his own son, calling him Junior (also Smith).

     At a certain point, Brogan has had enough and is ready to retire; after 72 killings, he’s feeling a “hurt” deep in his soul.  Just as he starts launching his boat to go fishing, though, strange things start happening, and he will gradually learn that he is being played by more than one party.  First of all, he spots a government agent working at the boat dock disguised as a kind of clerk, but he blows Danny’s (Winstead) cover in nothing flat, and because he appeals to her, they become partners in solving the mystery of what is going on behind the scenes and who it is who suddenly turns up, trying to kill him.

     The story has intrigue in being set and filmed in exotic places like Cartagena in Colombia, Budapest in Hungary, and even the southern state of Georgia, and it has thrills (a daredevil motorcycle chase in one of the cities, as well as extended physical fights with impossible maneuvers where the fighters get up repeatedly after looking like they’ve been killed), all of which resembles most action films.  It is appealing to see the warm and genuine Danny fight with the same ferocity as the men.

     Most of the drama consists of Brogan and his clone struggling with one another, one to kill, one to survive, and this is mostly entertaining (except for each encounter being extended for too long a time), but the real “meat” of the story is whether and how they will work through the curious position each is in, one being a clone of the other.  

     Complex relationships between characters has been Director Ang Lee’s forte (Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm), and I presume it was meant to be similar in Brogan and Junior’s relationship here.  It certainly seems like fodder for a rich characterization of the most complex relationship of all.  But with the director’s and writers’ focus on action rather than psychology, Gemini Man looks and feels a lot more like the generic action film than a psychological exploration of a futuristic relationship, which was not neglected, but was only minimally explored.

Gemini Man has an intriguing aspect, but this takes second place to the typical action movie thrills.

Grade:  C-                                    by Donna R. Copeland

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

Mary Elizabeth Winstead     John Goodman     John Gallagher Jr.

            Michelle (Winstead) is in turmoil, clumsily packing her bags through her tears.  She heads out of her apartment, leaving her rings on the floor, and gets in her car.  It’s late in the day, and just after the sun sets, she stops to get gas, keeping alert, and noticing that someone is in the car next to her.  She hastily concludes the chore and gets on the road again.  Then a terrible accident occurs.

            When Michelle regains consciousness, she is in a strange room (not a hospital) with an IV in her arm and a locked brace around her right knee.  Her belongings are across the room, but she cannot reach them until she has a bright idea and manages to pull her phone over.  Alas, however, there is no signal.  Presently, a very large man named Howard (Goodman) unlocks the bolted door and enters.  She is terrified and thoroughly flummoxed, but he explains that he has just saved her after her accident, brought her to a safe place and given her medical attention.  Furthermore, he says, there has been a major attack and it’s not safe to go outside.  He had anticipated the attack and built this bunker and supplied it with provisions that will last a long while.

            The mystery builds as Michelle discovers there is someone else in the bunker, Emmett (Gallagher), a young man who has known Howard as a friend and neighbor for many years.  He had helped to build the shelter, and eventually asked Howard if he could move in.  Emmett is a simple man—better at racing in high school than making grades—and he opted to stay near his home rather than go to college.

            Howard has a strangeness about him, and Michelle never comes to trust him.  As time goes on, she and Emmett discover bits of disturbing information, and Michelle never becomes convinced that any attack on the U.S. has taken place.  The intrigue continues with scene after scary scene, plots, and surreptitious peeks outdoors.  This is the best part of the film, when the viewer is pulled in, and for a long time not quite being able to determine who Howard is and what his intentions are.  He provides food and entertainment, and shows cleverness in devising an air purification system, for example.  But he is suspicious, controlling, and has a hot temper.

            Winstead and Goodman are at their best in reacting to one another with a range of emotions and encounters.  And Gallagher is good as well in being a follower ready to do someone else’s bidding. 

            Director Dan Trachtenberg has been involved in filmmaking for some time, but this is only his third time directing a feature, and I think he can be proud of this.  I imagine that having J. J. Abrams as one of the producers helps, but his work with the actors, the musician Bear McCeary, cinematographer Jeff Cutter, and the rest of the team shows he has the ability to coordinate and integrate all the components of filmmaking while revving up the suspense.

A fine thriller that prolongs the suspense, with a surprising twist at the end.

Grade:  A-                                    By Donna R. Copeland