The Birds Of Prey trailer is oh so ready to unleash Harley Quinn and friends
It’s going to be rather difficult to hear “It’s Oh So Quiet” again—or at least for at least the next couple of months, anyway—without thinking of this expertly assembled little advertisement for Margot Robbie’s upcoming Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn). Say what you will about DC’s choices in other areas; but they can cut together a damn fine trailer.
Much like the first trailer that appeared back in October last year, this one quickly dispenses with the obligatory nod to the dissolution of Harley’s relationship with the Joker, albeit aided by her serving him notice of her feelings via blowing up his chemical factory base with a truck. From there, it lays out the basic plot: A lot of guys want her dead, primarily Black Mask (Ewan McGregor, who gets top villain billing here, with Chris Messina’s Victor Zsasz merely popping up in a few shots), so Harley teams up with some other women who have gotten in the crosshairs of their mutual antagonists. Each one gets a bold title card here, from Jurnee Smollet-Bell’s Black Canary to Elizabeth Mary Winstead’s Huntress to Ella Jay Basco’s Cassandra Cain. Hell, this time out Rosie Perez finally gets a heroic introduction as well, her Renee Montoya being the cop trying to build a case against Black Mask.
But it’s in the elegant editing that this trailer really comes alive, a clever mesh of jazzy musical backdrop and action choreography that conveys the message: Remember how it seemed like Suicide Squad was going to be a lot of fun? Well this one actually will be, we swear! With a light touch and playful sense of mischievous abandon, Birds Of Prey looks to join the ranks of Aquaman and Shazam! in lightening up the mood of the DC cinematic universe, albeit with the freedom of dialogue and blood-soaked imagery that an R rating brings to the antiheroic table. Consider the Emancipation Of Harley Quinn to include being emancipated from saying “golly” when everyone knows she’d say, “what the fuck?!”
Birds Of Prey comes to theater February 7, 2020.