Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (Cathy Yan, 2020)

I watched this execrable movie solely because it was on Vulture's list of "The Best Movies of 2020 (So Far)". Gargantuan mistake. As always with these franchise entries (albeit even more oppressively here), there's a paradox between the toxic individuality of the superheroes and the cookie-cutter conformity of the stories. On one hand, every beat of the narrative is driven by market research and drained of any idiosyncrasy. On the other, we're supposed to applaud the antisocial whims of the superheroes. Harley Quinn murders dozens of people with glee. She blows up a chemical plant after the Joker breaks up with her. She litters the street with the wrapper from her beloved egg sandwich. And hey - it's her right, just like it's yours to not wear a mask and to throw a sex-reveal party and start a nation-destroying forest fire. Don't stomp down on my freedoms! Fortunately, those freedoms extend to our choice in cinema. We still have the right not to watch such swill...so far. 

Grade: D-minus