This film is a total mess. A shit storm of colours, costumes and props. Amongst all of this you have Robbie darting about like a dog on crack, screaming and cackling. Birds of Prey is fine if you’re a 10-year-old who loves noise and crazy people causing havoc on a small town, but I personally found it a fucking circus. Robbie is a showstopper as Harley Quinn though. She nails her characteristics, there’s probably not a better woman to play her. Given that the rest of this movie is a bit shit, she is a god send and a pillar who carries it through to its closing credits.

One of the reasons the movie isn’t up to scratch is its casting; a very bland teenage girl whose face is set in such a constant state of confusion that it’s genuinely hard to tell if she’s acting or not. Her image adds to her irritating elements, running around with stringy hair and a face that looks as though its constantly pressed against a window.

Winstead delivers a feisty performance, she’s strong and almost on the same energy level as Robbie. Complemented by a tight crossbow-wielding appearance, she’s perfectly on cue to blow up or kill anything in a way that seems like part of her job description.

Birds of Prey may be largely surrounded by wacky set pieces and surreal artwork which add to its almost animated vibe, but its erratic tonality means it pounces from one scene to another quite quickly and loses focus on particular characters (are they relevant or not?). The leading lady narrates her history and current situation as she bounces around Gotham – but this vocal low-down is the only solid grounding running through the movie.

The rest of it seems to explode in a circus of bullets, karate and car chases.
All this drenched in fire and rain, with buckets of makeup to seal the deal and make this one of 2020’s loudest movies.

“ugh”.