Hear me out…

9 Years ago, I experienced true hatred. A movie came into theaters that thoroughly promised something different from what it delivered. The worst part for me was that it was basically a great idea for a film. Just watch the 2021 sequel reboot as proof of concept; or even check out Marvel’s The Thunderbolts as proof that people will enjoy a movie about a group of weirdos and killers on a redemptive mission. The problem wasn’t the idea of the film. The problem could be linked directly with the lack of narrative cohesion.

An understandable situation

Now, I don’t blame the filmmaker, as the film was written in 6 weeks, and was re-shot and edited into oblivion. Over time, I realized that its failure relates not only to its structure, but to its choice of protagonist and antagonist.

Further complications were involved

The casting of Will Smith probably led to many of Harley Quinn’s scenes being scrapped. But in my opinion, she is the single most compelling character in the film, and every decision they made undermined her character. Things like the lack of clarity as to the nature of her and Joker’s relationship, to the ridiculously over sexualized portrayal, to the lack of a character arc sabotaged her as a person. Because of these missing elements, there was no possibility of an arc without an antagonistic threat that speaks to her journey.

I have a solution

Harley’s a person who went from a seemingly competent professional to being manipulated into becoming an insane criminal. The antagonist needs to be able to poke that wound. Dr. Hugo Strange would have been the obvious and necessary antagonistic force for the story. Here’s how I would sum up the story.

Amanda Waller assembles a team of expendable misfits to take out her former associate Dr. Hugo Strange, who has assembled his own team of misfits (Clayface, Madd Hatter, and Kryptonite Man) to take over an island nation of strategic importance to the US government.

What this plot has over the former, is that there is contrast between the protagonist and antagonist. Hugo is everything Harley wants to be, professional, confident, and a renowned psychologist, but while Harley’s flaws are being exposed to the world, Hugo is able to keep his vice in the dark. Hugo is a master manipulator that is the perfect villain to tear this barely held together team apart. Harley will have to grow and change to be the type of person to unite this team and kill the man responsible for bringing her and Joker together, as she puts the Joker behind her, while she embraces her own independence.

As a little proof of concept, I wrote an alternative beginning for the movie which I’ll be uploading in part very soon. Now, I’m not disparaging the makers of the original, as like I stated earlier, they worked with less-than-ideal circumstances leading up to its creation, in addition to dealing with studio notes and pressures that I do not have. As a rule, I would keep the PG-13 rating to adhere to some limits the filmmakers had, and I would not include characters that clearly would not be permitted, such as Riddler, Bane, or Deathstroke.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• X

---