Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, Tony Hale, Matt Oberg, Jason Alexander, Diedrich Bader, Christopher Meloni, J.B. Smoove, Jim Rash, James Adomian, Andrew Daly, Vanessa Marshall, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Phil LaMarr, Rahul Kohli, Briana Cuoco, Giancarlo Esposito, James Wolk, Tom Hollander, Sean Giambrone, Wanda Sykes, Rhea Perlman, Jacob Tremblay, Frankie Muniz.
From maligned introduced sidekick in which to give Batman’s greatest nemesis, The Joker, a feminine, if rather weak, foil, to arguably one of the greatest and adored characters within the D.C. comic universe, and all through the tenacity of the way the act of evolvement can be perceived and to be shown to grow.
In Harley Quinn, graphic novels can be seen to have possibly the finest female anti-hero of all time, and one that fully deserves the credence of being given an animated television series that rivals across the board, the various live action series that are tied in to the Dark Knight of Gotham. It fully rivals anything thrown in its path, and is perhaps even on an equal footing with Joaquin Phoenix’s and Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Clown Prince of Evil and the exceptional series starring Ben McKenzie, Camren Bicondova and, Gotham.
Art is the deepest reflection of society, and it is impossible to hide from the darkness that hangs at the edge of your sight, the corner of your eye, the anxiety that each one of us is only one push, one shove in the back of life from descending into a place to which we might never see the daylight of good again. It is into this place that the viewer can feel the twin emotions of revulsion and empathy in which the voice of Harley Quinn, the outstanding Kaley Cuoco, revels.
Animation, like graphic novels, was once considered a poor medium in which to produce art, considered futile, boorish, even down-market by a certain generation, and yet the makers of Harley Quinn have delivered what is surely to be seen as one of the finest examples of the genre, its tight script, its ability to shock and offend, as all art must be able to do, the characterisation, its sheer gall and preciseness to mirror the seedier side of humanity, all combine to make Harley Quinn an exceptional piece of television.
Without the art, the show could be considered a dull none entity, but it is also in its voice acting talent that the show is elevated, and whilst there will be those that understandably rate Margot Robbie as the epitome of Ms. Quinn’s persona on screen, it is Caley Cuoco’s portrayal that the sheer bravado and vulnerability are given free reign, and with Lake Bell performing as the voice of Poison Ivy, the exceptional Alan Tudyk as Clayface, Christopher Meloni in tremendous voice as the highly emotional and slightly unhinged Commissioner Gordon, the sense of beautiful anarchy is to be admired, its conception to be cherished.
Harley Quinn is one of the great additions to the D.C. Universe, once dismally underused, now a raging monster in her own right, and one who shines in all mediums possible.
Ian D. Hall