There are two types of “strong female character”: stoic action-heroines and genuinely well-written female characters.

What happens when a long-term relationship with the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker, comes to a messy end? For Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) in “Birds of Prey,” the proper response to such heartbreak...

The concept of the Suicide Squad — a group of supervillains who are signed up to do the government’s dirty work — is strong. But when a director subtracts the action, emotion and comedic relief, and replaces it with backstories and unaddressed abusive relationships, it fails.