In Retrospect: Birds Of Prey

I might have even liked it more this time around.

Yeah I gave the titling some major good grief but I was expecting more of a origin story for the Birds Of Prey and that's what I got. Granted I think me along with everyone else wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this movie but I very much appreciated it's style, color, and revelry in the absurd. It's a comic book movie, it fricking knows it's a comic book movie, and has a ball with it. Yes it's silly to the point of insanity, yes it's not telling a grand story, yes it is not a great movie and I am 150% okay with that. This is the odd duck of the modern superhero movie craze, had it's own ideas and ran to the bank with them, didn't explode the box office opening week but still made over 185 million dollars in contrast to it's 85 million dollar budget, and came out at a weird time when people were slowly headed toward the major lockdown season of this year. It doesn't make it a box office failure or a bad movie, it just hit at an awkward period. If I didn't say this in my original review I'll say it here, this has massive potential to be a rental cult hit now. I did enjoy aspects of it more, I accepted it's absurd action scenes the first time around and still loved them just as much, the comedy still got me, the colors, choreography, and all aspects of the production are still great! I'm probably one of the few comic book fans where I don't care if they change stuff, I've seen too many interpretations of one character to be bothered if they do it a bit different. I've seen Batman be campy, or fun and very 90s, or dark and serious, or downright epic, so what do I care if Cassandra Cain isn't Batgirl? I'm happy to see Cassandra Cain in a new way. Why the f*** do you people think I love Gotham so much? They took creative liberties to unparalleled heights and pulled it off in spades, I'm happy and willing to see new ideas with classic characters. I didn't hate Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress at all, but she really grew on me the second go around and I can't wait to see more of her! I hope to see Renee maybe become The Question now that she's an ex-cop/crimefighter. I dig what they did with Black Canary and am game to see her kick even more ludicrous amounts of ass. It's different, but not at all bad. I can see some people getting hung up on the tone, action scenes, and character changes which is fine, I know this movie isn't for everyone (R rating obviously duh) but I still want people to watch it and see if they come around to it. I can dig what they did with Suicide Squad, it ain't perfect, it ain't great, but it is good and I do like it and same goes for this. Birds Of Prey tried something different and fun and payed off incredibly well in my opinion, and here's to Gotham City Sirens. I'll be there opening day guaranteed. And if for nothing else give Margot Robbie some credit, she helped fund this movie and had a lot of love and faith in it, so you get a round of applause from me.

Uh, Blumhouse...do not make me regret this. Fantasy Island tomorrow.

Birds Of Prey (2020)

No, I'm not writing the whole title I mean can you even imagine the acronym for this movie?

I literally had no idea this movie was rated R until I was walking into the thing, it's true I don't give ratings attention much especially when it comes to comic book movies but I was kinda shocked. And I kinda felt bad about the mom who brought her 8 year old to see this, but live and learn. How was the movie? I really liked it, the title is a bit of a mislead, yes the Birds Of Prey are in it but it's more of a Harley Quinn movie with Birds Of Prey characters as the supporting cast. Now I have nothing against that at all, they handled the material quite well I believe and delivered a total popcorn flick of a comic book movie. I have great respect for that! Not every comic book movie has to be this big, grandiose, universal stakes epic it can just be a fun movie. And that's really how it was until about 11 years ago, and I have to admit I miss it. Just bring a timeless character to the big screen, Superman did it, Batman did it, Iron Man did it, the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies did it, why so serious Hollywood? What's wrong with a story about Harley breaking up with the Joker and quickly finds that almost everyone in Gotham wants her dead including Black Mask, and soon teams up with Black Canary, Huntress, GCPD officer Renee Montoya, and very Jason Todd-esque pickpocket Cassandra Cain? Nothing! It's a good but basic story, with the new characters having their moments to not only shine but have vignettes about their backstories for new audiences, slightly absurd fight scenes (I swear Harley is a secret grandmaster of geometry), colorful visuals, and a good sense of humor. I enjoyed it a lot, and genuinely hope it does very well in theaters. I thought the characters were handled very well, they don't tell you every detail of their character but they don't need to, you get a quick sense of who they are and how they operate. Of course Margot Robbie is an absolute dream and reminds everyone why they fell in love with her performance in the first place, she just encompasses every Harley Quinn since her inception. I actually really like the fact they upped Montoya's age, from young detective at the GCPD to a more mature, weathered, and no nonsense detective with Rosie Perez really making the part her own. Huntress gets her original backstory so sorry Bruce X Selina shippers, and though I felt the acting was a bit distant and cold it kind of makes sense from a character standpoint so no points deducted from Mary. Black Canary is a friggin' ass kicker per usual and Jurnee Smollett-Bell does fine work. I found it interesting that they took Cassandra Cain, one of the most visually striking and fascinating iterations of Batgirl and made her a skilled pickpocket, I know they couldn't have done Selina Kyle at that age but the more I think about it, why not Catwoman? Selina has been a member of the group before and considering the item of interest for the movie is a diamond, that kind of fits her MO to steal it from Black Mask. Though of course not to bash Ella Jay Basco, I did enjoy her and like the weird mentor relationship thing going on with Harley. My boy Ewan McGregor is a wild ride in this movie and the movie gets a point just because of him! The movie hooked me from the Fleischer styled animated opening to end credits, it's a very fun movie, and I didn't get all uppity about the langauge too much because it's not animation and clearly not meant for kids. In fact I haven't seen this much face removal since Arkham City. I was kinda bummed out we didn't get Bud and Lou, but hey one hyena is better than no hyena's so I'll take what I can get. Final score, 4 stars, 7.5/10, definitely a thumbs up from me! Will say I'm looking forward to what comes next for our dear Harley and hope she makes it in the next Suicide Squad movie because I still stand by my opinion, it's a good movie. Seriously what the hell is with the hate? Did I miss a memo? Did the movie touch you in a bad place? It's fine, it's not great but it ain't bad either! I'm out, see you next week.

Birds Of Prey (2002)

I am downright offended this didn't get a second season.

Birds Of Prey is such a black sheep of DC, it was a very dark time for the publishing company, Batman & Robin ended their film history for 7 years (and technically didn't get good for 8), there was nothing television wise after 2001, and while the comics were still going strong if you wanted visual mediums you had to get your hands on past films. Literally the only thing DC had in 2002 was this show and the animated Justice League show on Cartoon Network. Damn. That's kind of mindblowing, but what's even more mindblowing is this show literally had it's 18th anniversary. And now if you'll excuse me I'm going to have an existential crisis now that I realize I'm a broken old man. I always knew I was going to watch this show one day and I am so dang happy I did. Stylistically it's like if you put elements of Charmed, Gotham, and Batwoman with a nice sprinkling of early 2000s culture and blended them together, and my God is it genuinely good. I was very impressed and entertained throughout this 13 episode series which you can knock out in about 9 hours, it's recognizable enough to Batman fans who are familiar with the main characters but different enough to not know where the show will go or what will happen. So it's been 7 years after Selina Kyle has been murdered, Barbara Gordon has been paralyzed by the Joker, and the Dark Knight himself has mysteriously vanished when we meet up with Barbara, Bruce and Selina's child Helena, and newcomer to Gotham Dinah as they fight crime and live their lives as the Birds Of Prey. It's a pretty good show and if you stick with it to the end you'll probably be upset there was no second season, the show had great ratings at the start but soon plummeted to where they had to wrap up and end the series with only 13 episodes. I greatly loved the cast of characters, Ashley Scott is the best Huntress to me though I've seen little adaptation of her and quite frankly swept me off my feet, Dina Meyer is the second live action Barbara Gordon (Alicia Silverstone doesn't count because she was Alfred's niece not Jim's daughter) and is the best character in the show, Rachel Skarsten fills the teen demographic very well and she grows to be a highly capable and awesome crimefighter, Shemar Moore I swear literally walked from this show to Criminal Minds the characters are that similar and he's always awesome, and Ian Abercrombie who I know best as the ol' Senate himself in The Clone Wars is genuinely a fantastic Alfred and may he rest in peace. A strange casting choice in my opinion but Mia Sara, most known for being Ferris Bueller's girlfriend, plays Harleen Quinzel and I feel....conflicted about her. All the character interactions are great, you feel a true sense of baggage and history to these characters, but with Harley I can't make heads or tails of what she is. Now here's the thing, she's not the Harley we know, she's a psychiatrist bent on ruling Gotham, she dated the Joker but we never see her in costume, and absolutely no one knows that she is a villain. So...did she not do crimes with him or anything? It's so bizarre, and it kinda bugs me how they handled her, it's just not what you would consider Harley Quinn. Do I still like what they did with her? Actually yeah. This show takes liberties and does things it's own way, but it never seems stupid or out of place in the mythos of Batman. Now granted there's some early 2000s cheese to this with totally cutting edge CG transitions of Gotham, the fight scenes are simultaneously absurd yet totally kick ass, the soundtrack screams of the time period, and the production seems very akin to shows like Buffy or Charmed. You can tell this was a lower budget show because the sets are very closed in and used frequently, and transitions and certain shots are repeated throughout the entire series. You could honestly make a drinking game out of it that's how often it occurs. But honestly I didn't mind at all as I kept watching the series, I noticed it but I accepted it. What surprised me is how the very early episodes use elements of previous Batman media, the batsuit you see is the Val Kilmer batsuit, you hear Mark Hamill's voice dubbed over an actor, you hear the opening notes of Mask Of The Phantasm's theme and even slight hints of Danny Elfman's music. But as the show goes on it forms it's own identity and niches, which I greatly appreciate. I really and truthfully had no idea what the show was going to do or how it was going to end, and the actor's really sold me on seeing these classic kickass women of Gotham being a bit more mature and trying to have lives outside of the crimefighting business. I was completely losing my damn mind by the last episode and couldn't believe how the story was going, I loved it guys. God help me I loved it so. It's so different to the DC shows we have now and the style is worlds apart from where we are now, but I still strongly recommend this series and I'm just gonna say it, the new Birds Of Prey movie has some stiff competition when it comes to the treatment of these characters (except for Harley because Margot Robbie is f***ing royalty). It's a bit cheesy and dated, but when you focus on the important things which are the characters and their dynamic with each other you actually get a pretty damn good show that I'm honestly pissed that there's no second season. DC if you have the opportunity to bring these amazing ladies back in a revamped continuation of the series, I'll be there every week watching it. 7.5/10, 4 stars check it out!