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shesquiinnsane-ar · 4 years

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What’s your opinion of Birds of Prey?

HERE WE GO. It’s under cut ‘cause it got lengthy. I had a lot more to say before than I did after. I wrote half of this before I went, and the second half when I got back because I wanted to voice my apprehensions before I started given my honest opinion from the film. So here we are with a few light spoilers throughout.

I guess I should start this from stating my opinion on the whole thing before I even started the film. I wanted to make this perception very clear from the get go because honestly? It was a very strong, almost dividing opinion. From the looks of the trailers, and from what I knew of the production I went into this very anxious. Even as of a couple of days ago I completely hated this film, wasn’t going to go and didn’t really care. I hated Margot and just everything about it and I want to try my best to explain why, before we even delve in. If you wanna skip this part that’s fine, look below the line for my opinion post film (light spoilers may be scattered throughout), but I also feel that this aspect is very important too.

I went into this film as a Harley Quinn fan, I love her as a character. From what I was made aware Margot Robbie was given a producer credit for this film and had almost full creative control on how it was portrayed on screen in this film. I really didn’t appreciate how she handled that, from costume, to accent, to the trailers. Margot stated that she wanted to give Harley a girl gang, and she wanted to introduce to birds of prey after reading up on their comics. In my head this is two different ideas that should have been brought around in two different films so accepting the two ideas together even from concept was difficult to me.

Then came how she specifically treated Harley, throwing out everything ‘canon’ about her style and in my opinion giving her style to a K-pop band stylist (the streamer jackets are pretty popular in that genre). With the lack of a Brooklyn drawl, or Arleen essence in the high pitched tone, I felt like for viewers there should have been something familiar with her appearance. Her hair seemed inspired by the canon storyline from Harley Quinn (2016) after Harley had shaved her head into a mohawk - and this wasn’t a post-mohawk look but a ‘break up’ one. To say how ‘inspired’ Suicide Squad was of her rebirth looks, Birds of Prey had done the opposite.

She seemed unfamiliar, aside from a Hyena with a changed name seemingly to fit Harley into the DC world but I don’t think Harley even likes Bruce in that way. She’s there to use him for his millions and if she thought for a moment would probably have worked out he was Batman and in 99% of cases absolutely hates that man’s guts because of lies and stories the Joker has fed her. In a quick summary though, Harley in the trailers felt like a character I could no longer relate too, which hurt. And for a long while I purely blamed Margot for these decisions.

I’m not so familiar with the Birds of Prey generically, I know Black Canary’s casting was divisive but in terms of character’s I do know far less than I do about Harley so this review will be very lenient on her. I know supposedly ‘Cass isn’t Cass’ in terms of comics either and these few things will be taken into account as well. But despite the pushy feminist trailers that were more male-hating than feminsit to be completely frank with you I was eventually convinced to see this film. Mostly because a friend that I respect said I wouldn’t hate it and in truth I didn’t want to hate it. But from concept it was one film that should have been two completely separate films. There should have been a ‘Harley Quinn Girl Gang’ film (i.e a Gotham City Sirens film) and a Birds of Prey Introduction film separated from that. But it wasn’t. That wasn’t the case, we had the trailers we had, and the costumes and casting ideas we had. They aren’t ideas I could change. But maybe I could learn to accept the decisions made, and maybe even like them. So I, initially pretty reluctantly, went with a friend to see it.

Okay so...let’s be honest I didn’t hate the film but….don’t start a film that way. Harley’s ‘backstory’ was utter bullshit. She’s never been in an orphanage, if you wanted a backstory to roughly bounce off Mad Love by Pat Cadigan and Paul Dini could’ve been thrown in casually instead of making her an orphan for the sake of it. This film reached a level of disrespect for Harley in terms of previous ‘canon’ that I hadn’t anticipated with that backstory and the lack of acknowledgement of the only thing that can give her the edge that isn’t her gymnastic ability; Harley has toxin immunity. That’s not an if or a but, but a simple statement which completely flips the film on its head as she is pretty much immune to alcohol, drugs and a tranquiliser dart which obviously in the respect of this film would have completely ruined the plot. I personally don’t understand how Margot can read a comic and think to involve little hints of Harley’s comic appearances and yet ignore what for me is a fundamental aspect of her character, even more so than her outfits and accent which although different fitted the tone of the film so I could get on board with them.

Aside from that? The plot is told in a Deadpool-style so if you don’t like how that’s told then I wouldn’t recommend it but….that’s it. That’s all the negatives. Aside from that I quite enjoyed it. I’m conflicted by that level of ignorance but I suppose it was taken in the same stride as the outfit choices, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. Like there’s a way to fix that (make an origins Gotham City Sirens movie where Harley gains her immunity?) but that would require me writing their next film and I don’t think that’d happen. I mean I don’t think Harley would use a child like that, but then she wasn’t out to kill her, she was procrastinating until the girl could go to the bathroom and THAT makes sense for AHrley so we’ll go with that interpretation.

Literally throwing that negative aside though I kinda understood most of the other ‘changes’ at least from what I knew. Cass wasn’t much except to higher the stakes, but even Jurnee’s Canary (what I believed could have been controversial) made sense in the story they created. I didn’t hate it like I thought I might, a lot of my apprehensions were pretty much on the back burner as I couldn’t change them I had to accept them and I did. Harley’s outfits kinda matched the tone of the film. They weren’t what I’d have chosen but they’re little in comparison. It’s a thing, but it’s not a big things.

As a film, I enjoyed it but as a DC film, it’s very disrespectful of most ‘canon’ from what I know and that’s something to keep in mind. But if you can ignore ‘canon’ at least in terms of backstory and some ‘abilities’ it wasn’t a terrible film by any means. It’s worth a watch.

#BLUEBELL ASKS.{protatoes get mail; just not like the jester}

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