Birds of Prey (2020)

Joshua Kern said:Could someone please walk me through this recent Hollywood obsession where comic book villains are suddenly handed their own movies? It seems like the trend is to frame them as the protagonists, forcing us to watch them struggle against even more despicable antagonists, all while expecting the audience to somehow root for them.🤔 I just don't quite grasp the logic behind it. Harley Quinn is meant to be an adversary to Batman, a true antagonist, rather than some central figure who ends up walking away as the hero at the end of the film.

It’s all about the merch, obviously. Look at the fashion industry—they make a killing off the t-shirts.

Besides, I don't even see them as villains anymore. They lost that whole purpose a long time ago.

quietbison86 said:It’s all about the merch, obviously. Look at the fashion industry—they make a killing off the t-shirts.

Besides, I don't even see them as villains anymore. They lost that whole purpose a long time ago.

Also, why hasn't anyone mentioned their kid? If I remember correctly from somewhere—maybe just in the comics?—her name is Lucy. Is that right?

The movie's been killing it on Video on demand

Hannah Hayes said:The movie's been killing it on Video on demand

🤣

Everyone is stuck inside their houses, so of course it's doing well. Nothing else is coming out, and nothing good will be anytime soon.

If this data convinces them to keep making this garbage, they'll go bankrupt fast. They're already losing billions because of the pandemic; what they make back on Video on Demand won't matter if they keep churning out these terrible movies. They don't stand a chance.

Honestly, DC needs to find a massive hit or some actually competent directing and writing teams immediately. What they've been doing for years is, to put it mildly, tragic.

Joseph Edwards4 said:🤣

Everyone is stuck inside their houses, so of course it's doing well. Nothing else is coming out, and nothing good will be anytime soon.

If this data convinces them to keep making this garbage, they'll go bankrupt fast. They're already losing billions because of the pandemic; what they make back on Video on Demand won't matter if they keep churning out these terrible movies. They don't stand a chance.

Honestly, DC needs to find a massive hit or some actually competent directing and writing teams immediately. What they've been doing for years is, to put it mildly, tragic.

Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Joker were all huge hits.
Shazam turned a $74 million profit, so what are you even talking about?!

Birds of Prey has really strong critic scores too.
Plus, plenty of other movies are on Video on demand right now, but Birds of Prey is currently sitting at number one.

Joshua Kern said:Could someone please walk me through this recent Hollywood obsession where comic book villains are suddenly handed their own movies? It seems like the trend is to frame them as the protagonists, forcing us to watch them struggle against even more despicable antagonists, all while expecting the audience to somehow root for them.🤔 I just don't quite grasp the logic behind it. Harley Quinn is meant to be an adversary to Batman, a true antagonist, rather than some central figure who ends up walking away as the hero at the end of the film.

It's because people actually dig antiheroes who deal with messy morality and violence... plus, everyone loves a solid redemption arc. It beats watching freaking Captain America, who is just such a damn Boy Scout—way too morally upright and, frankly, boring as hell.

Fine, let them keep churning out their trash. Why bother?

neondriver7 said:Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Joker were all huge hits.
Shazam turned a $74 million profit, so what are you even talking about?!

Birds of Prey has really strong critic scores too.
Plus, plenty of other movies are on Video on demand right now, but Birds of Prey is currently sitting at number one.

🤣 are you being for real?
I honestly felt like I wanted to gouge my eyes out just to escape the boredom. This movie is just gross. There’s zero point to it—it doesn't have a beginning or an end. It’s like someone falls from the sky into the life of this totally deranged character who can't even pull off playing crazy. It feels like something filmed specifically for people in mental institutions; maybe if everyone watched this, they'd all suddenly be cured. Everyone was making fun of how Jared can't actually laugh, and then look at what he's doing here. Honestly, it's a miracle he didn't embarrass himself trying so hard to force the comedy. It feels like Jared is just pretending to laugh, which explains that sound. To me, it feels like his whole bit—that sarcastic, self-mocking laugh when there isn't even anything funny happening. And wow, since any random thing can win awards these days, I might as well film myself jumping on a trampoline in a wetsuit or something. 🤔the stupider it is, the more expensive it gets. 🐔

darktinker4 said:🤣 are you being for real?
I honestly felt like I wanted to gouge my eyes out just to escape the boredom. This movie is just gross. There’s zero point to it—it doesn't have a beginning or an end. It’s like someone falls from the sky into the life of this totally deranged character who can't even pull off playing crazy. It feels like something filmed specifically for people in mental institutions; maybe if everyone watched this, they'd all suddenly be cured. Everyone was making fun of how Jared can't actually laugh, and then look at what he's doing here. Honestly, it's a miracle he didn't embarrass himself trying so hard to force the comedy. It feels like Jared is just pretending to laugh, which explains that sound. To me, it feels like his whole bit—that sarcastic, self-mocking laugh when there isn't even anything funny happening. And wow, since any random thing can win awards these days, I might as well film myself jumping on a trampoline in a wetsuit or something. 🤔the stupider it is, the more expensive it gets. 🐔

Whether you liked the movie or not, it doesn't change the fact that The Joker was a massive success. It pulled in over a billion dollars at the global box office.

neondriver7 said:Whether you liked the movie or not, it doesn't change the fact that The Joker was a massive success. It pulled in over a billion dollars at the global box office.

Sure, but based on what? Box office numbers feel totally different now than they did five years ago.
I honestly don't see what made that flick such a success. And don't even get me started on how there seem to be twenty sequels out there—if not more. You've got Batman, Superman, Spider-Man... then you have guys like Captain America and Green Lantern. They really shouldn't have messed with Thor and Loki like that; it just kind of muddied up the whole mythology for me. 🙂

At this rate, they might as well throw Lucifer, Conan, and Predator into the mix just to have everyone in one giant group hug. 🤦

briskhound2 said:It's because people actually dig antiheroes who deal with messy morality and violence... plus, everyone loves a solid redemption arc. It beats watching freaking Captain America, who is just such a damn Boy Scout—way too morally upright and, frankly, boring as hell.

The idea that Harley Quinn even struggles with issues regarding violence or morality isn't really supported by anything we've seen in either of the two films. It isn't that she has a problem with violence; it's that she genuinely enjoys it, and as for morality? She doesn't have any to begin with.

Joshua Kern said:The idea that Harley Quinn even struggles with issues regarding violence or morality isn't really supported by anything we've seen in either of the two films. It isn't that she has a problem with violence; it's that she genuinely enjoys it, and as for morality? She doesn't have any to begin with.

Well, it depends on which version you're looking at. You've got the first one back when she was still human, the second version who emerged from the acid, or the third one running around Gotham City.

In the beginning, she cold-bloodedly killed a man. Whether he was torturing her with electric shocks before or after, I'm not sure—the comic book experts would know. Then there are those memories of her in prison where they were injecting stuff up her nose, I don't even know what it was. It's hard to track the timeline between her circus days learning gymnastics and those years spent in psychiatric care. The chronology just doesn't quite line up.

She definitely shows an issue with violence when she's beating up those robots in the USA; it's total overkill. There’s even that scene where Deadpol shows up and tells her to stop because the guy is already dead. 🤣
Then there's that scene in the car where she loses it and shoots the roof—same thing. Or how she could find a knife underwater and pretend to be unconscious... and of course, that elevator scene where she gets interrupted while fixing her hair; any woman would lose her mind there. 😁

Honestly, this colorful movie feels so overplayed and bland to me. I don't even know what to say. The Huntress and that little girl were the most annoying parts. The whole movie is just silly—it feels like it was made specifically for kids.
I have to disagree on the morality part, though. How can you say she has no morals when she used to be a psychiatrist? In the USA, she had some pretty normal moments; it's mostly just her PTSD acting up. Besides, she isn't inherently violent or rude to everyone. In Birds of Prey, she’s actually more grounded. She looks out for that kid because of the mess she accidentally stumbled into. She could have easily just taken what she wanted and left, but instead, she ends up playing protector. 🤣
I mean, I doubt she even killed anyone while she was on the force. With all that confetti flying around, it’s hard to tell. 🙄

It’s funny how that one track from the soundtrack just suddenly blew up and became such a massive hit... it feels a little late, though, because if it had caught fire while the movie was still in theaters, I really think it could have given the box office numbers a much needed boost

I can't help but feel like this movie missed its full potential, mostly because Harley Quinn is such an iconic character and everyone loves her so much, but I've been hearing that it's actually doing pretty well now over on the various streaming and Video on Demand services...

What a complete load of garbage.
Honestly, the whole plot could have easily been one single episode of a DC series instead of being stretched out into a full-length movie.

The action scenes everyone keeps hyping up? Total snooze fest. They were actually pretty bad; I could practically see Margot Robbie just reciting her choreography from memory.
I mean, Margot is fine as Harley Quinn, but she worked way better in a shorter runtime back in the USA—she just doesn't have enough weight to carry an entire movie on her own.
Ewan McGregor was hands down the biggest letdown here. I’d already made my peace with the fact that the female cast was criminally bad before even sitting down, but his portrayal of one of Gotham City's heaviest hitters was almost as bad as Jesse Eisenberg's version.
I'm just glad I didn't waste money seeing this in a theater.

Deckard said:It's because people gravitate toward anti-heroes who struggle with morality and violence, and everyone loves a decent redemption arc. It's a far cry from that damn Captain America guy, who's just a total boy scout and incredibly, freaking boringly moral.

What makes him interesting is that absolute, stubborn refusal to back down from his own will, even when 99.9% of the world is against him and he's clearly outmatched. Even Deadpool respects that; he's basically a fanboy. But hey, I get that it's not for everyone.

Why call it trash? I mean, look, if you aren't out here nitpicking every single frame or expecting some deep, life-changing masterpiece, the movie is actually decent enough. It’s fine for a one-time watch, honestly. I actually went into this specifically because the reviews were so brutal, so I had zero expectations and, well, I didn't really gain or lose anything by watching it. There's really no point in overanalyzing it or getting all philosophical about it, because there just isn't much to analyze. If you’ve got a list of actual good, interesting movies waiting for you, then yeah, maybe just skip this one. ☕