Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) (2020)

[Trini]

16 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Birds of Prey Changes Title At Movie Theaters

Eh- it's only this particular site that's trying to make a correlation between that and the box office performance. Has anyone from from WB or the theater chains said anything?

Is the title actually being changed? It sounds to me like a compromise to have a shorter title for listings, etc. - for the two biggest theater chains -  but still have 'Harley Quinn' in there for DC/WB brand recognition.

 

[MarkHB]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

Is the title actually being changed?

I'm sure it's not being changed on the actual "prints" of the film (and my local theater, from a small regional chain, doesn't even have the changed listings).  I saw one site say it was primarily an SEO thing, essentially that people are searching for the Harley Quinn movie and not finding it so they're fixing that.

[Sakura12]

The theaters by me are now listing it as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.

[Trini]

This site got a quote:

Quote

The title change appeared last night on ticket sites for major theaters. A Warner Bros. representative told The Verge that the name change is part of a “search expansion for ticket sites,” making it easier for people to find the movie. Adding Harley Quinn’s name to the beginning of the title also gives moviegoers a better understanding of what Birds of Prey is about, an issue the movie has faced in recent weeks.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/11/21132868/harley-quinn-birds-of-prey-name-change-seo-warner-bros-opening-weekend-trailers

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I doubt the name change is going to make a big difference in filling the seats, this movie shot it's load the first weekend , made a chunk of money, but I don't think  the coming weeks will beat that first weekend intake. 

[MarkHB]

5 hours ago, Xianders said:

Rename the thread. The film is now called Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey😑.

I don't want to confound their SEO optimizations 🙂 .

[slowpoked]

Saw this today, and it was so much fun! What made the movie for me was that it didn't take itself too seriously. The story had a lot of fun with the women and the women had fun with it.

Also amazing how DC movies get exponentially better when Zack Snyder is not at the helm. I'm not familiar with Cathy Yan's work, but I think she did well with this.

I also like the little callback to The Usual Suspects (if it was that). It may just be me, and I may be wrong, but when I first saw that particular scene, I was immediately reminded of it.

I hope in the long run it does well, or become a cult hit. No, it's not going to be some "game changer" like WW was, but it's nice to watch a fun movie like this once in awhile. 

Edited February 17, 2020 by slowpoked

[Lantern7]

Saw it today. I don't think the movie's supposed failures at the box office can be chalked up to "Too Much Girl Power." No, I'm thinking that DC could have just made a Harley Quinn movie, but the finished product felt like other DC heroines have their stories mixed in, only the end result was more heterogeneous where things were still unique, and we didn't really get a team effort like some of us were anticipating.

Does that make sense at all? I like Harley and her team, I was okay with the carnage and Margot Robbie doing the Harley Voice (I know it's supposed to be irritating, going all the way back to Arleen Sorkin) . . . but the movie felt more like something to tide fans over before Wonder Woman 1984 comes out, as well as to beat Black Widow to the "Girl Power" punch. Once again, I hope that I'm making sense.

The sad part is that we probably won't get a "Birds" follow-up on the big screens unless Harley is involved, and those two concepts have seldom meshed in the past*. A few weeks ago, Gail Simone tweeted, offering to write a Black Canary screenplay with Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah. As much as I will insist that Caity Lotz has been the best Canary (Sara > Laurel, Sara > Laurel-2, Sara > the Dinah they brought it a few years ago on Arrow), Jurnee did a bang-up job. Did the one Canary Cry feel gratuitous? Yeah, but the bulk of the character of Black Canary is beating the snot out of people and looking good doing it. But we'll probably never get to see her or any of the other "Birds" unless they're hooked up to a more popular franchise . . . and that's Harley. I know, second Suicide Squad move could be an improvement over the first, but I'm skeptical.

*The only time I remembered reading Harley and the Birds was in a two-part story Gail Simone wrote in Birds of Prey. Basically, the main draw was the team coming into conflict with the Secret Six, which had come off two miniseries written by Gail (Villains United, Secret Six), and it was close to an ongoing series. And Harley was with those guys to round out the numbers.

[markx]

The name change makes sense to me, not everyone will have seen a poster or trailer. If I'm scrolling down the "what's on" for a cinema, the title is the number one thing to first grab someone's attention.

[Sakura12]

So I did end up seeing this. It was an okay, enjoyable movie. Nothing special though. They probably could've just made a Harley Quinn movie and introduced Huntress and Canary. This wasn't a movie about the Birds of Prey. 

While Sara is still my favorite live action Canary. I enjoyed this one and wouldn't mind seeing more of her, but I think socially awkward Huntress was the standout for me. I loved her cracking up when Harley stole their car at the end. Don't know why they named the kid Cassandra Cain if they were not going to use her properly. They could've had any random kid. Or used Sin if they wanted an orphan girl. 

[Remlab]

So they’ve moved up the digital release date to this Tuesday, 3/21. Yay!

[MarkHB]

Physical media release is still May.

THR interviews Cathy Yan about the film...

Quote

I’m curious about expectations versus reality. When you think back to your expectations of how this entire experience would go, what differences surprised you the most in retrospect?

Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I don’t even know what my expectations really were because this whole process was something so entirely new to me. I just came from one small indie [Dead Pigs] before this, one that doesn’t even have distribution in the U.S. yet. So, I really have never gone through the process. I guess it’s hard to answer that question because I’m not really sure what I expected. What was definitely beyond expectations was some of the positive stuff, such as the real global reach of the film and getting really wonderful notes from people around the world who felt like they were seen for the first time in a movie like this. They felt like they could identify with the characters on screen, even though they were in a heightened world — a world with stocked grocery stores. (Laughs.)

 

[Spartan Girl]

On February 17, 2020 at 10:36 AM, Sakura12 said:

It was an okay, enjoyable movie. Nothing special though. They probably could've just made a Harley Quinn movie and introduced Huntress and Canary. This wasn't a movie about the Birds of Prey. 

THANK YOU. Calling it "Birds of Prey" is an insult to the actual Birds of Prey. Don't swap Batgirl with Harley Quinn and call it Birds of Prey.

That being said, I will at least concede it was entertaining -- better than Suicide Squad if nothing else. And while I don't like Harley Quinn's or the fact that they're trying to turn her into female Deadpool, she is more fun without the tarted-up wardrobe. I guess it will pass...

The egg sandwich did look tasty...until Harley said it had stray hair and six month-expired cheese. Ew. No thank you.

Still would have preferred Lego Batman 2. Or, you know, Wonder Woman 1984.

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Spartan Girl

[MarkHB]

Supposedly, Barbara was originally going to be in the movie. I'm guessing that she is now in Matt Reeves's walled garden at Wayne Manor, but who knows?

[BetterButter]

 

[Jediknight]

They call themselves Honest Trailers, and that was honest.  Harley, Huntress, and Roman were great, all 3 had excellent performances.  They admitted they liked it, it had a great cast, and good fight scenes.

I can't disagree with them.

[shrewd.buddha]

Just rented it over the weekend, VOD, and thought it was okay.
I was surprised at how low budget it seemed - it did not feel like a major motion picture 'super' hero movie. It seemed like something Netflix would have made. 
It reminded me of Deadpool - to a point. But none of the action sequences were close to those of the first Deadpool.  Even the car chase felt pretty tame. Although, there were some impressive fight choreography moments. And the soundtrack was good.

There were a lot of odd choices, such as calling itself "Birds of Prey" when it did not feel like a team movie. And this did not have what I know to be the members of BoP - - so the name was doubly misleading. It was also weird that no one in Gotham mentioned Batman, the one thing everyone associates with the city of Gotham. 

Maybe it was the directing, staging, or lighting - but Harley Quinn did not come across as a larger-than-life character. The early scenes of Harley in the bar just looked like a ordinary drunk person at a bar. I think the movie would have benefited from some 'grand' entrances by Harley.  I think a director like Tim Burton could have done something special with the character. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by shrewd.buddha

[Bill1978]

Well that Honest Trailer has made me curious to check out the movie, it kinda looks like fun. Unlike the trailer which made me want to run away from any cinema that had a poster for it.

[ICantDoThatDave]

I finally got to see this & it was... just kind of there.  Not really bad but nothing special either.  The fights were ridiculously over-choreographed ("ok, now you throw a half-hearted elbow but you do a backflip like you got hit by a canon while you tumble, do a leg sweep, & tap this guy on the ankle so he can fall down dramatically while you...").  And the sets reminded me of Batman & Robin - weird props & glowy stuff, like what are these places possibly used for when big battles aren't happening in them?

Plus I liked that the villain's name was Black Mask, called that because he occasionally wears a black mask, & his power is... wearing a black mask!  A mask which doesn't even stop a punch from an off-balance Harley leaning into his car.

Also it just wasn't funny.  Like at all.  No good jokes or memorable lines or banter.  Just Harley doing the most generic Harley stuff.  I did like Crossbow Killer Huntress though - she was entertaining.

[Lantern7]

Getting the HISHE treatment . . .

 

[rmontro]

On 5/14/2020 at 12:05 PM, ICantDoThatDave said:

I finally got to see this & it was... just kind of there.  Not really bad but nothing special either.  The fights were ridiculously over-choreographed ("ok, now you throw a half-hearted elbow but you do a backflip like you got hit by a canon while you tumble, do a leg sweep, & tap this guy on the ankle so he can fall down dramatically while you...").  And the sets reminded me of Batman & Robin - weird props & glowy stuff, like what are these places possibly used for when big battles aren't happening in them?

That pretty much sums up my opinion also.  I watched it this morning, and I had all those exact same thoughts.  Scary, really.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Costume Designers Guild Award nomination!

Excellence in Contemporary Film
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar – Trayce Gigi Field
Birds of Prey – Erin Benach
Da 5 Bloods – Donna Berwick
Promising Young Woman – Nancy Steiner
The Prom – Lou Eyrich

[AnimeMania]

Jurnee Smollett, who portrayed Dinah Lance/Black Canary in last year's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), will be getting her own Black Canary movie on HBO Max, written by Misha Green, the Lovecraft Country showrunner.