# Birds of Prey **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631 "2020-02-08T16:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/1 "2020-02-08T16:04:51Z")
Has gotten really good reviews, but this is one of the weakest action movies I’ve ever seen, which is fairly par for the course for DC movies, with the exception of Wonder Woman. Bad dialogue Bad action sequences Bad villain The best part was the little girl. Wait til it hits streaming if your are the least bit interested. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/2 "2020-02-08T16:39:58Z")
Well, I disagree. But I also don’t think it was a traditional action movie. It’s more a movie - with superpowers, a little - about people figuring out what they want and figuring out how to get it. I agree that there were action sequences. But perhaps your disappointment stems from them not being the focus of the movie. The focus is really on the characters and the dialogue. I found it refreshing. The dialogue isn’t as snappy as Whedon but it’s pretty good. Frankly, it’s a happy departure from DC’s horribly pointless movies. It’s more than worth seeing. It’s one more sign that with Wonder Woman and Shazam DC is beginning to find a post-Snyder/grim and dark voice. I hope they keep going. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/3 "2020-02-08T16:43:15Z")
Further, I particularly liked the way Harley… showed she was still highly educated. The times she used her knowledge as a psychiatrist to analyze others and use that knowledge to decide on a course of action was great. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/4 "2020-02-08T18:06:10Z")
I saw it and liked it. I particularly liked decision to avoid major CGI-fests in the action sequences. I agree that the action sequences were not the focus. In many superhero movies, character comes from, or is revealed in the action sequences. In BoP, it seemed to me that most of the character development came in the interludes. I liked the casting as well. And Jurnee Smollett-Bell can really belt one out, can’t she? It fits into the R rated part of the comic universe franchises (lots of cussing and explicit physical violence). As such, I found it to be much better than Suicide Squad, but not quite as good as Deadpool. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/5 "2020-02-08T20:20:30Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Further, I particularly liked the way Harley… > > showed she was still highly educated. The times she used her knowledge as a psychiatrist to analyze others and use that knowledge to decide on a course of action was great. I know, right. She really should use her title. When I think of the number of super villains and super heroes who use the title Doctor, some with the most specious academic credentials it distresses me that Dr. Quinn goes without the honorific. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/6 "2020-02-08T20:50:07Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I know, right. She really should use her title. When I think of the number of super villains and super heroes who use the title Doctor, some with the most specious academic credentials it distresses me that Dr. Quinn goes without the honorific. She probably got tired of hearing “Are you not a medicine woman anymore”? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/7 "2020-02-09T03:30:09Z")
Yeah, my youngest sister has her PhD. She has a shirt that reads, ‘Not that kind of doctor’. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/8 "2020-02-09T13:17:50Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Yeah, my youngest sister has her PhD. She has a shirt that reads, ‘Not that kind of doctor’. See, from my point of view that’s a real doctor, someone who has completed a thesis and added to the sum total of human knowledge. Those medical guys are mainly technicians. No shade there, my brother works with his hands, but not really scientists, if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/9 "2020-02-09T13:20:16Z")
All I can tell you is she got tired early of being asked medical questions. Hence the shirt. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/10 "2020-02-10T05:28:20Z")
Unnecessarily graphic in places but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Simple story told interestingly. Solid performances. Humor that worked. Great villain. Flopping apparently, which is a shame. It doesn’t deserve that. Not sure how a sequel would work, though. We didn’t get to know or care enough about any of the actual Birds to want more of them. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/11 "2020-02-12T13:17:53Z")
I am one of the only people who actually liked Suicide Squad. That plus the good word of mouth made me very excited for this. Unfortunately I found it kind of disappointing. It wasn’t bad but it seemed kind of cheap and low budget. The acting was okay but the story meandered plus Harley’s and Cassandra’s friendship never felt natural, just beats in the script. Basically a C+ at best when I was expecting an A-. I will say this: it was a beautiful looking Bacon Egg and Cheese. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/12 "2020-02-12T13:23:29Z")
I saw it last night and really enjoyed it. I had no idea there was even a Harley Quinn movie coming, so that could be part of why it’s not doing well – whatever advertising they did didn’t reach me at all. It reminded me a bit of Deadpool, with the humor and fourth wall breaks – makes sense, because both comic book characters are totally insane. It also reminded me a little of the Kingsmen – not sure why, maybe some of the humor in the action sequences? Anyway, I thought it was laugh-out-loud funny at times, the action was just fine, and the movie moved along at a good speed. I’m a Margot Robbie fan anyway, and the other female heroes did well, too. Except for Rosie Perez, who has always gotten on my nerves. Is there a superhero she’s supposed to be (like Black Canary or the Huntress)? I actually enjoyed watching it much more than Joker, which I had happened to see the night before. I get that Joker was a slow burn, but it was a REALLY slow burn. I get that they are very different movies, etc. But in terms of just flat-out entertainment, _Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)_ was a blast. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/13 "2020-02-12T13:26:29Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Unnecessarily graphic in places but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Simple story told interestingly. Solid performances. Humor that worked. Great villain. > > Flopping apparently, which is a shame. It doesn’t deserve that. But the graphic violence was very cartoony, not realistic, and that made the difference for me. I can’t stand realistic violence. The first time I saw it I assumed it was going to be realistic so covered my eyes when Harley was about to shoot that cop in the face. Then I saw it was a “fun gun”, shooting beanbags, paint and glitter rounds and was back in the fun. I want my own fun gun loaded with confetti rounds, lol! I loved this movie so much I saw it twice. One thing that possibly only a woman would notice is that it started out with the usual “bad men doing bad things and treating women like objects” trope but by the end every single one of those bad men got defeated by women. Also somewhat subtle, Harley did not kill a single person (directly). She was Chaos but not Evil. I never saw Suicide Squad because of the bad reviews but I heard enough to understand why Robbie wanted to re-make the character her way. I love what she did with it. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/14 "2020-02-12T13:58:20Z")
After watching the movie, and then reading some reviews and reactions online, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. It was just not a good movie. It tried to juggle five protagonists and one major antagonist, and dropped pretty much all the balls. But, of course, tastes and expectations differ, YMMV, etc. > [@RitterSport](#): > > …Except for Rosie Perez, who has always gotten on my nerves. Is there a superhero she’s supposed to be (like Black Canary or the Huntress)? Renee Montoya was originally just a Gotham City uniformed cop, created as a minor supporting character for _Batman: The Animated Series_. She then entered the regular comics continuity as a minor character and became a police detective, but remained fairly obscure. She was basically Generic Honest Competent Gotham City Police Officer (later Detective). Unlike the movie, she was depicted as a young up-and-comer, not a jaded veteran. Later, she did become a costumed hero, taking over the costumed identity of the fairly obscure hero the Question, but the movie didn’t seem to do anything with that. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/15 "2020-02-12T16:13:18Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > After watching the movie, and then reading some reviews and reactions online, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. It was just not a good movie. Mick LaSalle of the SF Chronicle [loathed it](https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/review-movies-dont-get-any-worse-than-birds-of-prey-this-is-the-bottom), so you’re not alone :). He likens it to a particularly bad Guy Ritchie film and he _can’t stand_ Guy Ritchie as a director :D. His review was scathing enough that I think I’ll just wait until it hits cable in a month or two. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/16 "2020-02-12T17:44:40Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I had no idea there was even a Harley Quinn movie coming, so that could be part of why it’s not doing well. The studio seems to agree. It’s now officially called Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. > **[Birds Of Prey Just Got Renamed](https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/02/birds-of-prey-renamed/)** > > Less than a week after its debut in cinemas, it looks like Birds of Prey has been renamed, and it seems to be due to a disappointing opening weekend. As reported earlier this week, Birds of Prey may have opened at number 1 at the U.S. box office, but... ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/17 "2020-02-12T21:08:33Z")
Saw it. I think Margot Robbie’s performance was genius. The character herself, her manner, her lines, etc., are great. I LOLed more than a few times. Ewan McGregor was quite fun as well. I thought the action was above average, quite nice in parts. As with all action/comic book movies, however, they really didn’t come up with much of a plot/story. I’m not sure it’s really even possible any more. Doesn’t deserve to flop. Better than most comic book movies. Entertaining. I’d give it a B. (Afterward, I watched Suicide Squad on Amazon Prime. Ouch.) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/18 "2020-02-12T21:18:32Z")
I watched it, I enjoyed all the characters except maybe Huntress. Not that she was bad, just off somehow. The pacing seemed off somehow, action pretty far-fetched, but the characters made up for it, especially Harley and Black Mask, even if he was very one-dimensional. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-of-prey/847631/19 "2020-02-18T21:13:08Z")
I just saw it, liked it a lot. It wasn’t deep at all, it was a silly comic book movie, but sometimes that’s what the doctor ordered. I liked the action sequences with little CGI, just stunt people doing their thing. I liked a villain who’s just simply a terrible person, with no tedious convoluted backstory to make them sympathetic. (Looking at you, arrowverse. And you too, recent Bond movies.) Jurnee Smollett-Bell was great as Black Canary. I mean, you can’t take it seriously–Harley never trains or exercises and eats terrible food and drinks heavily, but she is able to take down multiple much larger guys–but so what. It’s a comic book flick. That Mick LaSalle review was terrible. It’s fine for him not to enjoy something I like, but he comes pretty close to being objectively wrong. He seems utterly unaware of the source material, which really annoys me in movie reviews. Also, Harley does have an arc. It’s a bog-standard redemption story with her atoning for her past by helping Cassandra (eventually). Again, not deep, but fine for the movie. And LaSalle just seems like a pompous twit in general.