Ciao, cinemaphiles!
This week Ian and Dave take a look at Birds of Prey, a film that has turned out to be a pretty major flopperoo for Warners and DC.
Maybe it’s surprising that a movie with Margot Robbie reprising her role as the popular Harley Quinn from the critically reviled, but hugely successful Suicide Squad has failed so badly at the box office. Maybe it isn’t.
Let Ian and Dave fansplain it for you.
Thanks for listening.
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You raised a lot of good points. I only saw this movie because I had a free pass that was about to expire, but I was surprised by how much I liked it. I’m not a particular fan of the Harley Quinn character, but Robbie’s colourful hyperkinetic performance reminded me of how Ryan Reynolds plays Deadpool. A little of that goes a long way so I thought it was a smart movie move to have Harley share the story with several more serious “straight woman” female characters, diverse in age and ethnicity.
I don’t go to a comic book movie expecting people to fight realistically so I didn’t mind that the fight sequences looked like something out of a Cirque du Soleil show.
There was a sympathetic male character in the movie and his name was Sal. You could count on him to make the perfect breakfast sandwich. Otherwise, it’s Gotham, Dave. The nice guys are too scared of the bad guys to put their lives on the line to assist the women which forces them to make the choice to band together for their mutual survival.
I didn’t think Ewan was a good choice for Black Mask. He felt only superficially sinister to me. Other actors have played a scary homicidal narcissist more convincingly, like Christian Bale in American Psycho, or Malcolm McDowell in Clockwork Orange or Caligula. I thought Chris Messina as his henchman was way creepier and more of a threat.
So this is the “opposite” movie you hinted at on your Fansplainer review of Little Women! BOP is kind of like a warped funhouse reflection of the women struggling to find a voice and power in a male-dominated society. You know those quizzes that ask, “What little woman are you?” I’d say Montoya is the tough but loving mom, Marmee. Harley is the rebellious Jo. Cass is the bratty little sister Amy. Black Canary is Beth – the one with musical talent. And Huntress is Meg cuz they’re both obsessed with their reputations and making a good impression.
This actually wasn’t the opposite movie to Little Women. That was when we were considering doing The Gentlemen.
One thing the film shows is you can do anything you want in Gotham in the daytime and Batman will not bother you. I actually would have liked a Deadpool style scene where Harley mentions, “Gotham is between Batmans at the moment.”
Ahhhh. Then I guess Hugh Grant is Marmee, Matthew McConaughey is Jo…