Friday, May 1, 2020

BIRDS OF PREY



I don’t like the term “hot take” (everything is a hot take nowadays) but I feel like DC has been making better films than Marvel recently (...RECENTLY). At the end of the day Marvel will always win but there’s some interesting stuff coming out of the DC cinematic universe. Case in point - Birds Of Prey. Long before the movie came out folks had made up their minds that this movie would be terrible. Now...that is somewhat understandable. Birds Of Prey is connected to Suicide Squad, which - no matter how much of a profit it made - was a bad movie. So bad that they’re erasing it from history and starting over. So for folks who were skeptical about Birds Of Prey based on Suicide Squad - I get it. But there is a faction of people who assumed this movie would be bad/dumb because it was starring/featuring women. I don’t like to play up or play in to the stereotype of men being mad at women for stupid reasons but this is certainly one of them. Birds Of Prey is far from a masterpiece but it’s pretty enjoyable. It’s fun. And everyone’s silence kind of confirms that. We’ve all been loud & wrong about something and when the reality hits we shut the fuck up. Often times we don’t even say “my bad”. Some folks owe Birds of Prey a “my bad”. It's unfortunate that this movie was essentially weaponized before it even came out as it was unfairly tagged as a social justice warrior film or a political statement rather than a fun comic book movie with hints of social commentary.

The story is pretty simple - a ragtag group of vigilantes with various skills & abilities are forced to join forces to protect a young girl from the evil crime boss; Black Mask (there’s also an underlying subplot concerning men taking credit for things women do behind the scenes). Simple & fun.


Here’s what I don’t get...
From an action & choreography standpoint, Birds Of Prey is just as fun & action packed as other films that people openly love and praise. It's certainly no Mad Max: Fury Road but the action choreography (in parts) is just as enjoyable...

Mad Max: Fury Road / Birds Of Prey

Now that some time has passed I think we can all agree that the story/plot of Raid 2 is pretty silly & convoluted, but if you like the action & fighting in it (most folks do) then I don't see why you can't like certain specific moments from Birds Of Prey...
The Raid 2 / 
Birds Of Prey

there's also a subconscious connection to other female-driven action films like Yes Madam...

Yes Madam / 
Birds Of Prey

And for the more uppity/serious film fans, there are even some brief similarities to folks like Bresson...

Pickpocket / Birds Of Prey


But as a comic book film it still maintains it's fun side and subconsciously references everything from Goonies to Jackass...

The Goonies /
Birds Of Prey

Jackass 3D / 
Birds Of Prey


That’s actually really important. No matter how removed, DC films will always be under the umbrella/in the shadow of Christopher Nolan’s super-serious Dark Knight cinematic universe. Folks have been asking for fun comic book films for a while now and they’re finally getting it in the form of Birds Of Prey, Shazam & Aquaman.

Outside of people who either don’t like comic book-based films or just have comic book movie fatigue (both fair & understandable) I don’t get how one couldn’t at least find some mild enjoyment from this movie.
I know I’m late to the party (I watched this for the first time two weeks ago) and I’m not breaking any new ground but I just wanted to add my two cents...


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