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Birds of Prey

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    #92
    pixelburp
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 35,941 CMod ✭✭✭✭pixelburp


    I haven't watched it but the Harley Quinn (adult) cartoon is supposedly decent, nailing both the character and the tone. So it's possible to have HQ as the lead but you gotta own the fact she's not a hero. And of course, the jokes gotta be funny too.

    Instead, this film was incapable or allowed that; can't have a big Star lead as a killer, or alienate the coveted 4 Quadrant demographic. So we got this weird mismash product trying desperately to be hip and pop-punk, while pretending Quinn is a loveable scamp. Robbie's "ain't I a stinker?" routine got old really fast, while gags like the bacon sandwich just weren't as funny as the script thought they were.


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    #93
    CastorTroy
    Registered Users Posts: 28,796 ✭✭✭✭CastorTroy


    The Harley Quinn animated series is great fun. You should check it out


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    #94
    brianregan09
    Registered Users Posts: 8,477 ✭✭✭brianregan09


    I just recently rewatched the Suicide Squad film recently and she is day and night in both films , in the new one she's a lovable ditz and thats it and it's terrible for it , but she's genuinely mental in suicide squad they should have stuck with that


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    #95
    Coybig_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 454 ✭✭Coybig_


    This is a horrifically bad movie, plot is non existent, characters are bad caricatures, editing is among the worst you'll ever see. Dialogue is cringeworthy.

    The fight scenes were overly stylised, and not in a good way - like a Snyder Sucker Punch way.

    Ewan McGregor is terrible as the villain. The Huntress was the only marginally interesting character and barely gets a minute on the screen. Unsure if worse than Suicide Squad, both utter disasters.


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    #96
    johnny_ultimate
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 29,094 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    Watched Cathy Yan’s debut feature Dead Pigs last night - a messy but largely successful and interesting film that was vibrant enough to get me to give this a look tonight. I remember reading bad things here, and I’m generally not at all interested in comic book movies any more so expectations were low enough.

    Colour me surprised then than I found a perfectly pleasant, enjoyable film here. Indeed, I’d say it’s an actual cut above the genre norm: it’s proudly colourful and frivolous, fully aware and comfortable with what it is. It has an unusually strong visual identity for a big budget superhero film, but more importantly Yan has a great eye for action and set pieces. She doesn’t insist on cutting away from movement or stunts like others do (coughrussobrotherscough) and while it’s still a fast-paced, rapidly edited film it gives character moments and gestures the time they deserve to breathe. A lot of it feels practical as well - longer shots with a relatively conservative use of CG (the more obvious CG being confined to a few shots like the big title screen explosion).

    Great cast too. While they work great as an ensemble, Smullet and Winstead are particularly good (as they usually are), while McGregor and Messina make for a refreshingly odd, dynamic and menacing villainous duo.

    I do think the first half is messy as hell, with the flashbacks within flashbacks and excess narration killing some of the momentum. But it rallies rather well indeed in the back half. I’m not going to pretend it’s a perfect film or anything like that, but I’d sure as hell take more of this fun, vibrant, candy-coloured silliness over any MCU film to be perfectly frank.

    Also, this is a film made for HDR. The visuals sparkle - quite literally given the presence of confetti bombs - and the colours really pop like they deserve to.


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    #97
    pixelburp
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 35,941 CMod ✭✭✭✭pixelburp


    johnny_ultimate wrote: »
    Watched Cathy Yan’s debut feature Dead Pigs last night - a messy but largely successful and interesting film that was vibrant enough to get me to give this a look tonight. I remember reading bad things here, and I’m generally not at all interested in comic book movies any more so expectations were low enough.

    Colour me surprised then than I found a perfectly pleasant, enjoyable film here. Indeed, I’d say it’s an actual cut above the genre norm: it’s proudly colourful and frivolous, fully aware and comfortable with what it is. It has an unusually strong visual identity for a big budget superhero film, but more importantly Yan has a great eye for action and set pieces. She doesn’t insist on cutting away from movement or stunts like others do (coughrussobrotherscough) and while it’s still a fast-paced, rapidly edited film it gives character moments and gestures the time they deserve to breathe. A lot of it feels practical as well - longer shots with a relatively conservative use of CG (the more obvious CG being confined to a few shots like the big title screen explosion).

    Great cast too. While they work great as an ensemble, Smullet and Winstead are particularly good (as they usually are), while McGregor and Messina make for a refreshingly odd, dynamic and menacing villainous duo.

    I do think the first half is messy as hell, with the flashbacks within flashbacks and excess narration killing some of the momentum. But it rallies rather well indeed in the back half. I’m not going to pretend it’s a perfect film or anything like that, but I’d sure as hell take more of this fun, vibrant, candy-coloured silliness over any MCU film to be perfectly frank.

    Also, this is a film made for HDR. The visuals sparkle - quite literally given the presence of confetti bombs - and the colours really pop like they deserve to.

    Just on the above about Yan's "... great eye for action and set pieces", I think it's worth pointing out this film received reshoots: specifically around its action set-pieces, where John Wick's Chad Stahelski joined as 2nd unit director. The amusement park dust-up and subsequent car-chase scene did smell the parts Stahelski might have had a hand in filming, so I'm not sure what percentage of the final film's action was down to Yan.

    That's not to diminish her work or anything, just that I remembered this film in particular had its action set-pieces reworked by someone else, and the mention of John Wick stuck in my brain. Which for my own enjoyment, made the thing a lot choppier and messier as a whole.


    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/john-wick-director-oversee-new-action-scenes-birds-prey-1231715


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    #98
    expen12
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭expen12


    The script was all over the place. And I HATE the "Smallville style costumes" Gotham didn't feel like Gotham at all. The movie felt like one of those 90's comic films that was ashamed of its origins. Oh and too much Harley not enough focus on the other ladies.


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    #99
    The White Wolf
    Registered Users Posts: 5,139 ✭✭✭The White Wolf


    expen12 wrote: »
    The script was all over the place. And I HATE the "Smallville style costumes" Gotham didn't feel like Gotham at all. The movie felt like one of those 90's comic films that was ashamed of its origins. Oh and too much Harley not enough focus on the other ladies.

    I seen someone say they enjoyed MEW and Smollett in the film, I'm sure I would of too if not for their utter non roles. :confused: Huntress in particular has to be the biggest waste of time I've seen in the genre.


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