Birds of Prey Reactions

[Gaastra]

FRIDAY AM UPDATE: WB's Birds of Prey brought in $4 million from Thursday evening previews, which is a bit on the light side if you consider Shazam! brought in $5.9 million in previews as did John Wick: Chapter 3. It is nearly double the $2.1 million in previews Tomb Raider brought in and just a bit ahead of the $3.4 million in previews Kingsman: The Golden Circle delivered. All told, this would suggest Birds of Prey is more likely to finish closer to studio expectations and a mid-$40 million performance, though if word of mouth spreads things could pick up as the weekend goes on.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/articl...?ref_=bo_hm_hp

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Went to midnight screenings. The movie wasn't very good. Its slightly above Captain Marvel, it pales to Wonder Woman.

In between Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman actually sounds pretty good to me.

However, I don't think they're going after the Wonder Woman crowd who got a film they could take seriously.

It seems BoP-HQ fits more in line with the Deadpool and Venom audiences who just want a fun romp that pushes the boundaries of good taste and violence in film, and it seems they're getting it.


With over 200 critics reviews in, BoP-HQ is Certified Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with a critics' RT score of 83% and an audience RT score of 87%.

This is a good weekend for DC. They'll have the number 1 film in the world AND they'll get the first Best Actor Oscar for a CBM.

[Colossus1980]

Box office opening is looking not that rosy for BOP. Could be more like a 33M opening weekend. https://deadline.com/2020/02/birds-o...ie-1202853768/

Probably should have went for a PG-13 to get the teens and under crowd in.

[Colossus1980]

And remaking Taxi Driver with Joker is hardly taking risks.

Making a movie that had nothing to do with the Joker but in name only was a risk.

[basbash99]

Box office opening is looking not that rosy for BOP. Could be more like a 33M opening weekend. https://deadline.com/2020/02/birds-o...ie-1202853768/

Probably should have went for a PG-13 to get the teens and under crowd in.

Too bad as it is an entertaining movie, worth seeing for the action scenes imo. But i agree with the article that this really could've been pg-13, there isn't really a ton of graphic violence that couldn't have been edited to Pg-13 standards, and the swears feel gratuitous and usually aren't effective comedically. Feels like they were aiming for Deadpool but that one really earned its R with the sick gore moreso than BoP.

I will say that i don't particularly like Harley Quinn and preferred pretty much all the other characters, that weird sorta NY-accent voice just gets on my nerves and since she narrates the whole thing it was annoying at times.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Making a movie that had nothing to do with the Joker but in name only was a risk.

How so?

Joker is the most popular Batman villain, that's free PR right there. They didn't invest heavily in CGI, or anything else. They made an Oscar bait movie with the barest trappings of comics and then get to crow about their nominations. A few miffed fanboys vs. looking like they're in the hero game like Marvel?

No risk at all.

[Jim Kelly]

Aren't all the John Wick movies rated R? I can't see how BOPATFEOOHQ could have been the same movie if it was PG-13--they would have had to cut a lot, not just dialogue and imagery, but action. The R rating indicates that they're not trying to make all their money in China--which would have been the calculation if they had imposed a PG-13, and then to make it sell in China they would have to do a lot of CGI over practical effects--proctological dragon farts and battling a big sky beast in the third act.

[choptop]

Making a movie that had nothing to do with the Joker but in name only was a risk.

The movie seemed to be about the joker to me.

[Wildling]

I liked the movie in a live Palmiotti Harley comic way, a day in the life of Robbie Harley meeting other DC characters along the way. I wasn't very invested in the other Birds beforehand and left the theater feeling the same, so fair is fair as far as I'm concerned. About Cassandra not being some kind of unnaturally Matrix-sharpened fighting machine, I'd think we'll see that eventually even with someone else, Gotham lore is a huge vault of material.

Was Cassandra not knowing who Harley's ex was some in-joke about people wanting to ignore or forget Leto Joker?

Was expecting more Bruce scenes though. Can you strap a minigun on a hyena?

[tv horror]

"Can you strap a minigun on a hyena?"

Why not they're always laughing.

[C_Miller]

I agree. I just read on twitter that Grace Randolph did not like the movie. hope this is one of those times she is wrong about a DC film.

I'll be honest. Grace disliking this movie makes me that much more excited to see it. She seems to come from a camp who seems to believe just having an opinion is the most valuable thing that you can have. It's better to have a hot take and dying on that hill than nuanced and thought out criticism. She also tends to have a very smug attitude when a movie takes a chance that she disagrees with and fails. Or when there's any semblance of her being correct.

[Fergus]

There have barely been any DC movies since Justice League, so it;s a little early to say that

DC doesn't have a feige what they have is a Hamada who is in charge of the movie department. He doesn't read comics, he isn't crafting a Universe. He's just a suit who signs off on projects and the creative talent. he replaced the previous head not Zack Synder.

DC let's the individual creative team create. Dc has only put out a few movies since Justice League but One of those Joker. a critically acclaimed Super hero movie plus it's the most profitable SuperHero movie to date [without China I might add.

Not too Shabby

DC takes risks which is risky but worthwhile. Variability is important. marvel has a formula which works and they . DC lets individual director's get creative. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

A connected Universe would be nice but more Important is the movies. Good movies. It's positive that the two companys have different approaches.

Additionally marvel movies and Dc movies has nothing to do with a Shared movie universe. it's just means movies by......

[Fergus]

Yeah, it's all about female empowerment.

A white girl's who's entire character is defined by her relationship with her Ex-boyfriend leads a bunch of minority characters against two homosexual villains who are over the top evil. And of course, the one who should be the most bad ass of all, is her wimpy sidekick.

Girl power!

You my friend should reduce your salt intake. so much salt

Sadly the fact is until the one who should be the most bad ass of them all can go from sidekick to solo character that's so popular Jim Lee considers her a 4th pillar then whimpy side kick she shall remain. dC is a business after all. We all knew that cass was going to be nerfed and nerfed hard in this movie.

I mean did you honestly think that cass was going to be the bad ass in a movie with 4 other character's who are also bad ass?

There's only so many fight scene and each BOP had to be shown doing something. Harley as the star gets the Bulk, Then Canary and then the rest.

[Jim Kelly]

It's hard to figure what people want from their costumed crime dramas. To me BOPATFEOOHQ was successful where other DC movies have missed the mark, because it avoided those overly complicated plotlines and gives what you want in an action movie. I know that some reactions have been that the movie is disjointed, but to me it's only disjointed in a stylistic fashion to mirror Harley's psychology, while the narrative pretty much keeps the audience on track.

It was a thrilling and fun action flick. I don't see how anyone can feel like it didn't deliver. The only flaws are external to the movie itself. One is calling the young girl "Cassandra Cain"--she isn't, so don't expect that. And the other is the title of the movie--it should be HARLEY QUINN: etc., because Margot Robbie carries the movie on her back on roller skates--and she's the big star that everyone will go to see. I get why they wanted to go with the long title--to mirror the style of the movie--but that's one of those ideas in the writers room that should have been nixed, when they realized it was mainly going to be about HQ and not so much about an actual team called "Birds of Prey."

[Colossus1980]

How so?

Joker is the most popular Batman villain, that's free PR right there. They didn't invest heavily in CGI, or anything else. They made an Oscar bait movie with the barest trappings of comics and then get to crow about their nominations. A few miffed fanboys vs. looking like they're in the hero game like Marvel?

No risk at all.

Remaking The King of Comedy and Falling Down as Joker was a risk.