Movies: Birds of Prey (February 7th, 2020)

[member 51464]

I saw it this afternoon. I had some chuckles. It wasn't a bad way to pass a couple hours.

I'm not a regular watcher of movies based off comics. The last was Black Panther and I can't remember the last prior to that.

It definitely wasn't a total train wreck or anything. I think it should fare ok in the box office when word of mouth gets out that it's just dumb fun and not painfully bad like it seems Suicide Squad was.

Of course, the normal caveats of accepting obvious plot contrivances and whatnot for the sake of solid action set pieces apply.

 

[Jussi]

I saw it this afternoon. I had some chuckles. It wasn't a bad way to pass a couple hours.

I'm not a regular watcher of movies based off comics. The last was Black Panther and I can't remember the last prior to that.

It definitely wasn't a total train wreck or anything. I think it should fare ok in the box office when word of mouth gets out that it's just dumb fun and not painfully bad like it seems Suicide Squad was.

Of course, the normal caveats of accepting obvious plot contrivances and whatnot for the sake of solid action set pieces apply.

Doesn't look like it.

‘Birds Of Prey’ Flying Low With $33.5M Opening Weekend – Deadline

That R-rating is the killer.

 

[member 51464]

Doesn't look like it.

‘Birds Of Prey’ Flying Low With $33.5M Opening Weekend – Deadline

That R-rating is the killer.

Interesting. I retract my statement. It isn't as funny of clever as Deadpool, and it's only violence causing the high rating. Sex sells better. I thought it was PG-13 for some reason. Oh well.

Long love AMC A-list, haha

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

DEFINITELY not PG-13. Plenty of f-bombs and violence. We're in a post-Deadpool world now. I chuckled enough though. A few of the action sequences are good. Everyone pretty much hams it up, which is the right decision. Not as good as it thinks it is, but better than it probably should be.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Doesn't look like it.

‘Birds Of Prey’ Flying Low With $33.5M Opening Weekend – Deadline

That R-rating is the killer.

Didn't seem to impact Joker, Deadpool 1/2, Logan, etc. a whole lot. I'm sure there are other factors at play.

 

[Jussi]

Didn't seem to impact Joker, Deadpool 1/2, Logan, etc. a whole lot. I'm sure there are other factors at play.

Trailers. Didn't give a good impression of the movie at all.

I watched briefly Jeremy Jahns', Chris Stuckmann's and John Campea's reviews. All seemed to think the movie had enough good elements to make a good movie but it just didn't happen.

 

[member 51464]

DEFINITELY not PG-13. Plenty of f-bombs and violence. We're in a post-Deadpool world now. I chuckled enough though. A few of the action sequences are good. Everyone pretty much hams it up, which is the right decision. Not as good as it thinks it is, but better than it probably should be.

I guess since I grew up before the internet was ubiquitous, I figure teenagers these days have seen as much or more than any R rated film will show them, so I assumed that rating inflation was a thing

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I guess since I grew up before the internet was ubiquitous, I figure teenagers these days have seen as much or more than any R rated film will show them, so I assumed that rating inflation was a thing

Ha. Fair point. Many teens have certainly seen far worse than this.

 

[discostu]

Doesn't look like it.

‘Birds Of Prey’ Flying Low With $33.5M Opening Weekend – Deadline

That R-rating is the killer.

I'm honestly a little surprised. I agree that the R rating probably hurt. But, DC films have been a successful draw for the most part.

If this does end up that low of a weekend, it puts it well below Shazam for their worst recent outing.

I think it's hard to pin down just one reason, and it's more of a multitude of small factors, but one element that might be impacting it is that while the female lead comic book film has been a scarcity over the years, in 2020, the first 3 big comic book films are all of that ilk. Yes, they are all very different films, but I think there's a level of overlap that's impacting.

 

[Fandlauer]

The trailers for this make it look god f***ing awful.

 

[x Tame Impala]

but one element that might be impacting it is that while the female lead comic book film has been a scarcity over the years, in 2020, the first 3 big comic book films are all of that ilk. Yes, they are all very different films, but I think there's a level of overlap that's impacting.

If enough people keep saying things like this it might just become true...

Maybe the concept and trailers didn’t do a good enough job drawing people in. Maybe the reviews suggest the movie really isn’t that good. I sincerely don’t believe people are going to not go see a genuinely good movie just because it’s a female-lead.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

If enough people keep saying things like this it might just become true...

Maybe the concept and trailers didn’t do a good enough job drawing people in. Maybe the reviews suggest the movie really isn’t that good. I sincerely don’t believe people are going to not go see a genuinely good movie just because it’s a female-lead.

I oddly think the combination of R rating and female lead is an issue ... I think there's a group of movie goers who embraced Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel because it's fun and empowering stories to share with their young daughters.

Not getting that crowd with this movie.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I had a lot of fun with it. A fun action movie. It’s sucks it is underperforming.

I also had no idea it was out this weekend until I read a review yesterday, so marketing. Especially in February has not helped.

being connected to Suicide Squad didn’t help either I imagine.

 

[HanSolo]

I had a lot of fun with it. A fun action movie. It’s sucks it is underperforming.

I also had no idea it was out this weekend until I read a review yesterday, so marketing. Especially in February has not helped.

being connected to Suicide Squad didn’t help either I imagine.

That's the biggest reason I don't want to go see it. Margot Robbie did a great job as Harley so it was smart of them to focus a spin off on her, but Suicide Squad is pretty much one of my most disappointing movies ever.

Also the trailers really didn't make me very interested either. I still feel better off having bothered a friend's DC universe account and watched the animated Harley Quinn show which is pretty funny.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

The trailer was absolutely awful which made me not want to see it despite it getting pretty good reviews on RT. Will likely watch when it gets to streaming/VOD.

 

[Cloned]

It officially bombed this weekend. At this point DC just needs to offer as much money as possible to any previous directors/writers of a successful MCU film. It's not even about whether or not the DC films are good anymore; they just need the general audience to get hyped up that a Marvel writer/director is attached to it so it becomes a bigger draw.

 

[Evincar]

It officially bombed this weekend. At this point DC just needs to offer as much money as possible to any previous directors/writers of a successful MCU film. It's not even about whether or not the DC films are good anymore; they just need the general audience to get hyped up that a Marvel writer/director is attached to it so it becomes a bigger draw.

Im not sure why hiring MCU directors/writers would make DC movies a draw. No one goes to see Marvel movies for that reason especially since the studio has most of the control of the movie. DC movies have had no trouble making money with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Joker. I think this movie bombed because there it has that Suicide Squad vibe to it which people are still jaded because of how disappointing that was. Plus these all-female centric movies dont work at all.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I actually liked this movie. I’d put it ahead of most other DC films. It’s better than Suicide Squad (not saying much), Justice League, Batman v Superman (ditto) and I liked it better than Aquaman, though that’s close.

I’d say it’s second to only Wonder Woman at this time.

 

[Huggy43]

Story fell flat for me. Alright action but slow motion scenes when you hit a guy & he does a backflip take me out of the moment.

Also don’t think I’m a fan of Robbie’s Harley Quinn.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Saw this yesterday. It wasn't as good as Wonder Woman or Aquaman but definitely better than BvS, MoS, Justice League and Suicide Squad. It was solid.

The trailers made this seem like it was going to be horrible and I went in with that mindset, but it was a decent enough movie. I'd watch it again if I'm bored and it's on HBO or Showtime or something.

 

[Emperoreddy]

That's the biggest reason I don't want to go see it. Margot Robbie did a great job as Harley so it was smart of them to focus a spin off on her, but Suicide Squad is pretty much one of my most disappointing movies ever.

Also the trailers really didn't make me very interested either. I still feel better off having bothered a friend's DC universe account and watched the animated Harley Quinn show which is pretty funny.

the Quinn animated show is so much better then I expected.

I think the Suicide Squad stench definitely hurt this. I don’t think they marketed it well either. I only even knew it released this weekend because of stories on Saturday saying it was bombing despite the reviews being pretty good. Gave it a shot and I had fun with it.

I think Shazam and Wonder Women were better, but this was better then Aquaman or any of the Snyder shit (and of course S Squad). Better then a few Marvel movies too, though I don’t subscribe to the cult of marvel that says they can do no wrong so what do I know?

 

[HanSolo]

the Quinn animated show is so much better then I expected.

I think the Suicide Squad stench definitely hurt this. I don’t think they marketed it well either. I only even knew it released this weekend because of stories on Saturday saying it was bombing despite the reviews being pretty good. Gave it a shot and I had fun with it.

I think Shazam and Wonder Women were better, but this was better then Aquaman or any of the Snyder **** (and of course S Squad). Better then a few Marvel movies too, though I don’t subscribe to the cult of marvel that says they can do no wrong so what do I know?

Well I mean, I'm not the level of MCU fan that will pretend that they can do no wrong. They certainly have on numerous occasions (I have and will continue to fight people on the point of Iron Man 3 being a good movie). But even the best DCEU movies wouldn't crack my top ten if I were ranking the combined EUs.

Despite some decent entries, I view the DCEU far more as a failure than anything else. WW and Shazam are the only ones I'd feel any inclination to return to and honestly, I watched WW like 3 times with my ex (only once in theaters just to be clear) and it's pretty much enough for me.

Even having heard people say that it's a fun experience of a movie and my generally liking Robbie's characterization, I really can't get interested to pay money to go see this.

 

[The Nemesis]

Apparently some theaters, at the behest of WB are renaming the movie (for marketing purposes only, not literally in prints of the movie itself) to "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey" to try and combat the disappointing opening.

WB Is Renaming BIRDS OF PREY To HARLEY QUINN: BIRDS OF PREY In A Bid To Spark The Box Office

Sure, I guess. I mean it can't make things any worse.

 

[Osprey]

That's funny because, just yesterday, I was thinking that "Birds of Prey" (to say nothing of the ridiculous "fantabulous" subtitle) probably wasn't the best title and that they should've just named it Harley Quinn. Maybe this means that I have what it takes to be a studio executive.

Seriously, I'm not a comic book guy and likely not the audience that they were going for, anyways, but they still need casuals (of which I am one) to have a successful movie and I think that the problem is that this movie really only appeals to the hardcore comic book fans. Many of the rest of us don't even really know who Harley Quinn is because we don't read the comics or watch the various animated series.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I dunno. I think Harley Quinn is fairly well known even if you know nothing about comics. You know Batman, you know his greatest rival, and you know his rival's henchwoman/lover.

Now the rest of the Birds (Huntress, Cassandra Kane, Black Canary), those would be less known to non comic-knowledgable people