Cathy Yan
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Deadpool (2016)
Directed by Tim Miller
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals Characters Themes
Como esta película estuvo pensada desde el vamos para adultos, es decir, con la calificación R, como Deadpool -su primo, pero del Universo Marvel-, mucho han relojeado a la saga con Ryan Reynolds.
It’s a chaotic live-action cartoon with more in common with rival Marvel’s Deadpool than with anything DC has released thus far, even if its dull and somewhat convoluted plot is only a marginal improvement over the story in Suicide Squad.
Then there are times when it seemed like some studio exec said, “Just make it like Deadpool,” and so you’ve got a convoluted timeline with plenty of irreverent narration combined with R-rated language and violence.
Earning its R-rating, the film isn’t as eager as Deadpool to have the audience thank it for that, but there’s still a lot of sharp crunches and red spirts.
The Deadpool films have similar approaches to their antihero, although here the villains’ inherent misogyny gives an edge to Harley’s natural pluck (Winstead is also terrific as a Huntress, a hero that’s all action and struggles with showmanship).
Director Cathy Yan (making what can only be described as her blockbuster debut) and Bumblebee screenwriter Christina Hodson prove themselves to be more than up to the task, as does star-turned-producer Robbie; from its vibrant animated opening to its funhouse fighting finale, Birds of Prey may grind some of the same R-rated, self-referential rails as Deadpool, but it does so at such a spirited speed that it scoots right past many of its own potholes.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Plot Visuals Themes
Nine times out of ten I was having a blast watching Harley Quinn wreak havoc, while screenwriter Christina Hodson composes a zany narrative that felt like a mix of “Pulp Fiction,” “Lone Wolf and Cub,” and “Scott Pilgrim vs.
Despite being well-intentioned, the bond between the main female heroines comes off a little too topically thick and on-the-nose, so does the Quentin Tarantino-inspired narrative which has the story chopped into fragmented stories ala “Pulp Fiction”.
Aves de Presa es como una ligera mezcla de Deadpool con Pulp Fiction que da como resultado una historia con un montón de acción y humor.
But the idea of chopping the script into fragments was old when Quentin Tarantino borrowed it for Pulp Fiction, and Hodson is no Tarantino when it comes to verbal fireworks; her humor is strictly Deadpool -lite.
Heavily indebted to an adrenalized version of the mix and match, collage-y time structure of “Pulp Fiction”—which the movie feels like it leans on whenever possible—borrowing the smash-and-grab titles sequence ideas and incessant needle drops from “Suicide Squad,” while throwing in a little Joel Schumacher-era “Batman & Robin” absurdity and campy flair in for good measure, “Birds Of Prey” is hyper affected, and a little more than obnoxious in its first half.
Though the film may have taken some notes from the likes of Pulp Fiction and Deadpool , Yan, Hodson, and their cast deliver something that feels fresh, and really entertaining.
John Wick (2014)
Directed by Chad Stahelski
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
Tiene más energía, su composición es más llamativa, la violencia es más gráfica y las escenas de acción tienen el peso y la fluidez de buenas coreografías, cortesía de Chad Stahelski (creador de John Wick ).
Bones crunch and blood flies in brilliantly choreographed, long-take fights that take more than a few cues from John Wick – the best superhero action this side of Civil War’s airport brawl.
El ritmo siempre se mantiene en lo más alto a partir de las intrigas, las escenas de combate, las persecuciones y las traiciones, así como el sello hipercinético e hipnótico que Yan trata de imprimir en cada secuencia (como el choque cuerpo a cuerpo frenético con un escuadrón de enemigos dentro de una atracción del viejo Luna Park en Gotham, coreografiado no por casualidad por Chad Stahelski, director de John Wick ), sin perder tiempo en reflexiones pseudofilosóficas o escenas melodramáticas de redención.
As for the actions sequences (staged by the John Wick stunt team), they are certifiably terrific, Yan and Hodson sprinkling in delightful little character beats throughout the bone-crunching carnage all of which gives each of the five women addition depth that only maked each of them feel even more authentic.
Harley's chaotic and skillful with various surprising weapons, Dinah relies on a kick-heavy fighting style, Helena's brutal but efficient tactics feel almost like something out of John Wick and Montoya's brawler tendencies set up both gags and tension.
Think John Wick with a Legally Blonde vibe.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals Characters
The fusion of pop brightness and scuzzy exploitation recalls Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, though the violence is mostly conceptual rather than explicitly gory; the jumps in time are a Tarantino trick, too.
There are visual and stylistic nods to films ranging from “The Warriors” to “Kill Bill.”
In “Birds of Prey,” Harley Quinn is a screw-loose avenger who suggests Uma Thurman in the “Kill Bill” films crossed with Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool,” with a nod to Juliette Lewis in “Natural Born Killers” delivering that opening diner ass-thrashing to the sounds of L7’s “S—list.”
Adivinaron: a Kill Bill, más que nada al personaje de La novia, el de Uma Thurman.
Seemingly ripped from the pages of a comic book, the film takes a leaf too from the bad girls of punk, rap and grunge, while other influences are easy to spot ( Kill Bill , John Wick ).
Smolett’s Black Canary is giving me a combo of Uma Thurman from Kill Bill and Jim Kelly from Bruce Lee’s international hit Enter The Dragon with a splash of humility and a conscience.
Suicide Squad (2016)
Directed by David Ayer
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Characters
Following the events of 2016's Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey starts off with our favorite antihero Harley Quinn as she adjusts to life after breaking up with Gotham City's clown prince of crime, the Joker.
It certainly has generated its fair share of buzz, what with Margot Robbie returning to the role of the Clown Princess of Crime after being the only thing anybody liked from Suicide Squad , and with Yan taking the director’s chair on such a large project.
The last time audiences saw Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, she was being freed from Black Gate prison by The Joker (Jared Leto) in David Ayers’s Suicide Squad.
Directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey picks up shortly after Suicide Squad wraps: When the Joker throws her out, a newly single Harley, no longer protected by her ex’s famous name (and infamous reputation) becomes the most hunted woman in Gotham.
An inevitability following the breakout success of Robbie’s Quinn in 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” this year’s first comic book film takes her supporting character and places her right in the middle of the action with “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.”
Justice League (2017)
Directed by Zack Snyder
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals Themes
The changes come from (a) trying to mesh with the previously existing worlds established by Batman v Superman , Squad , and Justice League and (b) serving as easy introductions to the characters.
Unlike Suicide Squad or Justice League , Birds of Prey has a bright, evocative palette.
Después de Suicide Squad y Justice League , el universo extendido DC está entrando en lo que podría considerarse una nueva fase.
The follow-ups, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League,” were laughed at by critics for their pouting powered people, as the series attempted to make superheroes into disillusioned souls.
Tank Girl (1995)
Directed by Rachel Talalay
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
Like some surreal mashup of Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon , Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy , Johnnie To’s The Heroic Trio and Rachel Talalay’s Tank Girl , much of the motion picture moves at such a brazen, unapologetically fevered pace I found it difficult to catch my breath.
She can't and viewers can't either from the madcap dullness of "Birds of Prey," which is reminiscent of 1995's "Tank Girl," another throw-everything-at-the-screen-and-see-what-sticks comic blunder.
Like an updated take on “Tank Girl,” full of painterly color and cartoonish exploits and weirdness seemingly for the sake of weirdness, “Birds of Prey” surrounds itself with eccentric visual flourishes, hoping to generate style for a gathering of personas who have divergent missions and personalities.
The Mask (1994)
Directed by Chuck Russell
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals Characters
When Harley walks into a police station disguised, for no obvious reason, as a 40s-style vamp in a crimson fedora—prior to blasting the place with smoke and glitter—I was reminded of that enterprising but misbegotten early-CGI hybrid of animation and live action comic book adaptation The Mask (1994).
McGregor is obviously delighting in playing a comic book villain with a camp streak, even if the vibe sometimes resembles the cartoonish bad guy played by Peter Greene in The Mask.
Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Characters Visuals
With the notable exception of the Christopher Nolan “Batman” movies with Christian Bale, the continued attempts to mine DC Comics characters for the big screen continues to fail.
Despite a few throwaway references to Batman, the Joker, and the events of the previous film,mostly stands alone.
Harley Quinn has developed from her original Batman: The Animated Series incarnation as the Joker’s moll to that of a full-fledged character in the comics who has left the Joker behind (a few weeks ago she was sitting at the Justice League’s big table).
Her own history comes in a brief, retro-styled animation sequence which effectively establishes Harley as a cartoon character above all else—which essentially she has always been, having been introduced in an animated Batman TV series before being integrated fully into the DC repertoire.
The Birds of Prey are a girl gang from the “Batman” comics, which until now has never included Harley Quinn.
Birds of Prey began life as a spinoff of 2016's Suicide Squad, an abominably bad movie that teamed up a bunch of Batman-adjacent bad guys for a once-in-a-lifetime mission.
Wonder Woman (2017)
Directed by Patty Jenkins
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Themes
Superhero movies like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel may have already delivered strong feminist messages in their stories, but Birds of Prey allows those themes to burst out with anarchic pop-punk relish.
Wonder Woman broke new ground as the first female-led modern superhero blockbuster, Aquaman dove inward to create an entirely new world, Joker was a filmmaker-driven genre expansion disconnected from the shared continuity.
The Warriors (1979)
Directed by Walter Hill
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
Decked out like a member of a roller-derby-themed girl gang from the cult classic, “The Warriors” (one of many films “Birds” references), Harley begins the picture by breaking up with The Joker – or “Mr.
There are visual and stylistic nods to films ranging from “The Warriors” to “Kill Bill.”
Pet Sematary (1989)
Directed by Mary Lambert
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
And it earns bonus points for that Pet Sematary (1989) nod too…
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Directed by Howard Hawks
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
There is a slapdash energy to the material that keeps it humming along for the most part and when Yan gets a chance to ditch the narrative and let her freak flag fly—such as a dream sequence that rescores the famous “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” number from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” with machine guns and S&M gear and the scene where Harley attacks a police station with an array of glitter guns that suggests “The Terminator” as directed by Bob Mackie—the results are undeniably memorable.
By contrast, the hallucination sequence with Harley re-creating the “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” number from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is something that could have been either performed in full or cut.
Yan and cinematographer Matthew Libatique (The Fountain, Black Swan) give the movie its rancid-sugar fizz, from the way Day-Glo graffiti embellishes freeze frames of certain characters to a dazed musical fantasy sequence in which Harley performs a wonky variation on Marilyn Monroe’s famous “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” number from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Man of Steel (2013)
Directed by Zack Snyder
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
If David Ayer’s Suicide Squad was the low point for Warner Bros’ latest round of DC-based comic book escapades in a post Man of Steel world, then imagine how surprising it is to find that this weekend’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) turns out to be kind of outstanding.
For the most part, people enjoyed Man of Steel , but on the other hand, its sequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , not so much.
As Warner Bros. watched the MCU take off in the wake of The Dark Knight trilogy’s conclusion, it positioned itself to capitalize on the shared cinematic universe craze by launching the DC Extended Universe with 2013’s Superman reboot Man of Steel.
But when compared to the other DCEU entries, projects like Man of Steel , Justice League and, yes, Suicide Squad (reviewed here), it’s practically a godsend.
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Directed by McG
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Themes
And Birds of Prey is an enjoyably loopy piece of comic book movie escapism, underscored by an unobtrusive, all-gender friendly girl-power message that doesn’t stick out like Goliath’s big toe, the way it did in Charlie’s Angels .
Still, at its best, Birds of Prey is the movie the recent Charlie’s Angels remake wished it could be.
"Birds of Prey" enthuses just the sort of energy moviegoers were hoping for from -- but found lacking -- in "Charlie's Angels."
Fight Club (1999)
Directed by David Fincher
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
Robbie’s fourth-wall-breaking narration and the film’s R-rated gusto strongly suggest a grrrl-power spin on Deadpool , but Yan puts her own krazy-kolored stamp on the material, giving it a lunatic momentum that feels more like a cross between Fight Club and Tim Burton’s Batman (with Robbie giving a winningly broad, pull-out-the-stops performance akin to Jack Nicholson’s Joker).
Heck, I even favourably compared it to Fight Club , which…no.
Black Mask (1996)
Directed by Daniel Lee
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Dialogue
Perez’s Detective Montoya keeps muttering cheesy “lines from every bad ’80s cop movie,” McGregor’s psychotic boss, aka “Black Mask,” keeps skinning faces off victims — or threatening it.
Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
Directed by Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
Fight coordinator Jon Valera ( Creed II ) and stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio ( John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ) nail the realistic, yet unconventional nature of comic book violence by employing techniques and styles that ground the mayhem in ways more commonly seen in Jackie Chan films like Police Story and Rumble in the Bronx where household items and objects around you become weapons of destruction in capable hands.
At one point Harley is herding Cassie and fighting her way through a police evidence lock up, and it’s a thrill to get a scene that brings back the classic weapon improvisation of Jackie Chan (“Rumble in the Bronx” particularly).
Batman & Robin (1997)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Visuals
Heavily indebted to an adrenalized version of the mix and match, collage-y time structure of “Pulp Fiction”—which the movie feels like it leans on whenever possible—borrowing the smash-and-grab titles sequence ideas and incessant needle drops from “Suicide Squad,” while throwing in a little Joel Schumacher-era “Batman & Robin” absurdity and campy flair in for good measure, “Birds Of Prey” is hyper affected, and a little more than obnoxious in its first half.
Legally Blonde (2001)
Directed by Robert Luketic
influenced Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Themes
Think John Wick with a Legally Blonde vibe.
The whole thing is a breakup movie, like a rebellious riff on Legally Blonde .