The newest entry in the DCEU, Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulously Long Title with Harley Quinn), has released to incredibly positive reception from critics and fans alike. While actually fitting inside the continuity (hey there, Joker), it is still a significantly different film from the rest of the DCEU. Today we’re going to be taking a look at five ways that Birds of Prey is completely different from the rest of the DCEU, and five ways that it is similar.
Different: The Narration
Birds of Prey follows a really interesting format in that the entire movie is narrated by Harley. As such, she jumps back and forth between scenes, fills us in on why people are targeting her, it’s a beautiful mess. While the film is still very much so coherent, it has a very frenzied feeling to it, it is told from Harley’s perspective because it is her story. As it should be.
The Same: The Continuity
No one would argue that Birds of Prey isn’t a standalone story. It isn’t trying to fit inside of the greater DCEU continuity, but it certainly is a part of it. This can be seen from the inclusion of Suicide Squad plot threads, small Easter eggs here and there, and much more obviously through Harley Quinn’s moving on from the Joker. Birds of Prey is a DCEU story, that much is true. However, it doesn’t require viewers to have seen past movies from the universe, which is certainly nice for the unestablished.
Different: The R-Rating
Birds of Prey took a box office hit in order to tell a very R-rated story. While the numbers are debatable, it’s easy to see that this was a strong artistic choice for the Cathy Yan film.
Birds of Prey uses its R-rating to tell a story filled with graphic violence, some choice language, and overall wilder tone than what we’ve seen from the DCEU in the past. The aforementioned violence and language weren’t just shoehorned in to be edgy, or anything like that. They seem like genuine parts of the film that are there for a reason. Kudos to the studio for letting the creative team really tell the story they wanted to.
The Same: Character Focused
Birds of Prey does a great job of focusing on its characters. Just as the rest of the DCEU does. After the, let’s say troubling, performance of Justice League, the DCEU once again shifted, this time making an attempt to focus on its characters first. Birds Of Prey does a good job of introducing a solid amount of new characters while still making them feel fleshed out and interesting. Justice League introduced a slew of new characters but didn’t really do them any sort of justice (no pun intended).
Different: All-Female Team
It’s obvious that one of the most interesting and talked about parts about Birds Of Prey was the all-female team that Harley Quinn assembles in the film. Harley, Renee, Huntress, and Black Canary all must work together to save Cassandra Cain and a diamond that could determine the entire group’s future. DC beat Marvel to the punch creating a solo female superhero movie, along with being the first to create a superhero team-up film that is 100% female-fronted. Not a bad record to tout, huh? Hopefully we can see more fantastic representation from DC in the future. They’re doing great so far.
The Same: Action-Packed
Birds of Prey features no shortage of action. The movie is actually pretty violent, you’re never left wanting for action-packed scenes.
The violence isn’t gratuitous by any standard, it all makes sense and fits the general vibe that the film is going for. While the movie features the same amount of action that you’d expect in any other DCEU film, the way that it was handled is really different, in an awesome way.
Different: The Action Scenes
The action scenes…. they are so good. There is so much color in every single one of them. The GCPD scene is full of color and crazily choreographed fights. That baseball bat moment? Oh yeah. However, even a cocained-up Harley cannot compete with the film’s final huge battle scene. The choreography, the cinematography, the rollerskates, the hair tie, everything about this scene was just perfect. It was just done so well. And then it’s topped off with a Canary Cry? What did we do to deserve this?
The Same: A Focus On Humor
After the shift to make the DCEU a brighter and more hopeful universe, there was a lot of humor injected into its films. Birds of Prey follows suit and delivers quite the humorous film. Harley provides most of the humor through her eclectic personality and narration, but everyone else in the cast has their highlights, with Huntress and Black Canary being standouts. The film keeps fans laughing throughout, and it fits well with the tone overall.
Different: A Lack Of Powers
Save for a stray Canary Cry (which we really couldn’t use as an image, a single frame is not enough to capture its beauty), Birds of Prey is a pretty de-powered movie. There’s not much use of any superpowers, which is a nice change of pace. Birds of Prey is a smaller scale story that doesn’t feature any sort of world-ending villain, and that’s great. It’s a change of pace that provides a type of superhero movie that you don’t often get to see.
The Same: Sets Up A Sequel
Birds of Prey handily left room for a follow-up, if the studio is in. While we already know that Harley Quinn will be making a return in The Suicide Squad (that name better change soon), the rest of the Birds of Prey are up in the air. Will we get to see them make a return? We sure hope so. The characters are the heart of this film, and not getting to see them in a follow-up would be such a shame. Even if we don’t get a Birds of Prey 2, hopefully, the characters can come back to the DCEU in some capacity.
