Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

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DarkImbecile
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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#251 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Jan 29, 2020 7:59 pm

Pretty much every time there's a big premiere of a popular franchise entry, Ben Mekler posts an absurdist faux reaction on Twitter that invariably both inspires awe-inspiringly credulous responses and also somehow gets included among the legitimate post-screening reaction write-ups of one or more entertainment sites; for whatever reason, the Birds of Prey edition and some of the responses hit me just right and made my afternoon:

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#252 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jan 29, 2020 10:05 pm

I'm relieved that I wasn't foolish enough to take that Colin Powell tweet at face value, although it did make me do a double-take. No offense to Mr. Mekler, but "Ben Mekler" is the perfect weasel-y YouTube-level online critic name

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#253 Post by Never Cursed » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:59 pm

Reviews for Birds of Prey are mixed trending towards positive, with lots of comparisons to the John Wick series (which appears to be more than accidental, as Chad Stahelski, director of all three of those films, was brought on board to direct some of the film's heavy reshoots) and Deadpool, along with alternating approval of and annoyance at Margot Robbie's performance. None of this is high praise, certainly, but I'm glad to hear that the film is at least not a Suicide Squad-level abomination.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#254 Post by Nasir007 » Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:59 pm

If true, this is a humiliating admission of defeat.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#255 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:13 am

It's true alright (and I guess this is why Edge of Tomorrow was briefly trending on Twitter today, although at least they waited until the video release with that one). Doubt it will help much since I think a fundamental mistake made here was assuming Harley Quinn has a much bigger mainstream profile than she actually does.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#256 Post by swo17 » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:08 am

Surprised they didn't rename it Margot Robbie is hot, remember?

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#257 Post by tenia » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:43 am

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:
Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:13 am
Doubt it will help much since I think a fundamental mistake made here was assuming Harley Quinn has a much bigger mainstream profile than she actually does.
This most certainly is it, but I guess every little helps, especially in the case of an extended universe in which any failure could jeopardize the whole thing.
However, its budget is only $82m, so I guess it'll be quite easy avoiding making a loss on this one.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#258 Post by Mr Sheldrake » Sat Feb 15, 2020 11:24 am

I cherished those brief moments in Birds of Prey, and there weren’t many, when the obnoxiously loud soundtrack was silenced, the hyperactivity paused, the motor mouth dialogue went into neutral, and there, underneath her garish makeup and attire, one could recognize Margot Robbie valiantly trying to summon up a genuine emotion.

Robbie has managed to fit in some good movies and roles since her previous incarnation as Harley, but her imdb page indicates there are three more in the works. To be honest she does look like she’s having fun, even if I wasn’t.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#259 Post by R0lf » Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:44 pm

Mr Sheldrake wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 11:24 am
I cherished those brief moments in Birds of Prey, and there weren’t many, when the obnoxiously loud soundtrack was silenced, the hyperactivity paused, the motor mouth dialogue went into neutral, and there, underneath her garish makeup and attire, one could recognize Margot Robbie valiantly trying to summon up a genuine emotion.

Robbie has managed to fit in some good movies and roles since her previous incarnation as Harley, but her imdb page indicates there are three more in the works. To be honest she does look like she’s having fun, even if I wasn’t.
It’s funny because this stuck out like a sore thumb to me while I was watching it and I started to wonder: since the motor mouth dialogue is all done in voiceover and Robbie has very little actual on screen dialogue was the choice to blitz the soundtrack with heavy narration and music just there to cover up a lukewarm performance?

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#260 Post by tenia » Tue May 05, 2020 12:09 pm

Watched this. It's extremely mediocre and tediously boring. The first 50 minutes or so abuse to death exploding the storyline and the back-and-forth in time wears off very quickly. It's extrmely counter-productive to the flow of the movie since it means the first 20 min seem aimless, then the movie throws in an action scene without explaining why only for then going back in time to explain it. When this ends, we're halfway through the movie already and not much happened yet. It's only made harder by Robbie's Quinn that quickly grows annoying too, though fortunately, the supporting female cast is given some screen-time so that the viewer can get some rest (I guess).
Everything else is nothing to remember, from the awful digital design, the numbingly chaotic soundtrack (almost 30 songs in 109 minutes, including a insufferable random dance number) and the villains that of course die like crap.

In the end, I guess this is better than Suicide Squad, but merely because at least visually, it doesn't look like an awful undecipherable dark mish-mash. And there are 2 action scenes that are way too long but quite OK to look at, and sure enough, that's probably thanks to Stahelski's input on those.

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#261 Post by cantinflas » Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:47 am

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#262 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:01 am

I could care less about superhero movies, but this parody of The Dirty Dozen poster is oddly refreshing in the era of super glossy, super photoshopped posters. Or maybe my braincells in my brain have eroded to the point that anything slightly different is enjoyable.

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#263 Post by Big Ben » Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:34 pm


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Re: DC Comics on Film

#264 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:27 pm

That looks fun, Joel Kinnaman aside

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#265 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:08 pm

Seems of a piece with the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, which is appropriate, as Suicide Squad was originally supposed to be DC’s answer to the Guardians series.

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#266 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:30 pm

Kinnaman's career trajectory is a shame. I don't know if he's just been used poorly or had the bad luck of landing roles in bad movies or what, but Holder was such a strong character that he almost made The Killing worth watching, fueled entirely by his perf vs. any compliments to the writing of that awful show. He was also pretty good on House of Cards, though I loathed Altered Carbon and while I've heard good things about For All Mankind, I'm skeptical.

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#267 Post by soundchaser » Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:12 pm

I’m just upset that Peter Capaldi has taken a role requiring him to shave his head.

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#268 Post by hanshotfirst1138 » Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:40 pm

Peter Jackson in 1970s Italy couldn’t make something as excessive as the Snyder Cut.


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Re: DC Comics on Film

#269 Post by cantinflas » Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:50 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: DC Comics on Film

#270 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:14 pm

The Suicide Squad is getting some embarrassingly effusive praise elsewhere from comic fanboys (I've now seen countless proclamations that is the best comic book movie ever made... which means precious little, but still). Anyone here see it who can give a presumably more measured take?

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#271 Post by knives » Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:21 pm

Even better than American Splendor? That would be impressive. :lol:

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Re: DC Comics on Film

#272 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:25 pm

I am hearing it has better action sequences than Persepolis

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#273 Post by knives » Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:50 pm

But are the effects up to Our Little Sister? Kore-Eda did a lot with a little.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#274 Post by Big Ben » Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:13 pm

It's really violent, to the point that I've seen otherwise hardened people make it a big point of discussion when in private. Obviously people's tolerance for carnage (Including some mean spirited violence) is going to differ from person to person but if you're not down for a gorefest you may wish to avoid this.

In fact people over in the UK are mad at the BBFC for only giving it a 15 rating.

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Re: Suicide Squad / Birds of Prey Films (Ayer/Yan/Gunn, 2016-2021)

#275 Post by cdnchris » Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:29 pm

Most reviews I read mentioned "Troma" as an obvious influence, so I guess that's not too surprising. Even though those films have never been my thing I admit the comparison peaked my interest.

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