Review Detail

Much like the theatrical cut of Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey tried to introduce too many characters and set up a franchise while telling a non-chronological, barely sensical plot, which resulted in a nigh-unwatchable movie. And once again, wakeupkeo has managed to work his magic, making this movie comprehensible, fun and possessed of actual character arcs. (Though as a Cassandra Cain fan from way back, I'm still a bit cranky about her killer assassin-turned-Batgirl being transformed for the screen into a lowly pickpocket.)

Though the refining process here doesn't amount to quite the same intense pleasant surprise of a movie as the same editor's re-edit of Suicide Squad, it's still enjoyable to watch Robbie's Harley Quinn evolve into a more likeable version of her psychotic clown sidekick, setting the stage for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. The actual titular Birds of Prey get the short shrift here, as this movie seems to set them up for an actual film of their own that we'll likely never see (although I remain hopeful for them to play a role in the upcoming Batgirl film).

The fight choreography, particularly in the jailbreak sequence, is given more room to breathe in this edit and is one of the centerpieces of the film, thanks to John Wick director Chad Stahelski's pinch-hitting. In all, and not at all surprisingly, wakeupkeo has taken a movie that was edited-to-death and reverse engineered it back to life, as a worthy middle chapter to the Harley Quinn Trilogy.