Birds of Prey: The Chronological Edit

This was a great fix for a very mediocre movie! The actual editing was seamless and you managed to turn a 5.0/10 movie into a 7.5-8.0 for me.

The original movie tried to hide its lack of a compelling narrative behind some fancy screenwriting tricks but when you strip those tricks away you can see how relatively straightforward the story here is (which is why it only gets an 8). It feels like the original was going for almost Pulp Fiction-esque character introductions, converging and diverging plot lines, and a team meet-up in the final act, but when you put the story in order it becomes very straightforward: Canary knows Harley and Cassandra (who are wanted women), Huntress wants revenge, and Det. Montoya is chasing all of them. They all meet up, realize "we're not so different, you and I," and kick men's asses. Satisfying and straightforward, just like the story should have been from the beginning.

Excellent work turning this movie from a jumbled mess into a fun movie about bad girls gone semi-good!

Contrary to most I liked the original movie but I absolutely hated the fact that there is a 40 minute flashback. This edit completely fixes that by having the movie okay out in chronological order. The only slight change in enjoyment/narrative is because the film itself isn’t a masterpiece and nothing can be done to make it one.

All 10 but Enjoyment only 5: this has nothing to do with the Editor but the movie itself!

I hated the film when it came out, than i got it as a praesent and tried it at home, but couldnt stand it still.
The Unchronologig attempt, to many VO´s and overall sillyness was just to much.
I have a problem with pretty much all the DC Films, some try to much on the serious side, this one is like a sprinkled, rainbow coloured Muffin, to sweet.

The editing is great, the Video sounds and looks great. The Film know has a better approach and pacing and i watched it in full.
We get proper introductions of everyone at the right time, this time and the fight scenes are placed very well.
Also the Diamond reveal is placed tip top where it should be.

Well done!

I missed this movie in theaters, then blind bought the bluray when it came out. I was hoping to like this movie and was massively let down. It took me three attempts to finally finish it, and by the time I had I felt like I had a migraine. Where the original cut struggled the most was without a doubt the non-linear story telling.

Wakeupkeo has masterfully edited Birds of Prey into a chronological story that focuses the plot, and in turn gives all of the character's more clear, much more satisfying arcs. While Harley is still the central character, the rest of the Birds of Prey are also able to shine as they are introduced far more effectively. The ramping up of Black Mask's sadism works well to heighten the story, and the decision to make Zsasz just a henchmen makes for a more interesting, less frustrating supporting character. This fan edit is excellently paced, running just 84 mins before the credits roll. This is easily the definitive version for any DCEU fan!

This is my second review of Wakeupkeo's work, first being The Suicide Squad: Special Edition, which was a big upgrade from the original. Firstly, my brief thoughts on the original Birds of Prey and the blah blah...I didn't even bother with watching it in cinema and oh boy I was so glad for that decision. When I watched it at home I simply couldn't wait for it to be over with (I don't like not watching a film to the end, even bad ones). So let's say my enjoyment factor was a 2. Which means, I didn't had my hopes up for any fanedit, because they can't change the core of the movie, no matter how talented the editor is. But I was still curious how much of an impovement could be achieved, because I'm a big DC fan and I really want to love or simply enjoy as many movies of it as possible.

Technical-wise, it was excellent! Not that I was expecting anything less, having seen the Suicide Squad. I couldn't find a single scene were I noticed or "felt" that something was tampered with. That goes for the audio too and since I'm not a native english speaker and the edit doesn't have subtitles, I had the volume pretty high up so I would have noticed if something was off.

Now, for the important part, the narrative. It was definitely an impovement! It was more streamlined, the over the top silliness in certain scenes was trimmed down, more coherent and overall having the runtime barely touching the 1h30m mark was great! Unfortunately, although I enjoyed it more, it did not save it for me, but I wasn't expecting it to anyway.

This edit is recommended either for any DC fan, like me, who just wants to give it another shot or to anyone who found the movie "ok" and above. If you did, this version will be your go-to for any future DCEU marathons!

Thank you Wakeupkeo and thanks to anyone who read my review!