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Feb. 16th, 2020 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pearwaldorfSaw Birds of Prey yesterday. Very convinced if you don't like it you just hate fun. It was as misandrist and delightful as I hoped. A++, would recommend.
The moment I knew I would vibe with the movie is when Harley went all Homer Simpson drooly over the sandwich. Do you know how fucking rare it is for a woman to be allowed to enjoy food like a normal goddamn person in media? Also, the displacement of eroticism/affection from a man to a sandwich was a very nice touch.
The movie did some interesting things with story structure and flashbacks that I'm not sure I fully understand yet (and would require a rewatch or two), and that was refreshing. I expected it to be the usual ensemble formula, where everybody gets thrown together and grates against each other until the big climactic battle where they suddenly become a well-unified team. But no, everybody floats around on their own, interacting with one or two people at most, until the big climactic fight. And that's something I haven't seen before in ensemble movies with characters of any gender, where everybody is presumed competent enough to just work.
The friend I saw it with said it reminded her of a D&D session that goes completely feral, a one-shot where everybody's trying really hard to establish their characters and it doesn't quite gel until the end. It definitely has that sort of one-shot you want to turn into a campaign vibe to it.
I'm utterly delighted by all the character work in this movie. I adore that Huntress is an awkward socially maladjusted dweeb as opposed to consumed by vengeance, because it would have been so easy to write her that way. (And somehow, still incredibly fucking hot.) I don't know a lot about Renee Montoya really, but it was a brave choice to have one of her defining characteristics be "alcoholic." It's just there, neither justified nor excused, and that's refreshing. Cass was delightful (and played by Dante Basco's niece!), and the utter hero worship and admiration she has for Harley is so sweet. It's very pure, in a chaotic sort of way. Somebody should write a lot of Dinah/Harley where they're not-quite-friends with benefits and bicker about how to set Cass on the right path.
I do enjoy Ewan McGregor as a sleazeball and Roman Sionis delivers that in spades. (There was some delightful scenery chewing, and I got the sense he was having a lot of fun.) There's the psychopathic face-cutting whatever, but what I thought was the most frightening is the completely casual misogyny he and his lackey displayed. It's so nonchalant, treated like a natural order of the world. I'd like to think it's an exaggeration of real life, but it really, really does not feel like it. And unlike most gross displays of misogyny in media, it never felt gratuitous or male gazey. They were used to underscore threat (when Harley offers to retrieve the diamond) and power dynamics (the woman in the club).
Loved the action sequences, especially the roller skate chase. Somebody actually thought all that shit through, and it was really satisfying to see. There weren't eight fucking cuts for every punch or kick, and that helped a lot with the coherency of the fights. I was kind of curious why Harley seems to be so damn obsessed with breaking people's legs, but I suppose playing Tonya Harding can take its toll 😁 (I grew up during the 90s and Tonya Harding went to my high school, I can make this damn joke.)
Honestly, I would have been happy if the movie just didn't suck. But I'm so glad it's actually good, and takes its craft seriously. I want to see all the people who worked on this movie go into Hollywood thrive and do well, because there is so much talent and care here that would benefit the industry at large.
The moment I knew I would vibe with the movie is when Harley went all Homer Simpson drooly over the sandwich. Do you know how fucking rare it is for a woman to be allowed to enjoy food like a normal goddamn person in media? Also, the displacement of eroticism/affection from a man to a sandwich was a very nice touch.
The movie did some interesting things with story structure and flashbacks that I'm not sure I fully understand yet (and would require a rewatch or two), and that was refreshing. I expected it to be the usual ensemble formula, where everybody gets thrown together and grates against each other until the big climactic battle where they suddenly become a well-unified team. But no, everybody floats around on their own, interacting with one or two people at most, until the big climactic fight. And that's something I haven't seen before in ensemble movies with characters of any gender, where everybody is presumed competent enough to just work.
The friend I saw it with said it reminded her of a D&D session that goes completely feral, a one-shot where everybody's trying really hard to establish their characters and it doesn't quite gel until the end. It definitely has that sort of one-shot you want to turn into a campaign vibe to it.
I'm utterly delighted by all the character work in this movie. I adore that Huntress is an awkward socially maladjusted dweeb as opposed to consumed by vengeance, because it would have been so easy to write her that way. (And somehow, still incredibly fucking hot.) I don't know a lot about Renee Montoya really, but it was a brave choice to have one of her defining characteristics be "alcoholic." It's just there, neither justified nor excused, and that's refreshing. Cass was delightful (and played by Dante Basco's niece!), and the utter hero worship and admiration she has for Harley is so sweet. It's very pure, in a chaotic sort of way. Somebody should write a lot of Dinah/Harley where they're not-quite-friends with benefits and bicker about how to set Cass on the right path.
I do enjoy Ewan McGregor as a sleazeball and Roman Sionis delivers that in spades. (There was some delightful scenery chewing, and I got the sense he was having a lot of fun.) There's the psychopathic face-cutting whatever, but what I thought was the most frightening is the completely casual misogyny he and his lackey displayed. It's so nonchalant, treated like a natural order of the world. I'd like to think it's an exaggeration of real life, but it really, really does not feel like it. And unlike most gross displays of misogyny in media, it never felt gratuitous or male gazey. They were used to underscore threat (when Harley offers to retrieve the diamond) and power dynamics (the woman in the club).
Loved the action sequences, especially the roller skate chase. Somebody actually thought all that shit through, and it was really satisfying to see. There weren't eight fucking cuts for every punch or kick, and that helped a lot with the coherency of the fights. I was kind of curious why Harley seems to be so damn obsessed with breaking people's legs, but I suppose playing Tonya Harding can take its toll 😁 (I grew up during the 90s and Tonya Harding went to my high school, I can make this damn joke.)
Honestly, I would have been happy if the movie just didn't suck. But I'm so glad it's actually good, and takes its craft seriously. I want to see all the people who worked on this movie go into Hollywood thrive and do well, because there is so much talent and care here that would benefit the industry at large.
