The 2020 film Birds of Prey was released this weekend and almost immediately received favorable reviews and ratings after being generally well-received by fans and critics, in spite of its failure at the box office.
The general reception of Birds of Prey contrasts Harley Quinn's feature film debut in the 2016 film Suicide Squad, in spite of it grossing over $700 million in the box office against a $175 million budget. A lot of film critics and DC fans had complaints about the Suicide Squad film, upon which Birds of Prey seemingly improved. Here are 10 things that Birds of Prey did better than Suicide Squad.
10 Harley's Outfits
Harley Quinn's outfit from Suicide Squad is iconic and has influenced both her image in the comics and cosplayers' portrayals of Harley. However, the outfit and others that she wore in the film are unnecessarily revealing and sexualized. Margot Robbie herself complained about the main outfit, stating that it was uncomfortable and difficult to move around in.
In the Birds of Prey film, the outfits, while still flattering, are less revealing, more comfortable, more versatile, and easier to move around in. Furthermore, Harley's t-shirt in Suicide Squad says "Daddy's Little Monster," whereas one of the shirts she wears in Birds of Prey says "Harley Quinn" all over it. This is a subtle message that Harley no longer belongs to the Joker, and is instead her own person.
9 The Origin Story Of A Vigilante Group
Like Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey depicts the formation of a vigilante group of DC characters. The Suicide Squad was formed by Amanda Waller, whose reasoning was that it was best to fight bad guys with (somewhat reformed) bad guys after losing Superman. Before becoming the Suicide Squad, its members had rarely interacted with each other, if at all, and were never on friendly terms, making their union feel random and ingenuine.
On the other hand, the Birds of Prey was formed by women who didn't start out on the friendliest of terms but were brought together over common goals: protect Cassandra Cain and defeat Roman Sionis. Their group was formed after they had bonded, making this vigilante crew feel more authentic.
8 No Joker
The Joker was incorporated into Suicide Squad even though he's not associated with the group. He was originally supposed to be heavily featured in the film but, in the final cut, was reduced to a mere plot device for Harley Quinn's storyline. Furthermore, horror stories of Jared Leto's method acting and behavior on set have come to light since the 2016 film's release.
While the Joker was mentioned in Birds of Prey, he didn't make an appearance. Had he, he likely would have taken too much attention away from the plot and the awesome DC women featured in the film.
7 The Focused Storyline
Suicide Squad had a plot that focused on character backstories for the first part of the film. The rest centered around a mission to defeat Enchantress and possibly save June Moon, who Enchantress had possessed. Interspersed within these two aspects of the plot, the Joker's own "rescue Harley" plotline was also woven in. These three aspects of the plot made Suicide Squad feel unfocused at times.
Birds of Prey also utilized some backstory of its characters, but it only brought up backstory when a new character was introduced, making it feel more organic. Every character featured in the film had a purpose, ultimately making the plot of Birds of Prey more focused.
6 The Antagonist
In Suicide Squad, there were two different antagonists: Enchantress and he Joker. They both had different goals with Enchantress seeking to wipe out the human race, whereas Joker was looking to find Harley and take her home with him. Again, having the Joker as a secondary antagonist with a drastically different goal distracted from the main plot, making his subplot and character arc ineffective.
There were also technically two main antagonists in Birds of Prey, but they shared a common goal, making the plot much tighter. Roman Sionis, also known as Black Mask, was a crime boss and the owner of a nightclub that Harley frequents for fun and Black Canary frequents for work. Under Sionis' employ was Victor Zsasz, who was his' go-to for most of his hits. Both he and Sionis reveled in the torture and pain inflicted upon their victims, making them more terrifying than Joker or Enchantress.
5 The Comic Book References
Both films are filled with references from different DC comics. Suicide Squad references the commercialization of Superman's death and at times takes place at significant DC locations such as Arkham Asylum and Belle Reve. This makes sense as the events of Batman v. Superman and Arkham and Belle Reve are important, especially when dealing with the villains. However, they're less fun than the references made in Birds of Prey.
In Birds of Prey, Harley's stuffed pet beaver Bernie is featured alongside her pet hyena named Bruce (named after Bruce Wayne). Finally, Harley is depicted as part of a roller derby team, just as she is in the Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Harley Quinn comics and beyond. These are by no means the only comic book references in the film, but they're definitely the most noticeable to fans of Harley Quinn.
4 LGBTQ+ Representation
There isn't really any overt LGBTQ representation in Suicide Squad, aside from the fact that Harley is canonically bisexual as of the Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti comics. However, she wasn't confirmed as such in the DCEU until Birds of Prey, when, at the beginning of the film, she was summarizing her romantic history, and an animated version of herself is shown next to a woman. Even then, it's a blink-and-you-miss-it moment.
The more overt queer representation comes from Renee Montoya, whose ex-girlfriend is Ellen Yee, the District Attorney. Furthermore, in spite of being broken up, they're able to maintain a level of professionalism in front of their peers, saving their arguments for one-on-one conversations.
3 The Strong Casting
Will Smith and Margot Robbie's performances in Suicide Squad were the strongest in the film. Many fans say that they carried the film and that others' performances were lacking and were less interesting to watch.
This wasn't the case in Birds of Prey. Every actor in the film, even the minor characters, matched Margot Robbie's performance easily. Furthermore, the cast of characters had better chemistry with each other than those of Suicide Squad, making the characters of the 2020 film more enjoyable to watch.
2 Its Use Of Non-Mainstream DC Characters
Both films utilized mainstream and non-mainstream DC characters. For example, Harley Quinn and the Joker were featured in Suicide Squad and Batman and the Flash made cameo appearances. Non-mainstream characters included Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, and El Diablo — but they were basically cast aside in order to feature Harley, Joker, and Deadshot.
Harley was the most mainstream character in Birds of Prey with Dinah Lance/Black Canary making a close second because of her depiction in the television show Arrow. Both women were prominent in the film but so were non-mainstream characters such as Huntress, Cassandra Cain, and Renee Montoya.
1 Harley's Character Development
Suicide Squad was basically a Harley Quinn origin story. It shows her beginnings: how she met and became involved with the Joker, and it delved into their relationship extensively. For any DC fan, her depiction and character development in the film added nothing new to her character.
Birds of Prey, however, like the comics, moved past her relationship with the Joker. From there, the film was able to explore who Harley was as a person and individual, beyond "Joker's girlfriend." The film showed that Harley is a truly compelling character, something that cannot be seen when she is romantically linked to the Joker.
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