Birds of Prey (2020)
Neither did the first two Iron Man films. Libatique is great for the multi-cam doco style employed by Spike Lee and Cooper and Aronofsky or else it's a bit shit.
Agreed.ArmandFancypants wrote: ↑January 29th, 2019, 1:26 amNeither did the first two Iron Man films. Libatique is great for the multi-cam doco style employed by Spike Lee and Cooper and Aronofsky or else it's a bit shit.
ArmandFancypants wrote: ↑January 29th, 2019, 12:49 amEh?? TAS did plenty of great things with her sans Joker.

Not to mention she’s been sans Joker for years now and doing better than ever.

I was always interested in watching the BTAS episodes where Harley was on her own. The Joker was not required for those episodes to be interesting. I'm glad they had her leave that creep behind at some point in the comics because, while there is something sad and poignant about a story that addresses people who go back to the abuser in abusive relationships, it is a sign of character growth if the character at some point realizes what a big mistake it was to go back time and time again. Harley in an abusive relationship makes one point very consistently, whereas the potential to explore new facets and aspects of the character are greater once she is free of the Joker imo. It frankly depends on whether or not you want to see a story that says something harsh and uncomfortable or something that functions as an affirmation of people's capacity to stand up for themselves. All I ask is that the story be told well.
First of all, I don't care for the source material. For example, I never cared for the comic books when it came to Batman Begins - I appreciated the elements of that film without ever reading a comic book. The Batmobile, the suit, certain aspects of the characters where inspired by comic books but I didn't care because the film, Batman Begins, built up all these things perfectly. There was no need for further explanation.
So I really, really don't care how Harley Quinn worked in the comic books. One thing is for sure, that Suicide Squad was a train-wreck not just as a film, but as a character study. All those supposed anti-heroes were paper-thin, clichéd, phoned in disasters, and Harley Quinn was almost the biggest waste of them all.
Mainly because it was too obvious that it was all done for fan service. And I think the DCEU ran into a big problem which is that the powers of some heroes are so, so far at other ends of the spectrum. Why does Harley Quinn exist in a universe where Superman exists? If Superman exists in this universe, the likes of Harley Quinn should do no harm whatsoever to society. Suicide Squad's main goal should've been to justify the existence of villains such as the Joker and Harley Quinn, but it did nothing, and even less. Quinn is nothing more than a girl with a baseball bat.
So, after a start this bad, I really, really don't care for Harley Quinn and her circle of average-looking I-guess-they-are-villains friends. But this is all because there's a huge dissonance inside this shared movie universe. Maybe I'm overthinking it (or hell, maybe, I'm underthinking it), but at this point Harley Quinn is almost the least exciting character in the DCEU to make another film about. Almost Captain Boomerang level of disinterest in me.
I guess this new film can do justice for the character, but it's really difficult to convince me to see it. I have tried to explain my point because maybe these feelings are shared by a bigger portion of the audience as well, and it could mean bad things for the film's Box Office. Or I'm in a complete minority.
So I really, really don't care how Harley Quinn worked in the comic books. One thing is for sure, that Suicide Squad was a train-wreck not just as a film, but as a character study. All those supposed anti-heroes were paper-thin, clichéd, phoned in disasters, and Harley Quinn was almost the biggest waste of them all.
Mainly because it was too obvious that it was all done for fan service. And I think the DCEU ran into a big problem which is that the powers of some heroes are so, so far at other ends of the spectrum. Why does Harley Quinn exist in a universe where Superman exists? If Superman exists in this universe, the likes of Harley Quinn should do no harm whatsoever to society. Suicide Squad's main goal should've been to justify the existence of villains such as the Joker and Harley Quinn, but it did nothing, and even less. Quinn is nothing more than a girl with a baseball bat.
So, after a start this bad, I really, really don't care for Harley Quinn and her circle of average-looking I-guess-they-are-villains friends. But this is all because there's a huge dissonance inside this shared movie universe. Maybe I'm overthinking it (or hell, maybe, I'm underthinking it), but at this point Harley Quinn is almost the least exciting character in the DCEU to make another film about. Almost Captain Boomerang level of disinterest in me.
I guess this new film can do justice for the character, but it's really difficult to convince me to see it. I have tried to explain my point because maybe these feelings are shared by a bigger portion of the audience as well, and it could mean bad things for the film's Box Office. Or I'm in a complete minority.
This movie has the potential of being worse than Suicide Squad. Or it can be actually really refreshing and good. Again, everything is possible. Look at The Wolverine trilogy. The first movie had worse writing than the crappy cartoon pilot for the 80s X-Men, but its third movie was nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay.