Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) director Cathy Yan has previously implied that Warner Bros. might have made a few changes to the movie she wasn't fully on board with when she showed her support for the "Ayer Cut" of Suicide Squad, and the filmmaker has now confirmed that she didn't have as much control over the final cut as she'd have liked.
During an interview with The Playlist, Yan admitted that she found the process of working on Birds of Prey "challenging," and revealed that she had to "compromise and fight" for certain things - some of which ended up in the film, and others that didn't.
“I would have loved to have more control over the edit [of ‘Birds of Prey’],” said Yan. “But that’s just kind of how it is. I don’t know if there’s a Cathy Yan cut out there, but I think for any filmmaker, all of us are in it because we want to express ourselves as wholly as possible. And to match what you ultimately see on screen with what’s in our head.”
Studio interference in major blockbusters is common, of course, but Warner Bros. often seems to find itself at odds with its filmmaker's visions for DC Comics properties, in particular. Would Birds of Prey have performed any better at the box office if Yan had more control? It's impossible to say, but the experience doesn't seem to have put her off directing more blockbusters/comic book movies in the future.
“I would not discount ever doing it again,” she said. “I try not to think of whether I would do this type of movie or that type of movie again. Or whether I’d work with this studio or that. But more like, ‘Is this story compelling?’ And I’m also a writer/director. So, in that case, my big lesson is that I want to continue to do that and have a little bit more control over the story I’m telling.”
Both Yan and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) have both said they'd like to return for another Birds of Prey movie in the past, but the chances of WB greenlighting a direct sequel seem slim. Robbie will reprise the role of HQ for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, but as for Huntress, Black Canary and the others? We'll just have to wait and see.
What do you make of Yan's comments? Let us know in the usual place, and you can check out our review HERE, and a spoiler breakdown of the movie below.
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Animated Opening
Birds of Prey begins with an awesome animated sequence, as Harley Quinn brings us up to speed on her chaotic life by touching on her past relationships and previous identity of Doctor Harleen Quinzell.
It's here that we learn Harley is actually bisexual (or at the very least, experimented a little when she was younger) and that her toxic relationship with The Joker has now ended (he dumped her).
Heartbroken Harley
Miss Quinn is not in a good place after splitting from Mr. J, and is drowning her sorrows in the Black Mask club. When Roman Sionis' driver insults her, she comes down hard on his legs, almost snapping them in two.
After hearing her crew laugh at her situation, Harley decided to sever ties with Joker for good and sends an explosive tanker into the place where her criminal persona was "born," Ace Chemicals. Unfortunately, when word gets out that that Harley is no longer under The Joker's protection, a lot of very bad people come looking for revenge.
Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya is introduced as the cop investigating the Ace Chemicals explosion, which soon puts her on Harley's trail. She's also looking into some gangland murders committed by the "Crossbow Killer."
Montoya has a mole in Black Mask's gang (who is now on crutches after being very rude to HQ) and believes Sionis runs one of Gotham's biggest criminal empires, but her coworkers and superior dismiss her theories.
After disobeying one to many orders to drop her case, Renee is suspended and forced to hand over her badge and gun.
Black Canary
Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary, works as a singer at Sionis' club. It's revealed that Montoya knew her mother, who had the same superpower and was a crime-fighter back in the day (presumably the original Black Canary).
When Sionis witnesses Dinah's impressive fighting skills and makes her his new driver, Renee attempts to convince her to become her new informant. Lance agrees, but only when she find out someone close to her is in danger (more on that later).
Huntress
Huntress, known as the Crossbow Killer to the cops, is shown taking out gangsters throughout the movie but doesn't really come into play until the third act when her origin is revealed.
As a child, Helena Bertinelli witnessed the murders of her entire family by a rival mob boss and vows revenge. After being trained up as a lethal mercenary, she takes the mantle of Huntress and returns to Gotham to eliminate those responsible.
One of the gunmen? Roman Sionis' sadistic right-hand man, Victor Zsasz.
Cassanra Cain and a Shiny MaGuffin
Cassie Cain is a young pickpocket known to Montoya and Lance, who both care about her well-being. Unfortunately, the kid makes the mistake of lifting a very expensive and important diamond (no, it doesn't contain dick pics) from Zsasz, which leads to a furious Sionis putting a half-million bounty on her head.
Cassie is arrested shortly after and taken to the GCPD, but
someone knows where to find her.
Harley Cuts and Deal
Harley, meanwhile, is busy dealing with the various goons that crawled out of the woodwork once the word got out that Joker was out of the picture when she's picked up by Sionis' men. The villain is also aware of HQ's new relationship status, and plans to kill her... because he can.
Harley overhears Zsasz talking about the diamond situation, and in order to avoid having her face sliced off (Black Mask's sick little signature), she offers to track down the kid and retrieve the merchandise.
"I'm here to Report a Crime"
What follows is easily the standout action sequence of the movie, as Harley goes all Terminator with a glitter gun and takes out an entire police station to get her hands on Cain.
At one point, she notices a mugshot of Boomerang on the wall and says, "hey, I know that guy." Not a cameo, as such, but a fun little callback to
Suicide Squad all the same.
Quinn finally nabs Cain, only to discover that she's swallowed the diamond. The pair then hold up in Harley's apartment.
The Fun House
Harls takes a shine to the kid, but once she realizes that Sionis has an army after both of them, she decides to turn her over to take some of the heat off. Quinn calls Roman and agrees to hand Cain over at one of The Joker's old lairs.
Sionis sends Zsasz and Canary - who he now suspects is an informant - to the fun house, but Montoya and Huntress are already there.
When Victor tries to get Lance to slice Cain open and retrieve the diamond, the ladies team up to take him out. At this point, a masked-up Sionis and a lot of his men have arrived, and Harley convinces the others to put their differences aside and fight their way out.
Canary Cry
Another stellar action set piece here, as the girls team up to battle their way out of the fun house. They eventually make it outside, but Montoya is shot (she's wearing some of Harley's old body armor) and they're pinned down.
Fortunately, Lance has a secret weapon, and for the first and only time in the movie she unleashes her Canary Cry. This leaves her too weak to fight but a path is cleared, and Harley gets her skates on to chase down Sionis, who has managed to grab Cain.
Black Mask's Explosive Sendoff
If you were hoping Black Mask would stick around for future movies, well, there's very little chance of that happening!
Quinn corners Sionis at the end of a peer, but he keeps her at bay by holding a knife to Cassie's throat. Harley apologizes for turning her in, telling Cain that she makes her want to be a "less terrible person." Cassie then admits to stealing a ring from Quinn, before holding up the pin from a grenade she just stuffed in Sionis' pocket.
She then knocks the villain off the peer as he explodes.
The Birds of Prey
The ladies head for morning margaritas and engage in some banter as Cassie finally feels that diamond begin to move. She runs to the bathroom and is followed by Quinn, who steals Canary's car and drives away, much to Huntress' amusement.
Montoya, Canary and Huntress then form the Birds of Prey, and we get a glimpse of some comic-accurate (well, more comic-accurate) costumes. Harley does not join the team, and instead sets up the "Bad Mother[frick]er" detective agency with Cain.
Has Harley Quinn gone soft? She dares you to tell her so!
"Batman is F..."
As you've already heard, there's no mid or post-credits scene. Instead, we get Harley making fun of the people who stuck around by promising to tell them a secret about Batman before the audio cuts off.
Irritating? A little. Funny? Definitely. Basically, the perfect way to end this movie.
What did you guys think of Birds of Prey? Let us know in the comments.