BIRDS OF PREY Reviews Point To It Being A Great Harley Quinn Movie But A So-So Birds Of Prey Adventure

The first wave of reviews are in for Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and it sounds like Warner Bros. has another critical hit on their hands! Find out more here...

By JoshWilding - Feb 05, 2020 10:02 AM EST

Filed Under: Birds of Prey

The review embargo has lifted for Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and it's definitely good news for the DC Comics adaption! The verdicts are overwhelmingly positive for the most part but the prevailing opinion seems to be that it makes for a better Harley Quinn movie than a Birds of Prey one!

That's not necessarily bad news but fans of characters like Huntress and Black Canary could be disappointed (it's been obvious for a while that Harley would receive the spotlight, though).

The main takeaway here is that the movie has all the makings of a critical hit and Birds of Prey definitely sounds like it will be a fun ride and a unique, colourful adventure for these characters. Now, we're rounded up excerpts from a number of reviews to bring you a better idea of what to expect.

So, to check out these spoiler-free verdicts, hit the "Next" button below to take a look!

Jumbled plotting aside, Cathy Yan and Christina Hodson's 'Birds of Prey' is a delightfully entertaining showcase for Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and the rest of her anti-heroic gal pals. (8/10)

SOURCE: Forbes

This whole film is a femme-fatale meet-and-greet which detoxifies the recent spree of male-dominated skulkings around Gotham City. It has gangster's moll energy where the molls take over. (3/5)

SOURCE: Daily Telegraph

It's relentless, hyperactive, and viciously entertaining. Just like Harley herself. (4/5)

SOURCE: Total Film

Thankfully, Robbie's shining performance cuts through the murk like a neon sign in a dark alleyway.

SOURCE: Mashable

Cathy Yan lets her heroine's mania guide her through a story that's scrappy, weird and ultimately fun as hell. (4/5)

SOURCE: Time Out

Birds of Prey's freedom to discard the classic superhero story is a freedom well won.

SOURCE: Polygon

It's all as tasty, chewy and disposable as bubble gum.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

DC Comics fans have been waiting years and years for a great Harley Quinn solo movie, and here they get it... albeit it's packaged inside a more so-so Birds of Prey movie. (3/5)

SOURCE: Cinema Blend

Cathy Yan has created a music-infused celebration of female badassery. (8/10)

SOURCE: We Live Entertainment

Some pacing issues aside, Birds of Prey is a neon-blood-soaked, funny, violent, anti-hero caper. It manages to be authentic without being heavy-handed, and happily obliterates the male gaze in a technicolour firework display. (4/5)

SOURCE: Digital Spy

However popular the film becomes, though, I doubt that anyone will adore it as much as it evidently adores itself. (2/5)

SOURCE: BBC

Birds of Prey may not hit every beat, but it uses its characters and concepts well enough. Does it reach the creative heights DC executives had hoped it would? No. Does it give it an honest go? Absolutely. (7/10)

SOURCE: Starburst

I was pleasantly surprised just how much I enjoyed the bizarro world of the Birds of Prey, and thrilled at the prospect of it continuing long after this adventure ends. (4/5)

SOURCE: Nerdist

Birds of Prey's most thrilling aspect, instead, is its stylish disregard for pain and the human body. (3/5)

SOURCE: Vox

It may not be the promised total emancipation (at least not yet), but it is fantabulous in its own way. (B-)

SOURCE: indieWire

The latest DC superhero movie isn't quite a solo jam for Harley, nor has she gone straight, but it is an entertaining lark that introduces a few good women - and four-letter curse words - into the canon of Superman and Batman. (3/4)

SOURCE: USA Today

A giddy treat of an R-rated comic-book movie, borrowing elements from inspirations as disparate as 9 to 5, Bugs Bunny and Modesty Blaise to create an adventure that tweaks its genre familiarity with delightful bursts of anarchy and wit.

SOURCE: The Wrap

This film is a blitz of bad taste, a cornucopia of crass, and it is weirdly diverting - more than you might expect, given the frosty way Suicide Squad was received critically - and engagingly crazy. (3/5)

SOURCE: Guardian

Cheeky and unapologetically brassy "Birds Of Prey" is super overwrought and sometimes exasperating, but at least there's never a dull moment. (C)

SOURCE: The Playlist

But those hoping for a Deadpool-like fusion of mayhem and wit should lower their expectations: Harley may be known for her unpredictability, but Birds plays by action-movie rules.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

Cathy Yan keeps it all hurtling along with impeccable ferocity. Her action scenes have a deftly detonating visual spaciousness, capped by crowd-pleasing moments...

SOURCE: Variety

A pulpy, kaleidoscopic funhouse ride that feels simultaneously high-stakes and low-stakes all at once, Birds of Prey is as cheeky, irreverent, and erratic as its central character, Harley Quinn. (7.5/10)

SOURCE: Slash Film

Although we'd have preferred to see a true team-up with fewer narrative detours, Birds of Prey provides a perfect setup for a host of other intriguing spinoffs in the DC cinematic universe - can we request Poison Ivy next? (8/10)

SOURCE: IGN

With a wicked sense of humor and exhilarating action, Birds of Prey is fierce, fun and a total blast - and an empowering girl power superhero romp. (4/5)

SOURCE: Screen Rant

Welcome to the mind of Harley Quinn, enshrined in all the sequin-encrusted girliness and bone-smashing violence of Birds of Prey. (4/5)

SOURCE: Independent

In a world gone mad, the catharsis of Prey's twisted sisterhood doesn't just read as pandemonium for its own sake; it's actually pretty damn sweet. (B+)

SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly

What Birds of Prey is, is loud, bright, and fun as all hell.

SOURCE: io9

Total mixed bag, doesn't merit a rotten OR fresh tomato. But representation is important, which JUST tips the scale to fresh. Robbie, McGregor & Smollet-Bell do the best work. (5/10)

SOURCE: Beyond The Trailer

Birds of Prey is electric! The style, the humor, the music, the performances, Ewan McGregor, the fight sequences. The more creativity and energy we get like this on the big screen, the better. (8.5/10)

SOURCE: Collider

At no point is the film ever uninteresting and its ambitiously gonzo fluidity is much preferred to the mindless Macguffin-based quests at the center of many superhero flicks from both studios. (3/4)

SOURCE: Observer

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184 Comments

1 2 3 4 5

xfactor - 2/5/2020, 10:58 AM

Unsurprisingly had a feeling this movie was going to do well with critics

regularmovieguy - 2/5/2020, 10:58 AM

@xfactor

Prolly cause we’ve heard test screening reactions for months and hardly anyone was straight up negative on it

xfactor - 2/5/2020, 11:01 AM

@regularmovieguy - the funny thing is, I don’t really count test screenings because usually the stats say one thing but the end result is vastly different. So this is a first for me

Reeds2Much - 2/5/2020, 1:28 PM

@regularmovieguy - Just like Last Jedi.

regularmovieguy - 2/5/2020, 1:31 PM

@Reeds2Much

We heard about Last Jedi test screenings?

regularmovieguy - 2/5/2020, 10:58 AM

narrow290 - 2/5/2020, 10:58 AM

91% on Rotten Tomatoes...I'm intrigued

EskimoJ - 2/5/2020, 10:59 AM

@narrow290 - I'm seeing 82%.

tmp3 - 2/5/2020, 11:00 AM

@EskimoJ - That was at 17 reviews, it's at 58 reviews now

Baf - 2/5/2020, 11:45 AM

@narrow290 - currently 92%

Humperdink - 2/5/2020, 12:11 PM

@Baf -

Yes, but it's at 89% now.
Look, let's just wait until the number settles because putting out the percentages now is pretty irrelevant.

Baf - 2/5/2020, 12:44 PM

@Humperdink - Honestly, it's all so silly. I have always given RT a 0% on the tomatometer. I prefer to look at audience score over critic score. Critics tend to be more bias and judge movies based on social climate and snobbish film school wordsmithing. I believe audiences are more truthful and to the point.

rebellion - 2/5/2020, 10:59 AM

Master clickbaiter. I know hes gotta eat, so i clicked.

RolandD - 2/5/2020, 11:15 AM

@rebellion - Master baiter?

rebellion - 2/5/2020, 11:24 AM

@RolandD - uuu, im stealing that one ;)

Humperdink - 2/5/2020, 12:15 PM

@rebellion -

tmp3 - 2/5/2020, 11:00 AM

GhostDog - 2/5/2020, 11:01 AM

knocturnalzen10 - 2/5/2020, 11:29 AM

@BlackBeltJones - i feel bad for Leto because he over acted tho role on what he thought the joker is . compared to Phoenix and Ledge just showing a nature unsettling insanity ...

1 2 3 4 5

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BIRDS OF PREY Reviews Point To It Being A Great Harley Quinn Movie But A So-So Birds Of Prey Adventure

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