Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) hasn't made the biggest of impacts at the box office, but it's easy enough to imagine the DC Comics adaptation becoming something of a cult classic down the line.
Providing a unique new take on Gotham City, there was a lot in
Birds of Prey for comic book fans to love, and we now have some awesome "Before & After" VFX shots courtesy of
Aleksey Pollack. These all shed some light on how the iconic fictional location was created, and while the movie felt standalone in nature, it definitely fits into the DCEU from a visual standpoint.
What's also surprising is just how many of the sets were created practically, but
a recent report actually revealed that those sets and reshoots are what ultimately increased
Birds of Prey's budget.
To take a look through this gallery, click on the "Next" button below to check out the images!
It's amazing to see how the entire background in this shot was replaced, creating the remnants of Amusement Mile, a derelict part of Gotham that was likely once used by The Joker as his base.
There were even hints about that in
Birds of Prey as one of the windows in the Funhouse actually had the same "Hahahaha" on it that was tattooed on the Clown Prince of Crime's chest.
As Harley Quinn attempts to make her escape from Detective Renee Montoya (with that amazing looking cheese sandwich), but Gotham City sure look a lot different thanks to those changes!
There's really not a city on the planet that could double for Gotham without some alterations, though.
It's amazing to see what a difference adding a new background can make, and it certainly helps make what we're seeing on screen look even more atmospheric.
However, there was also an alternative look for the Gotham City skyline...
Not quite so exciting, right?
So, we now know that Doc's Place is a real Chinese takeaway called the Phoenix Inn. That's bound to increase how many visitors they get, and we again see a totally different skyline in the background.
Is one of those buildings meant to be Wayne Industries? That would be a cool Easter Egg, but probably not, unfortunately!
It's amazing to see how something even as simple as writing on a sign can be changed using special effects, and it's not something you would ever really expect while watching a movie!
Once again, we see that Gotham City has been added in the background.
What was originally a pretty looking bland apartment used for Harley Quinn's home is now a building which appears to be right in the middle of Gotham City.
It's amazing what a difference that - and some blue skies - make to what we end up seeing!
Black Mask assembles his followers here as he offers them a reward for taking out Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya...oh, and for slicing open Cassandra Cain, of course!
Ewan McGregor's Roman Sionis has been hailed as the best DC movie villain to date, and it's not exactly hard to see why that is.
It's actually shocking to see how much of this Amusement Mile set was made for real, and while everything in the background wasn't real, you'd have never guessed!
Once again, though, it's easy to see why the budget proved to be more than expected.
What do you guys think about these behind the scenes images from Birds of Prey? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts on them in the comments section down below.