Vanessa's Favorite Films of All-Time Part Two: Birds of Prey
This blog originally started as a long, long master post of my favorite films but because I like making gifs too much, I had to break each movie out into their own films 😅 What? You’ll read it either way.
Here’s part two:
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) aka Vanessa’s Whole Vibe
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), directed by Cathy Yan.
If you know me, you know I love comic books more than almost anything. My whole life, my fashion, my sexuality, my hair, my affectations can all be, in one way or another, tied back to my love of comic books and being partially raised by the array of heroes and vigilantes and antagonists that populated them. That means when the superhero live-action adaptation wave came rolling through, I made sure to consume as much of it as possible. Even if I didn’t like all of it. cough IronMan3 cough
Since the year 2000, I’ve been waiting for Birds of Prey.
I kid you not.
I’ve been waiting for a comic book film adaptation that whole-heartedly embraces the wonderful absurdity of comics while also showcasing its women protagonists in a way that allows them to be both human and superhuman. Most comic book films HAVE NEVER ACHIEVED THIS! Usually because they’re written/directed by men with zero interest in women heroes beyond what they look like and how they can serve the male plot…usually by dying….
Anyway.
There’s just so much to love about this movie, fam. I can’t even begin to list them all out. Black Canary being a fully realized, tormented metahuman that became the heart of their little makeshift team? Everything that this long-time fan has been wanting in a live action Dinah Lance. A completely out lesbian Renee Montoya? Yep! A Harley finding her way out of a Joker-oriented life? FINALLY! Huntress’ iconic mob-killing backstory? HELL YEAAAAH. As a comic book nerd, this movie wasn’t perfect by any means but was it perfect for me? Yes. It hit every mark.