So, after what felt like 10 years of teasers and posters and artwork reveals and test-screening rumors and yada yada, we finally have our first substantial look at Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey, the pseudo-Suicide Squad sequel led by Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn that will ditch Jared Leto’s Joker but keep pretty much everything else from the first David Ayer-directed movie. Of course it’s hitting this week, given that that other Clown movie is hitting theaters in a few days, though we’re wondering what vault Wonder Woman 1984 is being kept in since it got delayed a few months ago.
Honestly? We’re not exactly sure how great of an idea that is, and we kind of wish Yan had more free reign to design her own aesthetic, given that the head honchos at Warner Bros. want her to maintain some sort of coherent look between these movies, but we will say that this movie looks pretty fun, all things considered. Join us after the embed for some more thoughts: after all, you’ve got to watch the damn thing to have an opinion on it.
Take a look:
Well, we’re certain that there’s some cool-ass shit happening in this one: that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes tribute sequence looks like it’ll be worth the price of admission alone, and a scenery-chewing Ewan McGregor performance will always draw us in. However, we’re not sure if this trailer’s rough editing is really holding us back from fully embracing it or if it really is Yan chafing at being forced to follow in Ayer’s footsteps. What we do know is that we wish we had a damn time machine so that we could go back and watch Dead Pigs, Yan’s first feature, when it showed at Sundance two years ago, as we’ve heard really great things about it. Anyways, we’re more than content to say that this looks Interesting, all things considered, and reserve further judgement down the line.
Birds of Prey (no, we are not typing out that full title) hits theaters on February 7.