Took me 3 rewatches to finally admit the Birds of Prey movie is better than the old Harley Quinn comics

I was at a friend's place in Nashville last weekend and he put on Birds of Prey for background noise. I've always been one of those guys who says the original Harley Quinn comics from the 90s are untouchable. But watching it this time, I realized the movie actually fixes a ton of problems. The comic run always had Harley just being Joker's sidekick with no real arc. The movie gave her a whole crew and a clear reason to break away. Plus the fight scenes actually made sense compared to the old panels where she just randomly hits people with a mallet. Has anyone else had a remake totally flip your opinion after you gave it another shot?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.uma27d ago

Oh man, I gotta gently push back on one thing here. The 90s Harley Quinn comics actually did give her a reason to leave the Joker, it just wasn't in the main Batman books. The "Mad Love" one-shot from 1994 showed Joker throwing her out a window and her finally seeing he didn't care about her. That was a pretty clear arc, even if the monthly series that came later kinda ignored it. Birds of Prey definitely made that break feel more real and lasting though, with her having to survive on her own. Your point about the fight scenes making more sense is spot on, the movie choreography was way more grounded than the old panels where Harley just swings her bat around. So I'd say the movie improved on the foundation the comics laid, but the foundation was already there.

thomas_sanchez27d ago

The movie actually gave Harley's break from Joker something the 90s comics never managed: a real reason.

the_paul27d ago

The Mad Love story gave her a reason to leave, sure, but it was a one-shot that took years to even get collected properly. The monthly series right after that put her right back with Joker like nothing happened, so the arc never really stuck. Birds of Prey made the breakup feel permanent and gave her an actual life after him, which the 90s comics just never followed through on.