The DCEU is a bit messy.
As one of the world’s biggest comic brands, DC has long been in fierce competition with Marvel. Their rivalry only intensified once both made their way into cinemas, and spawned a pair of on-screen universes that have persisted for years. Despite Marvel’s recent downtick in quality, with releases like Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder failing to impress as much as other Marvel flicks, the MCU is inarguably several tiers above its DC competitor. DC has done its best to keep up over the years, and in the process has released several excellent titles, but fans generally expect less from the DCEU than they do the MCU.
As social media once again turns a critical eye on the state of the DCEU, fans of the franchise are hopping on to defend their favorites. While it’s hard for most viewers to find much to praise in films like Suicide Squad or Man of Steel (sorry Henry Cavill, we still love you) a few DC releases garnered genuine acclaim. Films like Birds of Prey and Shazam are almost universally liked, among viewing audiences, and break from the rest of their DCEU counterparts in being thoroughly watchable.
In the wake of yet another wave of criticism aimed at the DCEU at large, the franchise’s ardent defenders are stepping up to defend these gems in a sea of mediocrity. Twitter is currently awash with reminders that Birds of Prey, in particular, is a genuinely good movie. Fans of the film are pointing out its best qualities online, and in the process reminding critics that at least some of the DCEU is very much worthwhile.
Fans are praising everything about the film, from its visuals and storytelling to its flawless “gay-on-gay violence.”
People were quick to point out that, in many of their opinions, Birds of Prey presents the best version of Harley Quinn to hit the screen so far. Fans of the Harley Quinn animated series are like to disagree, but this isn’t about them.
Even as the praise comes sweeping in, however, criticism is inching through as well. While most viewers seem to look at Birds of Prey as, at worst, one of the DCEU’s middling releases, a number of comments complain that the film is “just so bad.” They provide very few reasons for its ranking on their lists, but some people are simply determined to dislike this film.
Their voices are largely drowned out by high praise, however, and Birds of Prey fans seem largely unconcerned with complaints from naysayers. This seems to be proven by a tweet from @ScreenRogue, who asked followers to pick their favorite DCEU films from a lineup of releases. Almost without fail, viewers select Birds of Prey from the bottom line. This, more than anything else, seems to prove the film’s dominance among fans.
Love it or hate it, it’s undeniable that Birds of Prey is, at the very least, one of the more interesting films put out by the DCEU. Fans of Snyder’s darkness-drenched angst-fests will never come around to its brilliantly-colored flavor of comedy, but really—was the film ever meant for them?