Birds Of Prey Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

3. The Hilarious, R-Rated Tone

Birds of Prey brings a totally unique tone to the DCEU, what with it being both R-rated and playfully meta.

If all the series' films since Wonder Woman have felt more like Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, Birds of Prey best resembles the Deadpool films: unapologetically rude, gory, and keen to break the fourth wall at frequent opportunity.

Granted, this film is a tad more measured than Deadpool, but its willingness to fling as much at the screen as possible in the pursuit of a laugh or a wince is admirable, especially as so much of the comedy and violent action actually lands so well.

That's not to say that every gag is a home run, but it's easy to get on-board regardless because the overall mood is one of boundary-pushing fun.

Touting neither the depressingly dour tenor of earlier DCEU movies nor the plainly family-friendly mood of more recent entries in the franchise, Birds of Prey is a distinctive riot of a film, despite obviously drawing extensive inspiration from Deadpool.