“Batman’s little girl is all grown up!”
I think the tagline of the show is apt for the description of the show. I’ve had this series in my backlog for awhile and finally had some time to sit down and watch it. I found it worth it to write up a review and share my thoughts on a deserving series. I love the Batman universe and super-heroines were right up my alley this day. Not to mention I’ve been buying comics again, there could be some reviews coming soon for those. On to the review…
Don’t be too disappointed; we have a matted widescreen transfer here. This is unfortunate as the show was shot in widescreen. It would have benefited from a true anamorphic transfer. The series was rather deserving of it. I did notice a little aliasing in some of the more intensive CGI scenes but it’s few and far between. There were no other issues of note. It wasn’t a bad transfer but it could have been much better. Take solace in knowing that the show looks pretty good on a PS3 upscale to an HD television.
The audio sadly lacks a 5.1 punch and instead comes in very basic 2.0 television style. It’s rather too bad the series didn’t come with full surround sound. The worst part is that the music on the series has been “tweaked” due to licensing issues. We don’t really need to get into why as that could take forever. The new Birds of Prey intro isn’t bad but it’s not good either. I feel it changes the mood and impression of the series. There are more music changes than that but it doesn’t make fans of the show feel any better getting Birds of Pre- lite. This is the one area of this release that I’m highly disappointed in. Warner Brothers, shame on you!
Three simple words describe the packaging of this 13 episode series; simple, slim and sexy. The series is packaged in a lite-box with a slip cover over the case. I am a fan of slipcovers for releases. Some can be beautiful and some can be mediocre or worse. Birds of Prey is of the finer variety with its embossing and use of the cool dark colors on a foil finish. It’s strikingly beautiful and stands out. The picture featured here doesn’t really show how amazing this is. The cover art of the discs features the cast individually including the Detective. If only the finish could have used the same kind of foil that the slipcover did. It would score high marks across the board.
Is the show worth my time and my money? I give a resounding yes. What really sold this show were the character relationships, chemistry and Ashley Scott. The Birds of Prey gave a sense of family once they got through the introductions and setup. The first couple of episodes felt slightly forced but everyone settled and found a sense of familiarity and family. Ashley Scott is what really drove the series home for me. She felt like she was the daughter of Bruce and Selena, capturing traits from both while creating her own identity. Intelligent, sexy and bad ass… Her portrayal was spot on. The other actresses fulfilled their roles successfully but she was the true stand-out. An honorable mention will go to both the well choreographed fight scenes and the inclusion of characters from the DC universe ala Black Canary, Clayface, etc…
The complaints I do have involve characterizations, writing and sometimes mediocre acting. I’m a huge Harley Quinn fan. Now, I have no complaints about Mia Sarah (she’s a good actress) but she wasn’t the right actress for the role. I do feel that Sherilyn Fenn was best suited, damn those scheduling conflicts. Not only that, the writers rather missed the point of who Harley Quinzell really is. She’s a little more insane, perky and devious. This is the chink in the armor of the show but it wasn’t enough to turn me off completely. A little more consistency (primary story arc) and equalization of characterizations (Harley Quinn) would have pushed this over. For the most part the acting was decent, but, at times it was fairly mediocre. I think it has more to do with actors and actresses growing into their roles. It’s hard to do that in 13 episodes. Not many shows can pull it off, it’s that rare.
Birds of Prey is a fun and enjoyable series, that had tremendous potential. As far as the writing and acting goes, I just feel that with more time and development the series could have amazing. It could have been miles better than Smallville. So don’t let anything fool you from this review; I believe it’s worth owning despite the drawbacks from the release and minor complaints about the series. I give it 3 and ½ Huntress kisses out of 5.
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