DVD Review: Birds of Prey

Who will stand up to villains now that a heartbroken Dark Knight has mysteriously vanished? Never fear, New Gothamites, a trio of champions is ready to take wing – and Helena, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, is among them. She calls herself Huntress and crime is her prey. Teenaged Dinah is the youngest of the group, learning as she goes and gifted in clairvoyance. And overseeing the awesome threesome’s high-tech nerve center is Batgirl. Left wheelchair-bound by The Joker, she has reinvented herself as Oracle, the team’s cyber expert. Huntress, Dinah, Oracle: They are the Birds of Prey. Fighting together. Living together. And soaring into adventure together in 13 breathtaking live-action episodes.

Review:
It’s the perfect time to release this series in wake of the tremendous success of The Dark Knight. Birds of Prey effectively picks up where Batman leaves off. Even though we may be far from that happening in the string of successful blockbusters that will surely follow this summer’s release. For those who aren’t keen on waiting another 3 years for the next installment, they can check out the short lived TV series Birds of Prey.

Once Batman leaves Gotham, crime and evil do not follow him out. Its presence is as much of a threat as ever, and there’s a new team of superheroes that emerges to protect the city. A trio of unlikely champions rises to the call. First there is Helena (Ashley Scott) who calls herself the Huntress. She is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. The teenaged Dinah (Rachel Skarsten) is the youngest of the three, yet that doesn’t hold her back from picking up all the knowledge that she can and discovering that she is in fact clairvoyant. Lastly there is Batgirl (Dina Meyer) who has reinvented herself as the Oracle after becoming wheelchair-bound by The Joker. Together, this trio of talent steps forward to fill Batman’s shoes.

One thing that fans of this series will absolutely love about this DVD set is that it actually contains the original unaired pilot. So you can compare and contrast to your heart’s content. Also, there is a flash animated series called Gotham Girls which was a web-based series awhile back that is also included in this set (all 30 episodes). So whether you were one of the die-hard fans of the series or if you’re just a Batman fan in general, this release is definitely one that you should check out. Despite its early cancellation, the series showed a lot of promise, and it’s sad to see that it didn’t get its chance to grow.

Review by Emma Loggins

Grade: B
Official site: http://www.birdsofpreydvd.com/
Buy on Amazon: Birds of Prey

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