This is probably the main thing above all else that stuck out to me about Birds of Prey but I chose not to include it in my review because it didn't really fit the format and was much more of a personal gripe on how they adapted this particular character and therefore wouldn't necessarily effect everyone's experience with the film. Naturally as a fan of the comic book counterparts of these characters I am quite defensive of them, this isn't the first time I've made a post about this, but I hope this doesn't come across as basic whiney fanboy complaints, and if it does, well...that's why it was left out of the review.
For anyone unaware of the comic book origins of Cassandra Cain, she was trained from birth to be the ultimate assassin, not even learning how to speak or write, because of this by the time she turned 18 she was a master in hand to hand combat and depending who you ask, quite possibly the greatest physical fighter in DC Comics. However once she finally killed a person for the first time, the action disgusted her beyond belief and she swore never to take a life again. Eventually she would go on to become the new Batgirl and later take up her own alias of Orphan, slowly learning how to read & talk and overcome her own disabilities.
TL;DR: She’s a master fighter, doesn’t kill, and is a mute.
Compare that to the film version where she is helpless, murders at minimum 2 people (Both via explosion oddly enough) and can talk very easily. Basically, put the film version has nothing in common with the original version and I have no idea why they chose to put her in here if they weren’t going to do anything reflective of her character. My assumption is they wanted to have Batgirl in the film and for one reason or another they couldn’t have Barbara Gordon so they went with the next option? Even though she never dons the Batgirl costume or does anything relevant to that persona. The funny thing is, the majority of what film Cassandra does and acts like is very similar to that of Jason Todd, but assuming they either couldn’t or didn’t want to use him then why bother adapting this character in the first place? Why not create someone entirely new?
I’m aware that for adaptations their have to be changes, but if you’re going to strip away all of the elements that make Cassandra Cain who she is and create an entirely new character then what is the point? As a stand alone character, film Cassandra is not a bad character, but when I have another version of the character to compare it to? In my opinion, the comic book version is better in almost every single way, she’s someone who possesses a level of empathy practically unmatched, her belief in the symbol of the Bat goes beyond Bruce Wayne or anyone in the bat family. The conflict between her given purpose, her views on death and desires for her own identity are complex & interesting. The contrast between her being one of the greatest fighters and balancing that with her disabilities makes her unique.
It’s difficult to be supportive of the film Cassandra when I know how much better it could have been done, and this isn’t comparable to a bad adaptation of Superman or Batman, those characters get adapted a thousand times over that there’s plenty of room for variation, and inaccurate portrayals can be shrugged off. In the case of Cassandra this is her first live-action adaptation and to intentionally stumble and fall this badly is baffling.
So yeah, there’s some more rambly thoughts on Birds of Prey and how they used Cassandra. I’m sure this didn’t come across as well-thought out and was mostly nitpicky complaints, but again, that’s exactly why it wasn’t written for the review and was just a chance for me to get some gripes I had out.
-Danny
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