I really enjoyed it, Groot stole the show. I do wish they would have gone to baby Groot earlier on, though the dancing scene probably made up for that (you can have a dance scene and not have it ruin a super hero movie Tobey!) and Guardians pulled off two dance scenes.
I don't like Thanos in all that armor, if you're that much of a romper stomper then you don't need the super shredder armor for TMNT 2.
Bautista did better than I expected. There was one point that he threw a punch and you could tell by the look in his eye that they probably cut him doing the thumbs down followed by a powerbomb afterward.
My biggest complaint was the guy sitting behind me cackling at the obvious jokes and then ones that were quick witted he would lean over to his wife and ask "what did he say?"
Anybody catch Nathan Fillion as the tough inmate whose nostrils were invaded by Groot's fingers? I had no idea it was him until I read a post on the film's Easter eggs.
I can't believe that nobody has mentioned the name of Quill's spaceship; "The Milano". Took a bit to sink in, but I thought it was hilarious that he named his spaceship after Alyssa Milano. Being a kid of the 80's when he was pulled from Earth, it makes sense that he would name his ride after the young star of "Who's the Boss?".
I do not see her as being wishy washy. She was never trying to kill Peter Quill. She was trying to take the orb without killing him. In this film Gamora is tired of killing people and is looking for a way out. I thought how quickly she turned the table in the prison scene showed she was just waiting for a moment to do so.
I thought Gamora and Nebula both explained that Thanos had tortured them to turn them into killing machines. I think there a big difference between not liking a sibling, and wanting to see them die.
The alien war had just ended I am not sure how much showing fighting would have added to the film.
I never really got that Gamora was tired of killing people since they never really showed her killing people in the first place. So she was looking for a way out from...what exactly? It was just she quickly went from working for Thanos to betraying him even though he didn't really do anything to her in the movie or do much of anything in the movie.
Yes, it's all great that they TOLD me about Thanos and how evil he supposedly was, but I needed to see him in action or do them wrong personally. Not showing me and telling me about all these things reminds me of another movie. One where the two main characters talked about how buddy buddy they were and all the great times they had. But while watching the movie, all I could plainly see was one clearly annoyed with the other and the other never listening to one.
Adding bits and pieces of the alien war would made the audience care. We see Ronan kill one guy who we don't know. We never see him slaughtering innocents, we never see refugees fleeing their homeland, we never see said homeland destroyed. Because we never see it, I have no invested interested in the people he's killing nor him as a villain.
Don't get me wrong as I enjoyed the movie, but it's not going to hold up. A few years down the line, it'll just be dumb fun but it'll lack depth and with the exception of the two CGI characters any sort of character resonation.
I think as comic fans we have the disadvantage of going into a movie with all these expectations. Did they need to show how evil the Emperor was in the Empire Strikes Back? He was the man behind the bad guy we had grown to fear in Star Wars. He was ultimately the big bad of the series. They didn't need to show how tough The Emperor was in Empire, the movie wasn't about him. They still had another movie to establish him in Return of the Jedi.
I think there are two ways to show something. You can do the literal route and show a scene of destruction or you can show the aftermath of such actions. I think GotG rightly went the aftermath. I would say they showed the effect of Ronan's campaign in the prisoners went after Gamora. Drax's confrontation with Ronan at Knowhere also went on the show what Ronan had done.
Marvel for the most part has taken the route of making you love the hero over making you hate the villain. Outside of Iron Man 2 I think that formula has worked out well.
Marvel for the most part has taken the route of making you love the hero over making you hate the villain. Outside of Iron Man 2 I think that formula has worked out well.
GREAT observation!
One of my biggest problems with both iterations of the Batman films and the Spider-Man films is the way the villains are the dominant characters. This both takes time away from the alleged protagonist AND clogs up the story with origins.
One of Guardians' many strong points: five heroes, only one origin.
I think as comic fans we have the disadvantage of going into a movie with all these expectations. Did they need to show how evil the Emperor was in the Empire Strikes Back? He was the man behind the bad guy we had grown to fear in Star Wars. He was ultimately the big bad of the series. They didn't need to show how tough The Emperor was in Empire, the movie wasn't about him. They still had another movie to establish him in Return of the Jedi.
I think there are two ways to show something. You can do the literal route and show a scene of destruction or you can show the aftermath of such actions. I think GotG rightly went the aftermath. I would say they showed the effect of Ronan's campaign in the prisoners went after Gamora. Drax's confrontation with Ronan at Knowhere also went on the show what Ronan had done.
Marvel for the most part has taken the route of making you love the hero over making you hate the villain. Outside of Iron Man 2 I think that formula has worked out well.
There's always going to be expectations whether from previous knowledge of what it's based on, the trailer or commercial, word of mouth, etc. That's neither here nor there.
I don't understand your argument with the Emperor because that's a different set of movies, which as much as I enjoy the Marvel movies, did things a lot better. The Emperor's not even a villain until the second movie. The first movie is Tarkin with Vader as a lackey. The second is Vader with Emperor as an overlord, but unlike Thanos, at least the Emperor's presence is felt.
There was no showing of the aftermath, which was my problem. Those prisoners weren't the Xandarians(sp?) because they're not going to be locking up their own people who were being killed by Ronan. I thought those prisoners hated Gamora because of who her father was and what he's done, which would have been a cool point to expand upon.
Drax's fight was a personal vendetta for one of the major characters. Like I said, it needed to show the effect of the world not just one of the major characters. Even if it had a flashback with Drax while that would have made things better, it had nothing to do with the general populace. A proper aftermath would have been showing refugees fleeing to the Xandarian homeworld all battered and wounded looking. Or they could have showed the effects by having the populace picket Glenn Close as they should have been pissed that people were dying even though the war was supposedly over.
On the one hand, Guardians showed this grand universe as it took us to various exotic locates and peoples, but it's failing is that it never really got too close to any of it to make us care or understand what exactly was going on with plots tying to the war.
Guardians should have been 30 minutes longer. With all the crap like The Hobbit and Transformers taking forever, it'd have been nice to have a good movie expound upon things more.
I would argue that the Kree and Xandar are just the backdrop. The Xander aren't the rebellion, we don't need to invest in them or the Kree long term. This movie needed us to invest in Tge Guardians as hard-luck loners who found themself coming together as a team and saving the day. We saw them save that one big city (and by extension, planet) full of people. To me, that was stakes enough. We saw that John C. Reilly's character got to go home to a family that was still alive.
I don't think this movie was about putting Thanos over, or having us get to know the Marvel alien races so that we are invested in their war. I think the latter is backdrop- a context for the roguish heroes to shine: there needed to be other people in charge so that they were the people not in charge that saved the day anyway. It didn't really matter that much which side they saved,or what their relationship to Thanos was, because really they were saving them from Ronan.
And this movie didn't need to spend a lot of time explaining Thanos as that continues to be a slow burn. He wasn't the baddie in this, Ronan was. But, just as we saw at the end of Avengers, Thanos is superior to the Chitari (sp?) baddies of Avengers. He is shown as superior to Ronan, the baddie of this one. All the baddies defer to and seem to be afraid of him. Plus, these movies keep building up the idea of the Infinity Gems.
This way, later when it is time for Thanos- perhaps armed with gems or the whole gauntlet- to actually be the villain of the movie, we will know how big a deal that is. Because we have kept seeing him in these other movies, and he has actually not made his own move yet (which also means he is actually still undefeated).
I get that there could be other ways to build it up, but for me, the way they are doing it, and the restraint they are showing, works. I don't think the casual audience needs to know a lot about him to know that he is clearly a big deal. And they are building towards him.
I also think the running time for Guardians, especially given the lighter, action comedy tone is succeeded in carrying, was just right. I don't think it needed another half hour. Especially if that is spent on just building out the universe. Instead, they stayed focused on the characters and left the audience wanting more.
Saw it again last night. I must say, the theater was pretty packed for a Wednesday night. I read where TMNT is expected to outperform GotG at the box office this weekend. Not so sure now.
One thing that escaped me first time around that I picked up on this time was when The Collector was showing them images of the Power Gem being used in the past by the Celestial, there was also that 1950'ish B-Movie looking clip of a bunch of folks in robes and goofy looking helmets standing in a circle getting electrocuted. I had missed when The Collector explained how only the most powerful beings are able to wield the gem, he also told them it is possible for several individuals joined together to withstand it for a short time, totally foreshadowing (as well as explaining) the Guardians decision to do the cumbaya/joining hands thing at the end.
(On another note, the 1950'ish B-Movie clip would have been greatly enhanced if the gang from MST3K were in the forefront of the shot. Guess you can't have everything.)
Another thing I missed first time around (and perhaps in the trailers as well) is when Quill is being incarcerated in the scene where he "doesn't know how this machine works" and they have all of his data up on the screen, it says his alias is "Space Lord." (This of course comes directly after the scene where John C. Reilly arrests him and refers to him as "Star Prince." :-) )
I have a friend who is teasing me saying that I have an unhealthy obsession with this movie.
Here is how I explained it to him. It's as if someone went into my mind and said "okay, let's grab all of these things that we know Ryan really enjoys" then they got out and made a movie using those things.
So I have a long list of why this movie is my favorite of the Marvel movies or comic movies in general. I absolutely love it, and while I can agree with some of the weaker legitimate points that some people may point out (I don't deny that they are there), I just don't care. I had a lot of fun, and I know I will have a lot of fun watching it 800 more times. There is so much packed in that every time I do see it I feel like I will notice or pick up on more.
I haven't been this excited after seeing a movie since I saw Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies as a kid. So do I like it a little too much? Maybe. Or maybe I just found a movie that let my 8 year old inner self be excited and enthusiastic all over again.
And as for my friend who thinks I have an unhealthy obsession with this movie, I also quoted Rocket to him saying "You just want to suck the joy out of everything."
I can't believe that nobody has mentioned the name of Quill's spaceship; "The Milano". Took a bit to sink in, but I thought it was hilarious that he named his spaceship after Alyssa Milano. Being a kid of the 80's when he was pulled from Earth, it makes sense that he would name his ride after the young star of "Who's the Boss?".
Saw it again last night. I must say, the theater was pretty packed for a Wednesday night. I read where TMNT is expected to outperform GotG at the box office this weekend. Not so sure now.
James Gunn just posted this on the Facebooks:
James Gunn 10 mins ·
Wow. Thanks to all you marvelous folks and your big wonderful words of mouths #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy just had a bigger Wednesday than any other film this year. THANK YOU.
I didn't realize there was going to be this much hoopla over the soundtrack of the movie. I was a DJ at an oldies station for 12 years so for a good portion of my life this has just been my background music.
Worst thing about this movie is that it has left me weaker to resist those Time-Life Sounds of the 70's and Soft Rock cd infomercials.
Best thing about this movie is that my investment in those Time-Life Sounds of the 70's and Soft Rock CDs is finally paying off!
I know that you guys are joking, but I wonder if the movie soundtrack, or any individual songs will have a jump in sales on iTunes or what not from people be introduced to, or having their memories once again jogged by, these songs because of the movie.
Worst thing about this movie is that it has left me weaker to resist those Time-Life Sounds of the 70's and Soft Rock cd infomercials.
Best thing about this movie is that my investment in those Time-Life Sounds of the 70's and Soft Rock CDs is finally paying off!
I know that you guys are joking, but I wonder if the movie soundtrack, or any individual songs will have a jump in sales on iTunes or what not from people be introduced to, or having their memories once again jogged by, these songs because of the movie.
The soundtrack is in itunes #1 spot right now and I heard somewhere that some of the songs have made it onto the billboard top 200.
Comments
I don't like Thanos in all that armor, if you're that much of a romper stomper then you don't need the super shredder armor for TMNT 2.
Bautista did better than I expected. There was one point that he threw a punch and you could tell by the look in his eye that they probably cut him doing the thumbs down followed by a powerbomb afterward.
My biggest complaint was the guy sitting behind me cackling at the obvious jokes and then ones that were quick witted he would lean over to his wife and ask "what did he say?"
Plus an attempted dance scene.
There were more dance scenes than Spidey 3 had villains!
Took a bit to sink in, but I thought it was hilarious that he named his spaceship after Alyssa Milano. Being a kid of the 80's when he was pulled from Earth, it makes sense that he would name his ride after the young star of "Who's the Boss?".
Sue me, I like This One, and she's been a part of the cosmic equation for some time now. My guess is two green-skinned girls would cause confusion.
Everything else? F'n brilliant. I mean...we even got Cosmo! :)
That may well be my favorite line from a movie this year...
The delivery was perfect.
I think there are two ways to show something. You can do the literal route and show a scene of destruction or you can show the aftermath of such actions. I think GotG rightly went the aftermath. I would say they showed the effect of Ronan's campaign in the prisoners went after Gamora. Drax's confrontation with Ronan at Knowhere also went on the show what Ronan had done.
Marvel for the most part has taken the route of making you love the hero over making you hate the villain. Outside of Iron Man 2 I think that formula has worked out well.
One of my biggest problems with both iterations of the Batman films and the Spider-Man films is the way the villains are the dominant characters. This both takes time away from the alleged protagonist AND clogs up the story with origins.
One of Guardians' many strong points: five heroes, only one origin.
But that was because they made you love the villain too.
I don't understand your argument with the Emperor because that's a different set of movies, which as much as I enjoy the Marvel movies, did things a lot better. The Emperor's not even a villain until the second movie. The first movie is Tarkin with Vader as a lackey. The second is Vader with Emperor as an overlord, but unlike Thanos, at least the Emperor's presence is felt.
There was no showing of the aftermath, which was my problem. Those prisoners weren't the Xandarians(sp?) because they're not going to be locking up their own people who were being killed by Ronan. I thought those prisoners hated Gamora because of who her father was and what he's done, which would have been a cool point to expand upon.
Drax's fight was a personal vendetta for one of the major characters. Like I said, it needed to show the effect of the world not just one of the major characters. Even if it had a flashback with Drax while that would have made things better, it had nothing to do with the general populace. A proper aftermath would have been showing refugees fleeing to the Xandarian homeworld all battered and wounded looking. Or they could have showed the effects by having the populace picket Glenn Close as they should have been pissed that people were dying even though the war was supposedly over.
On the one hand, Guardians showed this grand universe as it took us to various exotic locates and peoples, but it's failing is that it never really got too close to any of it to make us care or understand what exactly was going on with plots tying to the war.
Guardians should have been 30 minutes longer. With all the crap like The Hobbit and Transformers taking forever, it'd have been nice to have a good movie expound upon things more.
I don't think this movie was about putting Thanos over, or having us get to know the Marvel alien races so that we are invested in their war. I think the latter is backdrop- a context for the roguish heroes to shine: there needed to be other people in charge so that they were the people not in charge that saved the day anyway. It didn't really matter that much which side they saved,or what their relationship to Thanos was, because really they were saving them from Ronan.
And this movie didn't need to spend a lot of time explaining Thanos as that continues to be a slow burn. He wasn't the baddie in this, Ronan was. But, just as we saw at the end of Avengers, Thanos is superior to the Chitari (sp?) baddies of Avengers. He is shown as superior to Ronan, the baddie of this one. All the baddies defer to and seem to be afraid of him. Plus, these movies keep building up the idea of the Infinity Gems.
This way, later when it is time for Thanos- perhaps armed with gems or the whole gauntlet- to actually be the villain of the movie, we will know how big a deal that is. Because we have kept seeing him in these other movies, and he has actually not made his own move yet (which also means he is actually still undefeated).
I get that there could be other ways to build it up, but for me, the way they are doing it, and the restraint they are showing, works. I don't think the casual audience needs to know a lot about him to know that he is clearly a big deal. And they are building towards him.
I also think the running time for Guardians, especially given the lighter, action comedy tone is succeeded in carrying, was just right. I don't think it needed another half hour. Especially if that is spent on just building out the universe. Instead, they stayed focused on the characters and left the audience wanting more.
One thing that escaped me first time around that I picked up on this time was when The Collector was showing them images of the Power Gem being used in the past by the Celestial, there was also that 1950'ish B-Movie looking clip of a bunch of folks in robes and goofy looking helmets standing in a circle getting electrocuted. I had missed when The Collector explained how only the most powerful beings are able to wield the gem, he also told them it is possible for several individuals joined together to withstand it for a short time, totally foreshadowing (as well as explaining) the Guardians decision to do the cumbaya/joining hands thing at the end.
(On another note, the 1950'ish B-Movie clip would have been greatly enhanced if the gang from MST3K were in the forefront of the shot. Guess you can't have everything.)
Here is how I explained it to him. It's as if someone went into my mind and said "okay, let's grab all of these things that we know Ryan really enjoys" then they got out and made a movie using those things.
So I have a long list of why this movie is my favorite of the Marvel movies or comic movies in general. I absolutely love it, and while I can agree with some of the weaker legitimate points that some people may point out (I don't deny that they are there), I just don't care. I had a lot of fun, and I know I will have a lot of fun watching it 800 more times. There is so much packed in that every time I do see it I feel like I will notice or pick up on more.
I haven't been this excited after seeing a movie since I saw Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies as a kid. So do I like it a little too much? Maybe. Or maybe I just found a movie that let my 8 year old inner self be excited and enthusiastic all over again.
And as for my friend who thinks I have an unhealthy obsession with this movie, I also quoted Rocket to him saying "You just want to suck the joy out of everything."
http://www.slashfilm.com/everything-we-know-about-guardians-of-the-galaxy-2/
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/05/box-office-why-marvels-guardians-of-the-galaxy-cou.aspx