Guardians of the Galaxy (Post-release)

dascoyne · Dec 28, 2014

JD said:
Guardians of the Galaxy is good, solid and fun filmaking from a moviemaker that gets the concept of the characters and situations. Nolan never got the concept of the characters or the situation and tried to mold it into his own thing that ultimately failed (yes, Ledger and even Oldman gave same great performances).

I've discovered the central tenet of every Nolan film is that each character is driven and defined by a singular life tragedy.
Nolan's best creations have great depth but little dimension. Every movie wants to be a character study.
The best of Marvel characters live and breathe in real life and actually have relationships. Marvel films represent different movie genres.
GotG is pure space opera - not unlike Star Wars (though, as an old-timer, I'd say that Star Wars was still better.)

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

well, with all the chatter and hype about this film I finally got to see it yesterday.. well, half of it... I'm a big SciFi fan and have seen everything and typically enjoy movies for what they are and just go for the ride... I really felt I missed out on something big and great when I didn't see this upon release... perhaps it was the timing of release and maybe seeing it in a theater with others that was part of the experience but so far I find this film to be just okay... so far I haven't laughed... at all...
the action is forced, the characters seem too aloof and carefree and invincible under the most impossible situations... its like watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon... too much tongue in cheek kind of feel to it... and unless there is something to Groot in the last half of the film that I haven't seen he is really lame. I don't see the appeal and popularity of that guy at all... a very unlikely character to be in the position he is in.. he seems so like a childlike innocent and genteel yet there he is .. a muscleman for a cocky raccoon. I do hope there is some backstory of their pairing that will be revealed in the rest of the film otherwise he doesn't fit in with the rest of the character in my opinion... the evil guys are typical mustache twirling baddies that reflect the emperor and darth vader a bit much. I did like the reveal of what was in the orb and its history...

Sorry guys and gals, I know I am in the extreme minority here but 30 minutes in my 14 year old left the room and ten minutes after that my wife lost interest... so sitting there by myself I decided to turn it off and watch the second half at a later date... when I'm bored and nothing better is on.

Its as if this film didn't really know what it was or that it was trying too hard to be the Heavy Metal/Last Starfighter/Fifth Element/Men in Black combo or whatever... maybe my tune will change once I see it in its entirety but its just not doing much for me right now... the visuals are cool (Im sure it was awesome in 3D)

now I run and duck for cover!

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

Probe Droid said:
Enjoyed the performances and it certainly looked great, but a bore from beginning to end. The characters were dull and often cliched. I wasn't invested in any of them. I was expecting to really enjoy this film, so very disappointing.

glad to see I am not the only one. I love SciFi and off the wall stuff like Fifth Element but this movie isn't all that it was hyped up to be... but then I have only watched the first 50 minutes...

JOATRASH FX · Dec 28, 2014

Edwardowan said:
glad to see I am not the only one. I love SciFi and off the wall stuff like Fifth Element but this movie isn't all that it was hyped up to be... but then I have only watched the first 50 minutes...

From your comments on what you've seen so far, you will probably not like the rest of it either. There are a couple major tongue-in-cheek moments towards the end that will most likely make you nauseous with contempt towards it.

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

joatrash said:
From your comments on what you've seen so far, you will probably not like the rest of it either. There are a couple major tongue-in-cheek moments towards the end that will most likely make you nauseous with contempt towards it.

LOL! Great... Well I'm good with silly humor but so far what's being done in this film is just making me roll my eyes. Not witty on a smart way to me. I do find Drax the Destroyer interesting... In fact I find him more amusing and worth knowing way more than the main characters. I just don't "care" about the rest or the plot. Not sure who I should root for here. I'd be fine if Drax gets his revenge then kills the rest of them and takes their ship!

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Bryancd · Dec 28, 2014

Edwardowan said:
well, with all the chatter and hype about this film I finally got to see it yesterday.. well, half of it... I'm a big SciFi fan and have seen everything and typically enjoy movies for what they are and just go for the ride... I really felt I missed out on something big and great when I didn't see this upon release... perhaps it was the timing of release and maybe seeing it in a theater with others that was part of the experience but so far I find this film to be just okay... so far I haven't laughed... at all...
the action is forced, the characters seem too aloof and carefree and invincible under the most impossible situations... its like watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon... too much tongue in cheek kind of feel to it... and unless there is something to Groot in the last half of the film that I haven't seen he is really lame. I don't see the appeal and popularity of that guy at all... a very unlikely character to be in the position he is in.. he seems so like a childlike innocent and genteel yet there he is .. a muscleman for a cocky raccoon. I do hope there is some backstory of their pairing that will be revealed in the rest of the film otherwise he doesn't fit in with the rest of the character in my opinion... the evil guys are typical mustache twirling baddies that reflect the emperor and darth vader a bit much. I did like the reveal of what was in the orb and its history...

Sorry guys and gals, I know I am in the extreme minority here but 30 minutes in my 14 year old left the room and ten minutes after that my wife lost interest... so sitting there by myself I decided to turn it off and watch the second half at a later date... when I'm bored and nothing better is on.

Its as if this film didn't really know what it was or that it was trying too hard to be the Heavy Metal/Last Starfighter/Fifth Element/Men in Black combo or whatever... maybe my tune will change once I see it in its entirety but its just not doing much for me right now... the visuals are cool (Im sure it was awesome in 3D)

now I run and duck for cover!

....you're dead to me.

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

Bryancd said:
....you're dead to me.

LOL! I'll give it another shot... Maybe I wasn't in the right mood or frame of mind... Or it was something I ate.

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CessnaDriver · Dec 28, 2014

Edwardowan said:
well, with all the chatter and hype about this film I finally got to see it yesterday.. well, half of it... I'm a big SciFi fan and have seen everything and typically enjoy movies for what they are and just go for the ride... I really felt I missed out on something big and great when I didn't see this upon release... perhaps it was the timing of release and maybe seeing it in a theater with others that was part of the experience but so far I find this film to be just okay... so far I haven't laughed... at all...
the action is forced, the characters seem too aloof and carefree and invincible under the most impossible situations... its like watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon... too much tongue in cheek kind of feel to it... and unless there is something to Groot in the last half of the film that I haven't seen he is really lame. I don't see the appeal and popularity of that guy at all... a very unlikely character to be in the position he is in.. he seems so like a childlike innocent and genteel yet there he is .. a muscleman for a cocky raccoon. I do hope there is some backstory of their pairing that will be revealed in the rest of the film otherwise he doesn't fit in with the rest of the character in my opinion... the evil guys are typical mustache twirling baddies that reflect the emperor and darth vader a bit much. I did like the reveal of what was in the orb and its history...

Sorry guys and gals, I know I am in the extreme minority here but 30 minutes in my 14 year old left the room and ten minutes after that my wife lost interest... so sitting there by myself I decided to turn it off and watch the second half at a later date... when I'm bored and nothing better is on.

Its as if this film didn't really know what it was or that it was trying too hard to be the Heavy Metal/Last Starfighter/Fifth Element/Men in Black combo or whatever... maybe my tune will change once I see it in its entirety but its just not doing much for me right now... the visuals are cool (Im sure it was awesome in 3D)

now I run and duck for cover!

I think you really needed to see it in theaters perhaps.
All these characters have been around decades in comics. So they have to squeeze a lot into a few hours and each character
only has so many minutes really for us to learn who they are. Read the comics!

Oh yeah.. Burn the witch!!!!!!

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

CessnaDriver said:
I think you really needed to see it in theaters perhaps.
All these characters have been around decades in comics. So they have to squeeze a lot into a few hours and each character
only has so many minutes really for us to learn who they are. Read the comics!

Oh yeah.. Burn the witch!!!!!!

I'm sure the theater experience made it much better. Bummed I didn't go see it there... Never knew about the comic or that it was a comic... I'm not a comic book guy.

I think I just let all the hype here raise my expectations and now that I am seeing it I'm scratching my head wondering why this was considered to be so awesome where I see it as just okay. But I need to watch the whole thing ... Rarely do I turn a movie off midway so for me that alone was not a good sign.

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Banner · Dec 28, 2014

Edwardowan said:
LOL! I'll give it another shot... Maybe I wasn't in the right mood or frame of mind... Or it was something I ate.

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Since this is an origin story of the forming of the team and not of all the players involved (The Guardians, Ronan, Nebula, Thanos, Yondu, etc.), GotG shoves a LOT of things down your throat at the beginning and hopes you'll accept them. I never read much of the Guardians in the comics, but I was aware somewhat of their back stories and those of their enemies.

I love the movie and have seen it probably 30+ times now, but I can agree that if you only saw the first half it's a pretty boring film. I actually watched it in the theater 20+ times, specifically because seeing it with other people who were enjoying it added to my enjoyment. For me, you really don't start to get a sense of the characters until they get to (and out of) the Kyln. There really is too much exposition in the first half of the movie and not enough "show me what the hell you're talking about!!!"

So I'd definitely watch it all from start to finish. You're really missing out on a lot of individual character development that's packed in the second half.

Edwardowan said:
I think I just let all the hype here raise my expectations and now that I am seeing it I'm scratching my head wondering why this was considered to be so awesome where I see it as just okay.

You're not alone in that feeling. We all get that. I'd almost rather go into a film with NO expectations than ones that are so high they'll never be met. Ruins a movie for me every time.

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

Ya I'm being unfair to the film and myself for judging it without having seen all of it so next weekend I'll kick back and watch the entire thing. Thanks for the insight Banner!

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Laspector · Dec 28, 2014

I guess if I was going to have a problem with this movie, it would be the introduction of (adult) Starlord. While I enjoy the song, doing a dance on the way to stealing something just seems stupid. Can someone please tell me exactly what was the point of that?

Vivek · Dec 28, 2014

It's a little long walk to the Orb. He is a guy who enjoys his music and likes to dance. He thinks he is lonely and starts dancing. There is no real point to that other then the fact that he is a free spirited guy.

We have seen people dancing on the streets while listening to music while they are on their way to some other place, in spite of crowds. The scene in the movie was actually more believable. I don't see what's so stupid about it. The fact he is about to steal something doesn't make a difference to him.

JD · Dec 28, 2014

I think part of the charm and a huge reason why GotG worked and sold tickets like it did is because it is fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I can understand how folks can not like much of it - with Peter being a cliche child of the 80's with a dance off and what could be considered a hokey, cop out ending (it all worked for me - three times in the theater, can't remember the last time I saw a movie multiple times like this).

I also think it works best in a theater setting, where it's much easier to suspend belief and get lost in the film. Sitting at home watching can be far too grounding.

I should revise my comment about Gunn getting the characters and situation. I guess the truth is that this movie isn't much like the comic versions - but, these also aren't iconic Superman/Batman level characters.

dascoyne · Dec 28, 2014

Laspector said:
I guess if I was going to have a problem with this movie, it would be the introduction of (adult) Starlord. While I enjoy the song, doing a dance on the way to stealing something just seems stupid. Can someone please tell me exactly what was the point of that?

I absolutely loved that part and I'll tell you why.
That scene really accomplishes several things.
The scene instantly establishes that Peter is grown up and living on his own in space. Exposition of this might have otherwise been done with a painful montage over credits or in protracted exposition. Instead the device of the Walkman makes it much more efficient and effective. It also establishes that his maturity is arrested from the time of his abduction and that he's essentially still a kid but living the dream of having adventures in space. That immediately engaged the teen in me.
It also introduces the tone for the rest of the film after anchoring the story with such a heavy beginning. The score has been orchestral up until the instant he puts on the headphones and that title shot of "Guardians of the Galaxy" with his tiny figure underneath is a joyous release. (Reminds me of the beginning of "Kiki's Delivery Service" when she leaves home and turns on the radio as she flies off on her broom to a Japanese pop tune... but I digress).
And it's fun to watch.

dascoyne · Dec 28, 2014

JD said:
I think part of the charm and a huge reason why GotG worked and sold tickets like it did is because it is fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I can understand how folks can not like much of it - with Peter being a cliche child of the 80's with a dance off and what could be considered a hokey, cop out ending (it all worked for me - three times in the theater, can't remember the last time I saw a movie multiple times like this).

I also think it works best in a theater setting, where it's much easier to suspend belief and get lost in the film. Sitting at home watching can be far too grounding.

I should revise my comment about Gunn getting the characters and situation. I guess the truth is that this movie isn't much like the comic versions - but, these also aren't iconic Superman/Batman level characters.

The remarkable thing is that so much of the movie SHOULDN'T work for me but did.
The dance off is one example. Maybe it's the execution or the fact that I liked the characters that made the scene. I loved it.
Maybe it's my investment in the characters that make most of this movie work.
The hand-holding sequence where Peter is grabbing the stone is the other example. That scene should have annoyed me but it somehow worked. Another example of something that should have bothered me.
Some day I'll dissect out the way James Gunn made this all click. But in the meanwhile I'll just enjoy this film over and over again for what it is.

joshvanrad · Dec 28, 2014

If I wasn't on my phone I'd make a meme of the Southpark ski instructor saying "If you take this movie too seriously you're gunna have a bad time."

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

joshvanrad said:
If I wasn't on my phone I'd make a meme of the Southpark ski instructor saying "If you take this movie too seriously you're gunna have a bad time."

I wasn't taking this movie seriously. I went in knowing it is supposed to be a fun lighthearted action comedy of sorts. problem was... I didn't laugh!
I found it a bit annoying and rather dull. its not witty, its not even the least bit clever and I just don't care about the characters... save Drax the Destroyer.. he was the only one that made any sense and I loved that he didn't get expressions and metaphors... the action and plot is just not exciting to me. the content of the orb was cool... but I only watched the first 45 minutes or so before i turned it off so maybe it gets better...

joshvanrad · Dec 28, 2014

I guess I just have a different opinion then. I was into it from start to finish and I thought it was quite funny.

Edwardowan · Dec 28, 2014

joshvanrad said:
I guess I just have a different opinion then. I was into it from start to finish and I thought it was quite funny.

well, your opinion is in the mass majority that fully enjoyed it.. it rates high... and I value your opinion and input because I want to like it... very much so and I am trying to figure out why I don't... it might grow on me and I'll appreciate it eventually but bummed that I have to go through that process after all the hype and positive reviews.. I wanted to be blown away and thrilled and I found myself not interested and only mildly amused by it. again I turned it off after 45/50 minutes so I can't really judge it... it should've captivated me but it didn't and that I am disappointed in.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Post-release)

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