Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Frank Lee Midere

It was still a mess. Some lad is stolen from earth - and thats the last we hear about that. We fast forward and he is a grown up space travelling petty criminal. He steals an orb. It can destroy the galaxy. He is chased by baddies but wins.

On another planet where he is fencing the orb - to whom? - he is chased by a bounty hunting tree and a rodent. There is also a blue woman who appears to be the daughter of the Very Bad Guy - who is not the Very Very Bad Guy. By the end , as far as I could eventually work out, she isn't that bad and may not be the daughter. This back story was fairly unfleshed out.

Anyway, she tries to kill him to get the orb, the rodent and the tree try and stop her to get the bounty for the human. They are arrested and sent to jail without trial. ( Even the human who was really just accosted in all of this as far as the law should be concerned) The arresting officers and this planet wide police force don't notice the universe destroying orb, and are sh1t useless against the very Bad Guy and the Very Very Bad Guy. And not so good at due process.

Anyway, lack of due process aside, the blue woman is in danger in prison because she is the daughter of the Very Bad Guy, but nobody knows she isn't. Or is she. Anyway one beefy chap wants to kill her - at this stage everybody of our soon to be motly crew has tried to kill somebody else in it- but the hero sorta stops that. Now they are kinda buddies and they all try to escape, and do, mostly. Although very bad guy turns up. I got a bit lost here but I think the Tree chap saved - in the first of many deus ex machinas - the beefy guy who was "their friend". I didn't really see that blossom (pun!). After that they were all best buddies.

Anyway thats the formation of our motley crew, probably the most ridiculous foundation in comic book history and that's probably saying a lot. Then the movie got less confusing as there was basically a chase for an orb, but other ex machinas ruined the plot, particularly the end.


My eight year old nephew liked it. It was funny in parts.

e_e

PhiloCypher wrote: »

I think some are looking for malick in all the wrong places.

I wanted a fun, exciting and interesting romp. It didn't deliver on any of that for me. In fact I felt like I was constantly being denied fun by getting bogged down with some of the more po-faced characters. The villain stuff was so ponderous that I honestly started to tune out and the last act in particular is just lacking in any sense of scale or invention. That and everything just feels so arbitrary that it's hard to give a damn about anything that's happening.

... and what's with the constant straw man of "Stop looking for high art!" whenever anyone dislikes a blockbuster? I don't think anybody out there is watching Guardians in such a way.

Mickeroo wrote: »

I'd be more of the opinion that if you can make a talking racoon into a charismatic, layered and interesting character then you know you're doing something right.

Tbh it's more indicative of everything that is wrong elsewhere to me.

We'll have to agree to disagree about Pratt though, he didn't sell me on the character at all and I think it might be down to the level of detached irony of the whole film. It makes it all the harder for me to stomach when it tries to be so earnest.

timetogo

I didn't find the film confusing at all. I like super hero movies but have no clue about the comics so had no baggage going into the cinema.

I saw the trailers and thought they were funny. I saw the movie and thought it was great.

I normally come out of a movie having trouble remembering character names. The fact that I can remember all of the main character names and several of the minor character names is unusual for me. I liked all of the guardians. As a bloke I liked Gomorrah but I think she was the weakest character. If a tree with little more dialogue than "I am Groot" can be a major and likeable character, to me means the filmmakers are doing something great. Drax started off wooden I thought but once you got to know his quirks he was quite funny. I thought Peter was great. I've never seen Pratt in anything else except The Lego Movie. He was brilliant though. From the quirky start where he's singing into the vermin he had some more dimensions in the prison, his loser speech and his heroic act that

he totally ruins by saying he was heroic.

I can see in this thread that not everybody likes it. That's normal. No film is going to get 100% acceptance.

Of the movies I've seen this summer this has been the best for me. It's been a good year. Of the hero movies this year I didn't like Spiderman 2 at all and I thought Captain America 2 was worth the money but not amazing.

PhiloCypher

Frank Lee Midere wrote: »

It was still a mess. Some lad is stolen from earth - and thats the last we hear about that. He is then grown up. He steals an orb. It can destroy the galaxy. He is chased but wins. On another planet where he is fencing the orb - to whom? - he is chased by a bounty hunting tree and a rodent. There is also a blue woman who appears to be the daughter of the Very Bad Guy - who is not the Very Very Bad Guy. By the end , as far as I could eventually work out she isn't that bad and may not be the daughter. This back story was fairly unfleshed out.

Anyway, she tries to kill him to get the orb, the rodent and the tree try and stop her to get the bounty for the human. They are arrested and sent to jail without trial. ( Even the human who was really just accosted in all of this as far as the law should be concerned) The arresting officers don't notice the universe destroying orb, and are sh1t useless against the very Bad Guy and the Very Very Bad Guy. And not so good at due process.

Anyway, lack of due process aside, the blue woman is in danger in prison because she is the daughter of the Very Bad Guy, but nobody knows she's isn't. Or is she. Anyway one beefy chap wants to kill her - at this stage everybody of our soon to be motly crew has tried to kill somebody else in it- but the hero sorta stops that. Now they are kinda buddies and they all try to escape, and do, mostly. Although very bad guy turns up. I got a bit lost here but I think the Tree chap saved - in the first of many deus ex machinas - the beefy guy who was "their friend". I didn't really see that blossom (pun!). After that they were all best buddies.

Anyway thats the formation of our motley crew, probably the most ridiculous foundation in comic book history and that's probably saying a lot. Then the movie got less confusing as there was basically a chase for an orb, but other ex machinas ruined the plot, particularly the end.


My eight year old nephew liked it. It was funny in parts.

You could describe any number of films in matter of fact terms like that and make them sound like an episode of the teletubbies.

e_e wrote: »

... and what's with the constant straw man of "Stop looking for high art!" whenever anyone dislikes a blockbuster? I don't think anybody out there is watching Guardians in such a way.

Maybe not consciously but we all have in built biases formed over years of watching movies that inform our opinion. Being a Comic nerd (albeit one who never read Guardians) predisposes me to liking this for instance. Anyways majority rules, more think my opinion then yours so there Game over, case closed :P

e_e

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Maybe not consciously but we all have in built biases formed over years of watching movies that inform our opinion.

Yes, which is why I think this is merely an okay blockbuster and the likes of How to Train Your Dragon and Edge of Tomorrow are damn near excellent ones. My opinion in this case was formed by seeing similar movies that worked on so many more levels.

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Anyways majority rules, more think my opinion then yours so there Game over, case closed :P

Film discussion isn't a game of top trumps. Also you could make the same case for Transformers, just saying.

cloud493

Well I preferred this to both edge of tomorrow and train your dragon, although I did really like both of them as well. But opinions are just that.

dreamers75

FunLover18

dreamers75 wrote: »

Got it on itunes, have listened to it twice already

candy-gal1

Fecking amazing movie, really really surprised me, not what what I expected at all tbh

and the tunes, brilliant!

Tipsy McSwagger

Watched it last week and thought it was ok. It never really grabbed me and the plot was too confusing. 3/5*

ForstalDave

I really enjoyed this myself right level of humor for what it was happily go see it again

PhiloCypher

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Watched it last week and thought it was ok. It never really grabbed me and the plot was too confusing. 3/5*

You found it confusing others found it child like in its simplicity. Just goes to show how varied opinions can be I guess.

pixelburp

e_e wrote: »

Yes, which is why I think this is merely an okay blockbuster and the likes of How to Train Your Dragon and Edge of Tomorrow are damn near excellent ones. My opinion in this case was formed by seeing similar movies that worked on so many more levels.

I think Edge of Tomorrow was probably the summer's best blockbuster, and a real tonic to the idea that the genre can't have some brains between its ears, but in terms of sheer force of personality, Guardians... is hard to ignore. A different beast really. Yes, it had flaws (though I did argue the ubiquitous, explosion-filled third act was in somewhat in keeping with the setting), but what sold the film for me was the off-kilter banter & characters that inhabited the otherwise forgettable setting.

People have compared GotG to Firefly in terms of register and they're not completely off-base: there's an anarchic, anti-hero vibe that enriches its characters against what are both fairly generic, uninteresting universes. For a 'first try' I think it was a success, and look forward to a sequel that might polish off the character dynamics, zingers and general tone. Put it another way: the idea of a Captain America 3 sounds tiresome. The idea of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 sounds great.

brianregan09

I'd disagree wholey with you there Winter Soldier was a fantastic movie and I can't wait to see what to do next with that story, As for GOTG its excellent actually going to see it again this evening

ancapailldorcha

brianregan09 wrote: »

I'd disagree wholey with you there Winter Soldier was a fantastic movie and I can't wait to see what to do next with that story, As for GOTG its excellent actually going to see it again this evening

I'd stop a long way short of calling Cap 2 fantastic. They basically drop words like espionage a few times before getting along with meeting the explosion quota. Some of the dialogue is painful to listen to as well. It's a good Marvel film but it's only average in the grand scheme of things in my opinion.

Guardians is standing on a line and I'm really hoping that it doesn't go the same way now that it's been well received by fans and critics alike. It's fairly generic but it has a charm that Marvel films have been lacking for a while now.

Tipsy McSwagger

PhiloCypher wrote: »

You found it confusing others found it child like in its simplicity. Just goes to show how varied opinions can be I guess.

I understood the basic premise. Good guy finds orb, bad guys want orb, bad guys want good guy, good guy wants to sell orb to pay off bad guys. There was just a lot of backstory and names that made it confusing to me. I kept wishing that I had read the comic or not gone in totally blind.

PhiloCypher

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I understood the basic premise. Good guy finds orb, bad guys want orb, bad guys want good guy, good guy wants to sell orb to pay off bad guys. There was just a lot of backstory and names that made it confusing to me. I kept wishing that I had read the comic or not gone in totally blind.

Now I am a comic nerd which probably makes me a bit more credulous when it comes to these things, but I knew feck all about Guardians or the history between the various races going in and I didn't feel it effected my enjoyment one bit. Its no more confusing then Star Wars would have been if they hadn't done that iconic Opening crawl really .

brianregan09

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I'd stop a long way short of calling Cap 2 fantastic. They basically drop words like espionage a few times before getting along with meeting the explosion quota. Some of the dialogue is painful to listen to as well. It's a good Marvel film but it's only average in the grand scheme of things in my opinion.

Guardians is standing on a line and I'm really hoping that it doesn't go the same way now that it's been well received by fans and critics alike. It's fairly generic but it has a charm that Marvel films have been lacking for a while now.

I'm sorry you lost me when you said guardians a movie with a talking racoon and a giant tree in it generic

e_e

brianregan09 wrote: »

I'm sorry you lost me when you said guardians a movie with a talking racoon and a giant tree in it generic

It is fairly generic though, it's the same narrative we've seen so many times and there's not really any film making flair to make it stand apart from all the other Marvel stuff. Starts off interesting and unique enough but as it proceeds it feels more and more like a film made by committee.

All the talking raccoon stuff is surface quirk really and doesn't disguise that this is just another Marvel movie at its core.

ancapailldorcha

e_e wrote: »

It is fairly generic though, it's the same narrative we've seen so many times and there's not really any film making flair to make it stand apart from all the other Marvel stuff. Starts off interesting and unique enough but as it proceeds it feels more and more like a film made by committee.

All the talking raccoon stuff is surface quirk really and doesn't disguise that this is just another Marvel movie at its core.

Pretty much exactly what I wanted to say. Rocket and company being quirky does little to differentiate the film from the usual formulaic Marvel offerings.

Deano7788

Going back to the talk about Star Lord's father, Gunn has confirmed it's not the same character as in the comics.

SouthTippBass

Deano7788 wrote: »

Going back to the talk about Star Lord's father, Gunn has confirmed it's not the same character as in the comics.

Ok, good to know, Adam Warlock is the most likely candidate now I would say.

SouthTippBass

SouthTippBass wrote: »

Ok, good to know, Adam Warlock is the most likely candidate now I would say.

It had to be, if you watch the post credits scene in Thor 2 you can see what has to be Warlock's cocoon in the collector's collection. And in the post credits scene in Guardians you can see it broken open in the background.

SouthTippBass

Deleted User wrote: »

It had to be, if you watch the post credits scene in Thor 2 you can see what has to be Warlock's cocoon in the collector's collection. And in the post credits scene in Guardians you can see it broken open in the background.

Did you ever think you would see the day when a character like Adam Warlock would make it to the big screen? What a time to be alive

Nerdlingr

Went to see this last night, have to say overall I was diappointed. Hadnt read any reviews so was going in with a unbiased viewpoint. Just found the whole thing a little bit, i dunno...boring? I think the music in it was definitely over-used. It seems like everytime there was a fight or a getwaway scene 'sweet home alabama' or whatever kicked in. It got tiresome towards the end. I was cringing at some points. Its a great blockbuster for the kids but out of the two summer blockbusters I preferred the lego movie.

SouthTippBass

SouthTippBass wrote: »

Did you ever think you would see the day when a character like Adam Warlock would make it to the big screen? What a time to be alive

And the second one of them flops watch as Marvel pull back and go even safer from there on out. At this stage, if Marvel thought that there was some money in a film about a janitor on the Shield helicarrier they'd be working on getting it onscreen asap.

PhiloCypher

Deleted User wrote: »

And the second one of them flops watch as Marvel pull back and go even safer from there on out. At this stage, if Marvel thought that there was some money in a film about a janitor on the Shield helicarrier they'd be working on getting it onscreen asap.

Janitor you say ??

FunLover18

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Janitor you say ??

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Went to see this last night, have to say overall I was diappointed. Hadnt read any reviews so was going in with a unbiased viewpoint. Just found the whole thing a little bit, i dunno...boring? I think the music in it was definitely over-used. It seems like everytime there was a fight or a getwaway scene 'sweet home alabama' or whatever kicked in. It got tiresome towards the end. I was cringing at some points. Its a great blockbuster for the kids but out of the two summer blockbusters I preferred the lego movie.

The Lego movie came out in February?

Nerdlingr

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

The Lego movie came out in February?

I only saw it in the summer though! :P

SouthTippBass

Deleted User wrote: »

And the second one of them flops watch as Marvel pull back and go even safer from there on out. At this stage, if Marvel thought that there was some money in a film about a janitor on the Shield helicarrier they'd be working on getting it onscreen asap.

Well, those two points are just good business sense aren't they? And they are a business first and foremost, lest we forget.

Augmerson

Soundtrack was daecent.

colmufc

went to see ot for the 2nd time last night girlfriend wanted me out of the way while she had work to do so I took a mate that had not seen it , I saw so much second time around its a great movie , defo top 3 so far in the marvel universe ,my mate enjoyed it but thought there was too much hype but said it developed the story of thanos quite well .
Anyway I gotta go see it again tomorrow as I promised my niece and newphew to take them before school started on Wednesday and I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing it again for the 3rd time in (3 different cinemas so I get to clear define which is the best in my area ) the soundtrack is awesome and is used to great effect people thinking there is too much font seem to get that the music is quills only connection to earth and his mother .
awesome news out of the states it's back at number 1 in the box office ,sin city 2 seemed to die an opening weekend death anyway all in all a great movie bring on avengers 2 and any man next

Nervous Wreck

colmufc wrote: »

I saw so much second time around

Took until my 3rd viewing to notice that when they're arrested and being introduced one by one, Quill's alias is listed on screen as "Space Lord". Chuckle.

colmufc

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Took until my 3rd viewing to notice that when they're arrested and being introduced one by one, Quill's alias is listed on screen as "Space Lord". Chuckle.

ya I was looking at all that last night some funny stuff hidden away from the 1st time view

constitutionus

have to say. i loved it but didnt see this coming.

http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3896&p=.htm

cloud493

Thats not surprising. It was gonna be GOTG or transformers.

krudler

constitutionus wrote: »

have to say. i loved it but didnt see this coming.

http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3896&p=.htm

edit: that gif is spoilerish my bad so wont embed it: http://i.imgur.com/4GHJz1C.gif

maximoose

Wow, Sin City 2 tanked!

Naid23

Love love loved guardians of the galaxy! Was not expecting to like it as much as i did! Good storyline and enjoyable movie. Chris pratt is my new favourite superhero.. Until the next man of steel movie next year!

Frank Bullitt

Saw this last week and loved it, some great comedy in it and the visuals were fantastic.

Nervous Wreck

Naid23 wrote: »

Love love loved guardians of the galaxy! Was not expecting to like it as much as i did! Good storyline and enjoyable movie. Chris pratt is my new favourite superhero.. Until the next man of steel movie next year!

Year after next.

ancapailldorcha

Naid23 wrote: »

Love love loved guardians of the galaxy! Was not expecting to like it as much as i did! Good storyline and enjoyable movie. Chris pratt is my new favourite superhero.. Until the next man of steel movie next year!

I don't see the mess that will be Man of Steel 2 coming anywhere close to being as good as GotG.

Penn

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I don't see the mess that will be Man of Steel 2 coming anywhere close to being as good as GotG.

Good article by Cracked.com about why DC likely won't reach the heights Marvel has

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/4-signs-dc-comics-has-no-clue-how-to-make-superhero-movies/

Brief_Lives

Sitting in the heat, drinking a beer, outside a ginormous cinema in Madrid, about to go in to see this movie..

I've avoided most commentaries, but I know much about the comics.. See ye on the other side. .

Brief_Lives

Brief_Lives wrote: »

Sitting in the heat, drinking a beer, outside a ginormous cinema in Madrid, about to go in to see this movie..

I've avoided most commentaries, but I know much about the comics.. See ye on the other side. .

What a sensory extravaganza... lots of stuff happening.... loads of sneaky easter eggs to tease you in the corner of the screen... colours, sounds... and ultimately very funny and a lot of fun... more than I thought it would be..

A real feel good movie... Like watching Indiana Jones, you had a sense all along that the hero would be smiling at the end... and he´s a likeable lad...

looking forward to the blu-ray to examine loads that I missed...

Cantona's Collars

Eventually got to see this,my movie of the Summer.It genuinely leaves you in a good mood.It's paced perfectly & at no point is there a dip or any padding to fill out the run time.

candy-gal1

Have seen it 4 times so far, I adore it!!

And the soundtrack, still loving it, best Ive heard in a movie so far, has to be the most original and fun way of doing a superhero type movie (or any really) and still have it serious in parts, and a tad sad, love it!!

Shred

I should finally be getting to see this tonight, I believe it's worth seeing in 3D?

ancapailldorcha

Shred wrote: »

I should finally be getting to see this tonight, I believe it's worth seeing in 3D?

I'd go for 2D if possible. 3D adds nothing except darkness.