Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Icyseanfitz

I AM GROOT
well i have a new favorite marvel character, loved him, i had a sneaky suspicion that he wasnt just a stupid tree and after a bit of character research it turns out he is in fact a genius, really want to see more of him

TheFullDuck

I enjoyed that immensely

Warper

Thought vin diesel gave an excellent performance as Groot

Mitch Connor

Warper wrote: »

Thought vin diesel gave an excellent performance as Groot

Right up there with the iron giant.

Lucas Hood

Loved this. Tempted to go see it again.

Frank Lee Midere

I too thought it was weak. Funny in parts which didn't make up for a mess.

e_e

Am I really the only one who found Peter to be a dull and flat protagonist? All we get for him is a heavy-handed plot device to force the audience's sympathy and... that's about it. His character development amounts to "Feel sorry for him! Now laugh at him acting quirky for the rest of the film!" and Zoe Saldana is similarly underdeveloped.

When the most charismatic, layered and interesting character in your movie is a talking raccoon you know you're in trouble.

FortuneChip

e_e wrote: »

Am I really the only one who found Peter to be a dull and flat protagonist? All we get for him is a heavy-handed plot device to force the audience's sympathy and... that's about it. His character development amounts to "Feel sorry for him! Now laugh at him acting quirky for the rest of the film!" and Zoe Saldana is similarly underdeveloped.

When the most charismatic, layered and interesting character in your movie is a talking raccoon you know you're in trouble.

I find Zoe Saldana to be underwhelming in a lot of movies. She's very attractive, and she's very athletic so she fits the bill for a lot of action roles, but I don't think any of her roles have been all that impressive.

On Rocket, I don't think making one of the main characters charismatic & interesting is an indicator that your movie is in trouble. Fair enough if he was only in it for a few minutes, but he's pretty much the co-lead, and promoted as such.

Mickeroo

e_e wrote: »

Am I really the only one who found Peter to be a dull and flat protagonist? All we get for him is a heavy-handed plot device to force the audience's sympathy and... that's about it. His character development amounts to "Feel sorry for him! Now laugh at him acting quirky for the rest of the film!" and Zoe Saldana is similarly underdeveloped.

When the most charismatic, layered and interesting character in your movie is a talking raccoon you know you're in trouble.

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.

I found Quill to be a likable character and a hero I could root for much like Jon McLane or Indiana Jones (and Quill was arguably more well drawn a character than either of those). The fact the Pratt is such a brilliant comedy actor helped immensely with this. I didn't find the character flat or dull in the slightest. I didn't find the stuff with the mother particularly heavy handed either, it gave him enough of a back story to make him sympathetic and understand why he is the way he is. Little touches like the walkman only served to add to this and I found the moment in the climax

where he sees his mother and afterwards when he reads the letter

to be quite touching.

The level of characterisation in the film was well above average for a summer blockbuster in my opinion (though not in the case of the villains to be fairand Saldana was short changed too but wasn't a complete write off imo).

I think due to the tone of the film and what they went for it surpassed itself, this film is a Saturday morning cartoon for the most part but I actually think that's a good thing in this case.

PhiloCypher

e_e wrote: »

Am I really the only one who found Peter to be a dull and flat protagonist? All we get for him is a heavy-handed plot device to force the audience's sympathy and... that's about it. His character development amounts to "Feel sorry for him! Now laugh at him acting quirky for the rest of the film!" and Zoe Saldana is similarly underdeveloped.

When the most charismatic, layered and interesting character in your movie is a talking raccoon you know you're in trouble.

I think some are looking for malick in all the wrong places . It's a fun galactic romp, that it managed to make all 5 characters memorable without 5 films of set up like Avengers had is impressive without expecting them to have have more layers then an onion in a 2hour movie.

Maybe with no introductions necessary in Galaxy 2 they will have time to peel back those layers but not in the first film which has 5 character and a Mcguffin to introduce.

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.