Guardians of the Galaxy

[riddler]

Is the no jokes rule a Nolan thing though? The Green Lantern film for all it's faults did have its fair share of humour.


In the comics I don't choose a side in the DC vs Marvel debate, Neither are far better than the other but in the films DC is getting destroyed. You'd think DC would clue in that rather than ground everything to make it ultra realistic they'd embrace their characters roots like Marvel is doing but it's very obvious their main concern is attracting non-comic fans vs pleasing the fans they already have.

[Silver Nemesis]

I doubt the 'no jokes' rule is real. Particularly if the rumours about a Shazam movie are true. Superheroes are often described as being adolescent male power fantasies, and Captain Marvel exemplifies that notion more than any other hero. He's literally a kid who gets to say a magic word and transform into a superhero. It's every little boy's dream. A dark, humourless and cynical film isn't the right direction to go in with that character. A little humour and levity is essential.

[Edd Grayson]

I've just seen this one and... I really liked it. I came in wanting to see a fun comic book film and I got it.

The characters or the plot were nothing revolutionary, but they were handled well. Star Lord was likable and the first scene was really touching, the rest of the characters were good too, especially Rocket and Groot. Peter's fascination with the greatest pop songs was very funny and executed well for the comedy.

My only complaint would be the villain, Ronan. His character type has been done a million times on film, there's nothing memorable about him. He was passable as the "big bad" but that's it.

The story does become predictable after a while but that's not really a bad thing. Maybe I won't be able to watch the film again for too many times because it will feel bland, but that's not as important as enoying the film firsthand to me.

I was expecting Drax to die instead of Groot, I would've liked it better that way.

I'm guessing Peter Quill's alien father will be an important part of the sequel.

[Silver Nemesis]

My only complaint would be the villain, Ronan. His character type has been done a million times on film, there's nothing memorable about him. He was passable as the "big bad" but that's it.

IGN echoed this sentiment in an article this week: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/09/12/between-the-panels-why-superhero-movies-need-better-villains

I fully agree with this. Much as I enjoy the MCU films, they do need stronger villains. I think they should take a leaf from the Star Wars films and actually show the villains interacting with each other and pursuing their own subplots within the overarching narrative. And those subplots should be more than just the villains wanting to annihilate everything. They took a step in this direction in GotG with the scenes between Ronan and Thanos, but we need more of that sort of thing in future movies.

So far Loki is the only really memorable MCU antagonist to have made an impression. I'm not counting the Winter Soldier, since he's more of a gray character than a full-on bad guy. Hopefully D'Onofrio's Kingpin and Brolin's Thanos will set an improved standard for MCU villains.

[riddler]

I agree about the villains. Even Red Skull could have been better in captain america. I do find Tim Roths Abomination criminally underrated though.

DC does have much better villains than Marvel. Spidey is the only one with a solid rogue gallery and since his rights are separate from the avengers, it does hamper these films. That's why I didn't like them neutering the Mandarin. But on the flip side what Marvel is doing right where DC is failing is keeping the focus on the characters from the comics rather than create new ones nobody cares for.

[johnnygobbs]

I've just seen this one and... I really liked it. I came in wanting to see a fun comic book film and I got it.

The characters or the plot were nothing revolutionary, but they were handled well. Star Lord was likable and the first scene was really touching, the rest of the characters were good too, especially Rocket and Groot. Peter's fascination with the greatest pop songs was very funny and executed well for the comedy.

My only complaint would be the villain, Ronan. His character type has been done a million times on film, there's nothing memorable about him. He was passable as the "big bad" but that's it.

The story does become predictable after a while but that's not really a bad thing. Maybe I won't be able to watch the film again for too many times because it will feel bland, but that's not as important as enoying the film firsthand to me.

I was expecting Drax to die instead of Groot, I would've liked it better that way.

I'm guessing Peter Quill's alien father will be an important part of the sequel.

I'm glad you enjoyed the film Edd.  I look forward to more fun colourful comic-book movies like this in the future, as well as darker ones when the time calls for them.  I hope 'Ant-Man' carries across some o that funny, goofy tone, although Marvel also need to continue balancing things out with more serious comic-book movies like 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'.

I really love the soundtrack, especially the song that plays during the opening credits, "Come and Get Your Love".  Peter Quill stomping around in the cave to that song really gets you in the upbeat mood.

I don't entirely agree with you about Ronan though.  I do think the film is establishing even more serious threats for the future, such as Thanos, and I can see Nebula returning for a future instalment as her 'death' wasn't very clear.  However, I enjoyed Ronan, and I particularly liked his confounded reaction to when Quill starts singing "O-o-o Child" just as Ronan is about to kill everyone.  I also enjoyed his petulant attitude towards Thanos, although like I said, I suspect and hope future villains will be better fleshed-out.

I also can see this fun film being one of the ones I return to often in the future, but only time will tell.

Plus, I disagree with you about Drax.  He was probably my favourite character, as excellent as the rest of the team were.  I knew going in that Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper as 'Rocket' and even 'Groot' would deliver, but Bautista as 'Drax' was the unknown quantity and the pleasant surprise.  He was also the heart of the team, along with 'Groot', and had the funniest lines: "Nothing goes over my head.  I would catch it." 

[riddler]

I've just seen this one and... I really liked it. I came in wanting to see a fun comic book film and I got it.

The characters or the plot were nothing revolutionary, but they were handled well. Star Lord was likable and the first scene was really touching, the rest of the characters were good too, especially Rocket and Groot. Peter's fascination with the greatest pop songs was very funny and executed well for the comedy.

My only complaint would be the villain, Ronan. His character type has been done a million times on film, there's nothing memorable about him. He was passable as the "big bad" but that's it.

The story does become predictable after a while but that's not really a bad thing. Maybe I won't be able to watch the film again for too many times because it will feel bland, but that's not as important as enoying the film firsthand to me.

I was expecting Drax to die instead of Groot, I would've liked it better that way.

I'm guessing Peter Quill's alien father will be an important part of the sequel.

I'm glad you enjoyed the film Edd.  I look forward to more fun colourful comic-book movies like this in the future, as well as darker ones when the time calls for them.  I hope 'Ant-Man' carries across some o that funny, goofy tone, although Marvel also need to continue balancing things out with more serious comic-book movies like 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'.

I really love the soundtrack, especially the song that plays during the opening credits, "Come and Get Your Love".  Peter Quill stomping around in the cave to that song really gets you in the upbeat mood.

I don't entirely agree with you about Ronan though.  I do think the film is establishing even more serious threats for the future, such as Thanos, and I can see Nebula returning for a future instalment as her 'death' wasn't very clear.  However, I enjoyed Ronan, and I particularly liked his confounded reaction to when Quill starts singing "O-o-o Child" just as Ronan is about to kill everyone.  I also enjoyed his petulant attitude towards Thanos, although like I said, I suspect and hope future villains will be better fleshed-out.

I also can see this fun film being one of the ones I return to often in the future, but only time will tell.

Plus, I disagree with you about Drax.  He was probably my favourite character, as excellent as the rest of the team were.  I knew going in that Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper as 'Rocket' and even 'Groot' would deliver, but Bautista as 'Drax' was the unknown quantity and the pleasant surprise.  He was also the heart of the team, along with 'Groot', and had the funniest lines: "Nothing goes over my head.  I would catch it." 

Cap has never been a serious character but I think they will keep his character that way; for one thing it plays well having him contrast Stark but also they want Chris Evans to act differently from his Johnny Storm character.

Ant man should be interesting; Paul Rudd is mostly comedic but he's done dramatic roles too, never action though.

[Edd Grayson]

I don't hate Drax but he's not my favorite. Drax called Ronan and put everyone in danger. Also, at the end he wasn't even satisfied that Ronan was dead and wanted to kill Thanos. What for? Didn't Ronan kill his family? Also, isn't Thanos a god? 

It's not that Ronan wasn't a serious threat, but this type of villain has been done on film for too many times. I've read that in the comics he valued honor, why couldn't they make him like that in the movie?