Guardians of the Galaxy [Aug 2014]

[SurfD]

I don't want to tell you to turn your brain off, because I hate when people use that as an excuse for shitty movies. Some of your points do seem a bit nitpicky though to the point where I'm almost surprised you weren't upset at the fact that Peter can somehow get batteries for his Walkman.

Or the fact that he hasnt died from any one of god knows how many Intergalactic STDs.
Or the fact that several HIGHLY wanted individuals can some how manage to stroll around in broad daylight on the Main Planet of the Nova Empire without being arrested within seconds.  I mean, Gamora lounging around the market square like that would be the literal equivelent of Osama Binladen deciding to take a leasurely stroll around washington....

[Ironwood]

If you're going to dissect it like THAT, Maven, you'd be as well as having not gone, so I get your annoyance.

Sharing it like that however, is really, really just sharing the sour grapes.  That read like some Media Studies Students first term paper.

I give it an F.

[Teleku]

Psycho.

This is basically someone just trying to really nitpick and hate the movie.

Ok, how about this: I overall didn't enjoy the movie. I don't hate it. I enjoyed parts of it, certain macro concepts, but overall the majority of it was anti-intellectual fantastical bullshit dominated by the rule of cool, and I can't get into it.  When the movie tried to make me feel, it felt manipulative and not organic.

Is that less psychotic? I deconstruct shit. That's what I do, and that pissed me off to read, especially coming from you Abagadro. I have a high opinion of you.

I mean, what the hell? Are you two bratty girls gossiping in the locker room expecting I wasn't going to read that?

Psycho.  

But yeah, that first paragraph would have been a better post.  It's fine you didn't like it (very wrong, but there always needs to be one in every thread, so its fine  ).  That massive list of things you 'deconstructed' it down to though....... you must hate almost every movie ever made.  More specifically, you must absolutly LOATHE all marvel movies (and all of Star Wars for that matter), because they all can be nitpicked that way to a far worst level than this movie.  And now you're sperging out at people disagreeing with you like its some great affront.

Anyways, I had a few issues with it certainly (biggest one that raised my eye brows was how much time people seemed to survive out in space without full body suits), but its pulpy adventure sci-fi with witty dialog done very well, so you just run with things like that (just like we gloss over the fact that Star Wars pretty much ignores every single law of physics).

[kaid]

There isn't backstory to speak of. Nebula shows up at some point and claims to be Thanos' biological granddaughter, and when he meets her in the comics, he's like "Oh, who are you? Whatever." Then he torments her, seemingly for her presumptuousness in claiming what she claimed.

In recent years, they've retrofitted the whole thing to claim that Thanos' first bad-guy thing was having sex with a bunch of alien ladies and then hunting down and personally killing all the subsequent offspring in order to impress the spirit of Death.

This is the film's one weakness--Thanos is supposed to be the Big Fucking Bad that everybody's scared of, but folks are generally like, "Ronan is the guy we're worried about, because he's the local nutcase with the religious thing going on". It's not at all clear why people are actually supposed to be scared of Thanos besides his general Darth Sidious mannerisms and Gamora and Nebula both saying, "Dude did bad shit to us". Rocket and Drax can get away with vague, unseen references to past trauma, because it's pretty clearly enacted in the action and seen on Rocket's body, but Gamora and Nebula not so much. Even five minutes of "This is what Thanos did to us" or "Here's a video of Thanos killing everyone over here" etc. would have helped.

This is very minor bitching though. It is a great flick. Maybe my favorite Marvel film in multiple ways. And anyone who says "Oh, Marvel has a rigid house style, there's no range or genre variation in Marvel movies" can just suck it after this one. This is a very distinctively directed and imagined movie.

Well thanos is the big bad guy but ronan is the near term attempting to comit genocide on entire planets in the next few weeks level threat. One must prioritize and the ronan threat was more immediate than the larger overall threat thanos presents.

[Maven]

I did go overboard once I had the ball rolling, but I absolutely despise being called crazy or psychotic or treated like I'm not here. I'm somehow able to sit back and enjoy all the other Marvel movies, but this one kept punching my brain. I think it had to do with how far removed it was from an Earth-setting. Every story stretches the plausible to make for a better story.

Nits aside, I don't know why my view is being labeled 'wrong'. Nits, OK. But I don't think all the positive views are 'right', and there are a lot, I recognize that. You all like the film. Great. So did a lot of other people.

And now you're sperging out at people disagreeing with you like its some great affront.

There wasn't disagreement with what I stated -- there were two insults directed at me. Ad hominen. That's what set me off. I could tell you were being jokesy and you actually addressed me like I was here. I didn't feel the same level of respect from the others.

[Maven]

Why would you use sperging? I see indications that people view me as mentally ill or different in a negative fashion. Imagine how I feel reading that. That hurts, man.

[Samwise]

You may be disappointed to learn that "psycho" is a fairly common one-word rejoinder here when someone posts a tl;dr wall of text.  It was not a custom-crafted insult carefully calibrated to your unique mental condition.   

[Lantyssa]

This guy on my Facebook feed didn't like Guardians of the Galaxy

[Maven]

Cool, subscribe me to the forum's cultural newsletter so I can properly contextualize the insults and be less offended. I mean, everyone should be on the same page, right? So that makes it OK.

[Rasix]

Dude, chill.

[Khaldun]

I think the same schtick was used even in this thread, which might be a clue about its recurrence here. But anyhoo, I can't imagine any film plot surviving that kind of fine-tooth-comb once-over. So I think it's pretty fair to say that's a post-facto attempt to build a rationale for "I just didn't like it". Which is really not necessary: it's ok to just not like something for reasons that aren't easy to fully access or process. In general, if I'm going to go beyond that saying I liked/didn't like, it's going to be "This is how it could have been done". I can't imagine that you seriously think any of the things you didn't like could be meaningfully addressed in the film itself, in diegetic terms.

Say, for example, "Why does this great utopian society run a hellhole prison?"  I mean, jebus, you *could* address that pretty damn easily, since it's not exactly that hard to imagine in the world we exist in. ("Why does a liberal democracy with a Constitution that enshrines individual rights run a gulag where prisoners of war potentially might be imprisoned for life despite not having been convicted of anything? Why does that same society have the highest per capita number of its own people in prison, including increasing numbers who are kept in solitary confinement for many years despite massive evidence that solitary confinement is essentially psychological torture?") Do you really want an entertaining space fantasy to stop dead to discuss the Xandarians' sociological philosophy of crime and punishment? Did you walk out of Star Wars saying, "I really need to hear more about the engineering specs and construction methods used on the Death Star in order to understand how it's possible to build and staff a moon-sized vehicle"? I hope not.

This kind of stuff is fun to talk about later after you've seen a film a bunch of times and it's become a touchstone. But if that's what you're thinking while you're watching, and you're letting the thinking direct your engagement, then I honestly don't understand how it's possible to enjoy any film or story of any kind. Hell, even reality seems pretty damn improbable by those standards.

[Reg]

Cool, subscribe me to the forum's cultural newsletter so I can properly contextualize the insults and be less offended. I mean, everyone should be on the same page, right? So that makes it OK.

This community is so old and incestuous that I think  most of us do assume that everyone gets things like "psycho." You should research the Ltm diaspora sometime I think most of this stuff really is written down somewhere. :)

[01101010]

This is F13. I haven't been around as long as the majority, but even I am aware this is how things go... All that is needed now is schild to post his scathing review and the thread will come to fruition. 

[Ironwood]

This guy on my Facebook feed didn't like Guardians of the Galaxy

 

[Phildo]

Neither calling someone "psycho" or the use of "sperging" are unique to f13.  They're not particularly nice, especially since "sperging" is a direct reference to Aspergers, but the internet isn't generally a nice, safe place.  Just call Teleku and Abogadro twats and move on.  I mean, they are twats.  So am I.

That's a fun word to say out loud.

Also, I enjoyed this film immensely.  Is the soundtrack available yet?

[Ironwood]

Mostly on youtube.   

[Merusk]

Cool, subscribe me to the forum's cultural newsletter so I can properly contextualize the insults and be less offended. I mean, everyone should be on the same page, right? So that makes it OK.

You're talking to a collective of folks who the greater portion of have somehow tolerated each other for 14-15 years now. You're going to be a little on the outs for in-jokes. Just accept it when it's explained and assimilate.

[Merusk]

 Is the soundtrack available yet?

Yes, I saw an ad for it at Best Buy in the paper yesterday. Its cover looks like the Hi-Fi with the "Awesome Mix volume 1" tape in it.

[Ironwood]

Also, if I was going to pick nits it would really be that Merle played outer space Merle.  Again. Poor guy.

[Numtini]

I just tossed the tracks into a Spotify playlist. If there's any downside to the film it's getting the stupid Pinacolada song earwormed in my head.

On the subject of the universe holding up to examination. No obviously not. It's not that kind of film and part of why I compared it to Star Wars. It's that same popcorn adventure SF. It's not serious science fiction.

Oh, it made 94 million domestic, 160 million total worldwide. Largest opening in August ever. Third largest for the year.

[jgsugden]

If we're ready to quibble over the minor stuff, my only minor issues with the film were:

* Wishing they had the rights to more of the cosmic races,
* Not buying the romance,
* Wishing the universe was a bit more 'New Hope style lived in',
* Wishing they'd had a time jump to establish these characters had time to grow into friends, and
* Wishing Cooper had nailed Rocket a bit better.  Of all the characters, Rocket was the only one that was pretty far under his maximum potential (not bad, but had the potential to be so much more).

[HaemishM]

I don't get what you are saying about Rocket at all. I thought he was pretty good.

It just hit me that at least 2 of the races that should be in the Marvel out of space universe likely won't be - the Shi'ar (probably an X-Men property) and the Skrulls (probably a Fantastic Four property). That's a damn shame.

[Abagadro]

Sorry if I offended you.  I actually didn't even read all your points, just saw how long it was and pulled out an old f13 chestnut.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Rocket was by far one of the best parts of the movie.  Cooper did a fine job and the script was solid.  Your criticisms just sound like you want more movies and it's fine, there will be.  At a solid 121 minutes I think trying to cram more of anything would be a bad idea, we've already got way too many bloated scifi/fantasy films as is.  Keep it simple, keep it tight, it's a fun ride and there's always more movies to expand on things. As for romance, there was none just a bt f sexual tension but there wasn't even a kiss so calling it romance is a big stretch.

[Soulflame]

Cool, subscribe me to the forum's cultural newsletter so I can properly contextualize the insults and be less offended. I mean, everyone should be on the same page, right? So that makes it OK.

Go ahead, just walk into a 16+ year old online community and whine when you aren't aware of the culture.  That will impress everyone, I'm sure.

[01101010]

Cool, subscribe me to the forum's cultural newsletter so I can properly contextualize the insults and be less offended. I mean, everyone should be on the same page, right? So that makes it OK.

Go ahead, just walk into a 16+ year old online community and whine when you aren't aware of the culture.  That will impress everyone, I'm sure.

 

[Phildo]

Oh good, Soulflame is here to help.

He's a twat, too.

Soundtrack is $10 on Amazon.  Sold.

[Khaldun]

Skrulls I'm sure they can't use. No idea on the Shi'ar but I'm not sure the Shi'ar have a very clear "idea" behind them anyway besides the Imperial Guard, who are mostly reskins of the Legion of Super-Heroes from DC.

I was almost surprised that you can't buy "Awesome Mix Vol. 2" but since that's not really heard in the film except for one song, that wouldn't mean much.

[Ironwood]

Rocket was awesome.  I have no idea where you're coming from.  As per usual.

[Khaldun]

Rocket was great, Groot was great, Drax was surprisingly great. Pratt hit so far out of the park that he's beyond great.

Gamora was meh, in part because of writing. Nebula was sub-meh, in part because of writing.

Ronan was Standard Psycho Bad Guy #1, I hope they can make Thanos more interesting in the long run.

Rooker was great as Yondu; most of the smaller parts were at least fun. I wouldn't have minded more with Del Toro's Collector that at least explains his schtick a bit better--I can't imagine this is the last time we'll see him.

I didn't recognize Nathan Fillion's voice when he had his cameo. I was also surprised at who the voice for the post-credits surprise character was.

[Surlyboi]

I'm totally aging myself here, but when it opened with 10cc, I started singing along...

[jgsugden]

Man, you say you have *minor quibbles* with a movie and people act like you panned it. 

Rocket was not bad.  However, people were expecting him to be the character that blew up after this movie.  Instead, he fell into the pack of other characters.  Part of this is because they nailed Groot, Drax and Star-lord so well, raising the bar.  However, I think there was room for Rocket to be nailed in such a way that he still stole the show despite the great renditions of those other three.  However, he wasn't nailed - not in my opinion, and not in the opinion of the people I've been hearing from outside of the Twilight Zone that is f13.

[schild]

I don't want to tell you to turn your brain off, because I hate when people use that as an excuse for shitty movies.

This is what everyone said about Pacific Rim.

They were still wrong. That movie was dogshit.

[Ironwood]

Man, you say you have *minor quibbles* with a movie and people act like you panned it. 

Rocket was not bad.  However, people were expecting him to be the character that blew up after this movie.  Instead, he fell into the pack of other characters.  Part of this is because they nailed Groot, Drax and Star-lord so well, raising the bar.  However, I think there was room for Rocket to be nailed in such a way that he still stole the show despite the great renditions of those other three.  However, he wasn't nailed - not in my opinion, and not in the opinion of the people I've been hearing from outside of the Twilight Zone that is f13.

You mean the voices in your head ?

[Merusk]

Comic nerds.

Nobody else cares.