I’ve been feeling bummed out lately, so I went and saw Guardians of the Galaxy again the other night with my girlfriend to try and lift my spirits. It worked! And I liked it even better the second time around! I wanted to try and pick out some thoughts swimming in my head about it, the way I have in the past, so let’s get to it.
SPOILERS AHEAD OF COURSE
Favorite character? Yondu. Why? Dude’s an outlaw straight out of an old Sergio Leone western and I like that. He and his Ravagers are the only secondary characters with any real personality. More western elements would’ve been nice, actually. You see it in the way Quill uses his guns too, wish they’d taken that a little further.
Second favorite is Drax, because I identify with how dense he is. There are expressions and figures of speech that go way over my head too, man. Not to mention his weird manner of speaking and his mad cackling as they ram Quill’s ship into Ronan’s is hilarious. Any time somebody laughs in a movie makes me grin because you hardly see it. Plus, I really liked Dave Bautista in the Man With the Iron Fists, so seeing him in something huge like this was just great.
Everyone comparing this movie to Star Wars gets on my nerves, and I don’t fully see it beyond Rocket and Groot basically being meaner, dumber versions of Han and Chewbacca. I guess they go with Star Wars because it’s the easiest thing, low hanging fruit. If anything this movie is closer in style and tone to the Fifth Element, with bits of JJ Abrams’s Star Trek movies thrown in. Hey look, Quill sleeps with colored alien women and forgets about them too, just like Captain Kirk! I hope that doesn’t become a thing, because it’s kind of gross. Actually, the way women are portrayed throughout the whole movie is a problem. We need to do better.
(also, Star Wars is still a way better movie, you’re trying to tell me this will hold up as well as it has? I’m not so sure about that…)
I keep referring to him as Quill because I think Star-Lord is a dumb name. The movie and John C. Reilly seem to be in agreement, seeing as how it’s barely used, mostly as a joke.
Oh, this cast. The cast is just bizarre, isn’t it? I mean, the whole thing is crazy. You have the former Troma dude who made Slither directing a big budget sci-fi movie based on a team of B-list Marvel characters that no one really knows or cares about, with so many recognizable people in it. Look at the Nova Corp: Glenn Close, Peter Serafinowicz, and John C. Reilly! How did they wind up in here? And Benicio del Toro creeping around as the Collector. I like how they picked a lot of gnarly looking people as extras, too. Nobody in this movie is terribly attractive past Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, and that’s a good thing.
This is definitely the most visually interesting and unique of the Marvel movies. Not that such a thing would require much effort, especially given the setting, but I appreciated it a lot that this looked like a proper movie and not a TV show. Wish the locales were more distinctive, though.
The opening credits where Quill is on that ruined planet with the scanner reminded me a lot of the Metroid Prime games, and his ship somewhat recalls Samus’s from Prime 3. A big moment during the final action sequence is Rocket and the other Ravagers basically playing a big game of Missile Command. There are some action shots that look like first person shooters, which is a popular thing now. James Gunn also co-wrote Lollipop Chainsaw (which I wrote about when it came out), and oh hey, that Cherry Bomb song is in that game too! Huh.
I liked the way they handled the emotional moments. These hard-ass misfits letting it slip and then immediately shoving it aside, especially Rocket. Nobody really knows how to express their feelings properly, something I think anyone can identify with. Lots of other little human touches to make the characters more endearing: Quill dropping the orb, John C. Reilly fidgeting with the belt on his uniform, Rocket adjusting his crotch. Little things like that always work to help ground these characters and make them easier to relate to. Those moments are more memorable than any of the big spectacle stuff.
Oh, seeing a Celestial? That was great, especially since they kept it looking close to Kirby’s designs.
I still think the villains are lousy. Ronan’s introduction was fantastic, but beyond that there’s nothing there. Everyone talks about what a monster he is, but there’s nothing to it. He hates Xandarian culture and is a radical who’s cut ties with his own people. Okay, why? There’s mention of a peace treaty, but no signs of a war having even taken place, no reason given for why they were fighting in the first place. Unless the Kree are just crazy warmongers? I don’t know anything about them. What is it about Xandar that Ronan hates so much? The movie doesn’t show us much of what goes on there, so that’s another failing, or maybe he hates it BECAUSE there’s a total lack of any real distinctive culture going on. Place has nothing on Tattooine, y’know? Back to Ronan: he has no presence. He should have been more imposing, more menacing, I just didn‘t feel threatened by him at all. Nebula could’ve been swapped out with a cardboard cutout and no one would have noticed. The Broker was more memorable than either of them. The Dark Elves in Thor 2 are probably the lousiest villains to appear in these movies, but at least Chris Eccleston had presence when he was onscreen.
I just wish the villains were as awesome as the heroes, okay? Or at least present a real threat. I’m hoping Thanos will be big whenever they finally put the spotlight on him. Josh Brolin’s a perfect voice for him.
Final note, I guess: this movie was just a big laugh at DC and Warner Bros because their Green Lantern movie failed, wasn’t it? Because it feels like it is, and that’s kind of hilarious.