Movie Review- Guardians of the Galaxy
Aug. 5th, 2014 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23So, we know this could be great or it could be terrible.
It stars a talking raccoon, so I think it's acceptable to automatically assume that this could be like that other talking-animal comic-inspired big budget movie Howard the Duck (I have thought this since the beginning, and if you watch the movie, you will know why this is funny).
It's a relatively new group of characters, and the good news is (though I never read the Abnett & Lanning originals) that Brian Michael Bendis has done a great job with this group and consistently makes humorous action adventures for them that work.
The good news is it does. This film is hardly The Avengers, but it wants to be funny space action.
There is hardly a review that doesn't mention Star Wars. I want to make it very clear this movie is not related to that one in any way (and most disappointed reviewers seem to expect it to be). There are a lot of clear parallels between the two, and the thought that I can't escape is "Would Star Wars be made the same way today?'
I doubt it. Everything has to be ironic and sarcastic and post-Fifth Element-ish. Star Wars today would probably have cast Jack Black as Han Solo or be ultra-goth Dark Knight-ish. It's not all true- there are some straight sci fi movies, but it does seem rare, and those that do instantly come to my mind (Star Trek, Ender's Game,) are established franchises.
If anything, this movie reminds me of Buckaroo Banzai.
It is clearly meant to be funny, and it succeeds, and the action succeeds as well.
Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon is great and the rest of the cast is as well, though, clearly, they are better than their sum of their parts.
WWE Wrestler Batista, Zoe Saldana, and Vin Diesel (which is strictly a promotional gimmick) are perfect, but hardly going to win awards. Chris Pratt is great, though I don't think this will catapult him to superstardom outside of this.
Pratt is great as one of those characters Kurt Russel would surely have played in the 80s.
In any case, i was well pleased. It starts off looking like it could go either way, but it does go the right way. At worst, i think it will be a cult movie, but I really think that it will unmistakeably be loved by mass audiences (and it does seem like that is the initial response).
Really, just a fun movie that hits all the right notes. So much could have went wrong- the humor, the action element, the CGI element, the characterization, the team aspect- and it all hits on the mark on all those things. This is a talking raccoon and tree we are talking about, but it all fits perfectly.
It stars a talking raccoon, so I think it's acceptable to automatically assume that this could be like that other talking-animal comic-inspired big budget movie Howard the Duck (I have thought this since the beginning, and if you watch the movie, you will know why this is funny).
It's a relatively new group of characters, and the good news is (though I never read the Abnett & Lanning originals) that Brian Michael Bendis has done a great job with this group and consistently makes humorous action adventures for them that work.
The good news is it does. This film is hardly The Avengers, but it wants to be funny space action.
There is hardly a review that doesn't mention Star Wars. I want to make it very clear this movie is not related to that one in any way (and most disappointed reviewers seem to expect it to be). There are a lot of clear parallels between the two, and the thought that I can't escape is "Would Star Wars be made the same way today?'
I doubt it. Everything has to be ironic and sarcastic and post-Fifth Element-ish. Star Wars today would probably have cast Jack Black as Han Solo or be ultra-goth Dark Knight-ish. It's not all true- there are some straight sci fi movies, but it does seem rare, and those that do instantly come to my mind (Star Trek, Ender's Game,) are established franchises.
If anything, this movie reminds me of Buckaroo Banzai.
It is clearly meant to be funny, and it succeeds, and the action succeeds as well.
Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon is great and the rest of the cast is as well, though, clearly, they are better than their sum of their parts.
WWE Wrestler Batista, Zoe Saldana, and Vin Diesel (which is strictly a promotional gimmick) are perfect, but hardly going to win awards. Chris Pratt is great, though I don't think this will catapult him to superstardom outside of this.
Pratt is great as one of those characters Kurt Russel would surely have played in the 80s.
In any case, i was well pleased. It starts off looking like it could go either way, but it does go the right way. At worst, i think it will be a cult movie, but I really think that it will unmistakeably be loved by mass audiences (and it does seem like that is the initial response).
Really, just a fun movie that hits all the right notes. So much could have went wrong- the humor, the action element, the CGI element, the characterization, the team aspect- and it all hits on the mark on all those things. This is a talking raccoon and tree we are talking about, but it all fits perfectly.
