Guardians of the Galaxy

I must REALLY be in the minority on this one, but, I actually hated this film.

Ok, well, maybe hate is a bit too strong of a word, as I did like a few elements that the film presented. However, overall, it was just a downer for me - nothing really good or special, and, it didn't have much of a "re-watchability" quality that I like to see in films. Sure, it was, um, ok for a stand-alone film, but, I really don't care to watch it again, and, will definitely not see any sequels that Marvel and Disney will most likely dish out in the future...

Right from the start, the film struck the wrong chord with me.

I mean, really, if you're going to kill off a character, and want us to care, then don't do it in the first 10 minutes. (Unless you can back it up like in "Citizen Kane," or have sufficient backstory such as in "Up") I'm not stoic or heartless, but, come on - I really didn't care about that death, and, I'd bet that, neither did anybody else watching it.

Just to think, if you arrived 10 minutes late, you'd have missed that whole part, and, it wouldn't have caused any confusion until right before the credits! That's such a movie no-no, and, to see it be done by Disney, or even Marvel for that matter, is just a disgrace to film and storytelling itself!

Another thing that got a bit on my nerves was the obscenity of it all. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not one of those "you can't ever curse" people - Some of my all time favorite films have all been R rated. (Godfather, Matrix) However, middle fingers, sexual references, and unnecessary swearing, in a Disney film, of all things, did pull me out of the story a few times. (And that's another Hollywood no-no. If the audience is pulled out, you've ruined the experience and, will most likely have a hard time bringing them back.)

This isn't to say that all of the obscenity should have been edited out...

But, when the talking racoon starts dropping words that make even the toughest sailors run for the hills, it's not only in bad taste, but it's just plain stupid!

Another thing that really annoyed me was the main villain. He didn't strike me as very scary, and, really didn't seem all that powerful. Isn't a hero only as good as their villain? - Well, this one was pretty poor, and that did rub off on the heroes a bit... But, thankfully, it didn't hurt the plot as much as it could have.

I really only have three elements that stood out as positive for me, and, with one of them being the Stan Lee cameo, that's an all-time low for a Superhero movie.

One of the things I really liked was, funny enough, just after the opening.

That was one of those moments - one that can make or break a film, as, it rides on a bit of the nostalgia factor. If you depict such a moment in the wrong way, it ruins the scene, but, if it's done right - just like how you used to jam out to your favorite band while jumping up and down on your bed in just your shorts and socks - then, it can redeem itself. We've all turned up the tunes, and have "done" things to the music. (Whether it be stirring your soup to the beat of a song, or lip-synching to the song while doing chores, we've all played around like this in our own way)

It's great because it really connects you with the main characters, while also humanizing him at the same time.

The other thing that this film was good at was it's effects. Most of the time, the CGI is disguised by fog, and/or it's in space, so, I just tend to be more forgiving there. It made the action sequences worthwhile, and, gave the movie a better pace. I wasn't disappointed there.

However, overall, it just didn't speak to me. It's REALLY not deserving as one of the top grossing films this year, and, overall, didn't excite me as much as, something like Superman Returns did back in the day. And, if you can't even top Superman Returns, you don't really have business making superhero films.

I went in not expecting much, and, though it has interested me to look back at some more of my comics again, it isn't inspiring me to see any more films from the Marvel/Disney combo. It's just like Pirates of the Caribbean vs the Lone Ranger film. They're both doing basically the same things, but, only one is really "classic," while the other is pretty poor and gets what it gave - not much.

I mostly agree with you Dyland.  I thought that it had the usual poorly written dialogue I have come to expect from Marvel movies and was just too busy.  I was hoping for so much more.

Out of curiosity, if the ability to literally destroy all life on a planet by poking it with a stick isn't powerful, then what is?

Youtube Channel

So I don't watch super hero movies so I haven't seen GotG but...

How can that happen in a PG-13 movie? Make sailors run? (Maybe they was literal, as I said I haven't seen in) I think you should watch In The Loop and maybe evaluate what strong language actually is. (And you probably should never hang out with me or anyone who lives in a major city )

I haven't seen the film, but I am sure that the language isn't that bad. I don't think the average audience member speaks sailor, and any sailors swears will go straight over the heads of the Motion Picture Association of America. I guess the worse they could put in the film would be the F-bomb, which I would agree doesn't belong in a PG-13 movie. That's kind of contradictory to the rating systems purpose. Of course, if they made it R, not as many people would pay to see it...

And I pretty am sure most  13 year olds have learned all the words there are to learn after a couple online multiplayer rounds of Call Of Duty.

Be sure to keep things civil here guys.
It's been tolerable so far, but this kind of thing tends to get out of hand pretty quick.

Yeah, I too noticed more language throughout than most of the other Marvel films, but that doesn't mean they didn't have their own problems. (In fact, IIRC, Iron Man 3 had two muffled F- Words, which is yet another reason I hate that thing.)

Still, while this one did push the envelope compared to the others, there are worse PG-13 ratings out there. So for its rating, it's fine. Compared to the other Marvel films that where marketed as "Whole family can enjoy action movies" it did go a bit further than normal, and further than I prefer. BUT, that was evident from the trailers, and it's either endure that, or don't watch, or get a TV guardian.

I agree that Lee Pace's villain was threatening, but without feeling all that threatening, similar almost to Malekith from Thor 2.
Marvel's main fault seems to be villains. Over-using the good one, and under developing all the others. It's almost like Marvel is slowly falling into a similar story format that works, but will soon fall apart as viewers realize that it's all just the same thing in a new wrapping.

That being said, do we have a dedicated Marvel thread to discuss all of this elsewhere and not use this thread for an unintended purpose? Not saying we need one, but it may be a good idea.

I'm all for that. Makes a great break from the traditional usage of such words that drives me crazy. If only more serious films could use swearing in a way that doesn't make them stand out from the rest of the writing and dialogue!

Exactly! If the writers have the characters, um, break character within the first hour, (or in the movie at all, for that matter) then they're not taking themselves seriously enough. And if a film that does this becomes one of the biggest films of the year - it's a bigger slap in the face to those still trying to make movies for everyone - movies that'll reach a wider audience because they actually want everyone to hear the story, experience the characters, and enjoy the ride.

I think GotG is marvellous (pun intended), and I welcome the swearing in it. It doesn't feel forced or unnecessary considering the characters' motivations and personalities, and where some movies rely on obscenities to add humour, GotG uses bad language to enhance a lot of jokes that are already there. To be honest, if the script had been 'cleaner', then Quill and Rocket in particular wouldn't have been as fleshed-out or as interesting. They're not typical Marvel heroes, or tbh typical heroes in general (except Gamora, who's a bit 2D).

Maybe it's just me, but I find it very hard to fault GotG (though it does have a few flaws), and I wouldn't count its use of bad language as being at all detrimental.

Honestly, in my opinion Superman Returns is a really lousy film overall. It's badly paced - slow at best - and lacks any kind of emotional bridge between the audience and the almost entirely undeveloped characters. Its main issue was that it's barely a film in its own right, more a love letter to the Richard Donner movies. The whole film felt like a poorly-constructed fanfilm - afraid of finding its own style, or adapting to the demands of a 21st century audience, or presenting a new spin of characters that people are already very familiar with.

Kevin Spacey was a great Lex Luthor, and those couple of shots where the bullet bounces off Superman's eye were good, but those are the films only redeeming features. Well, maybe that and the fact we see Superman saving people (the lack of which is one of my only complaints about the vastly superior Man of Steel).

I'm not trying to force my views on anyone, but for me Superman Returns was a massive disappointment, and I wasn't even as into comic books when it came out as I am now. It didn't feel exciting, even though it had some impressive set pieces; more like an epilogue to a film series that had ended 20 years before.

A true masterpiece of superhero cinema would be The Dark Knight, as would Spider-man 2 (the Sam Raimi one, though I did enjoy the 2014 remake).

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

I can see we have differing opinions, Jampot - but, I'd just like to make a few things clear:

Sure, swearing can add to characters. Look at Back to the Future - those movies are filled with curses, but, I never really noticed them. They didn't "stand out" or distract from the overall story because they made sense for each character and didn't hinder the dialogue - if anything, it helped it move forward.

In GotG however, most of the swearing, coming from foreign aliens, really just stood out as rubbish writing. Again,

worked because it just seemed in character for him - a kid from the 80's who never got any of "the talks" from his parents, and still swears and curses around others as he would alone. But, the other characters? - No, it just made the whole thing a bit more corny, and, became really distracting when the rest of the viewing audience seemed to just be laughing at the swears instead of the actual jokes hidden beneath. - It just took me out of the story and hindered my ability to keep with the story in an engaged way. The whole time I practically started looking around at all of the people laughing at really stupid things. - I want more out of a movie, and, I guess that just sets me apart from the average viewing audience of a Disney produced PG-13 superhero flick.

That was the joke (I'm sorry if I didn't make that very clear to any of you). I wasn't gonna compare GotG to Avatar, Indiana Jones and the KotCS or Batman & Robin because of all of the controversies surrounding those movies. I chose to relate it to Superman Returns because they are similar in my opinion. (Not very strong, but, still both have good moments sprinkled in throughout) Superman Returns was a bit of a bummer, and, so was GotG for me... so much so that I actually liked the drama of SR a bit more than the obviously unrealistic and vulgar scenes of GotG. - And I usually hate dramas.

Hey, let's not start promoting stereotypes or start calling people names... that's what the other brickfilm communities are for - Seriously, though. Let's keep that out of the BiM forums!