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Posted: |
Aug 2, 2014 - 1:08 PM
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By: |
nuts_score
(Member)
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To my eyes, ears, and nose, Marvel's new blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy is a stupefyingly wonderful movie. In a thesaurus, the film might just be listed as a synonym underneath "fun." If none of this appeals to you, move along. Like the other man-children on FSM, I've loved Star Wars. I've hated Star Wars. I try to understand and sympathize with the true denizens of Star Wars fandom. Sometimes I can't. So now I'm going to be on the other side. I found Guardians of the Galaxy to be the very best Star Wars movie made, and I stand convinced it was a better Star Wars movie than any of the Star Wars movies, and I don't think the filmmakers making the new Star Wars movies will make a new one as good as this Marvel movie. Now that seems like a complex mathematical equation. It breaks the curse of the comic book superhero flick by not being one, despite using the same tropes which Marvel breaks out for nearly all of these franchise installments in their combined cinematic universe: colorful characterizations, MacGuffin-bound plots, muscle-bound protagonists, you know the rest. But this is star-bound misfits versus oppressive galactic evils. It's Star Wars, done with an exciting new sheen, more varied characters, and a visual palette that is truly exciting and splashy. Just like those cosmic Marvel comics you read in the 70s and 80s. Even ancillary background characters have expression and presence in one way or another, something which I feel Lucas mastered in his original Star Wars but has since been lost on the sequels and prequels, as well as the rip-offs. To look at director James Gunn and his filmmaking team's creation is another *marvel* altogether. Visual tableaus abound, resulting in an often psychedelic, and always kaleidoscopic picture. It is shaped very well by how the creative visual artists utilize their CGI to expand the weird universe it is set, and enforces why illustrative inventiveness can be the key to keeping this and any other genre fresh. More than any other entry that has preceded it, Guardians of the Galaxy looks and feels just like a vivid and imaginative comic book by some of Marvel's greats like Jack Kirby, Val Mayerik, and Gene Colan. I'll go ahead and begin adding the film's song selections to the top of nearly every "Best Soundtrack" list on the internet. The music team really compiled an amazing selection, which pays off in diegetic use in beautiful, often heart-rendering moments. I'm enamored that Mr. Gunn, an ex-Troma writer and oddball cult filmmaker, was able to get $200 million to play around for our first trip to Marvel's infinitely cosmic places. This was a gamble that will pay off very well for them.
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Did you stay for the clip at the end of the film? All those feathers. Lol
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I CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF ALL THESE MOVIES WITH 'guardians' IN THE TITLE wassup with dat??????????????
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Personally, I quite enjoyed most of the trailers and felt the music actually worked for them and the tone Marvel's clearly going for with this entry into their Cinematic Universe. But then, I enjoy most of the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 songs to begin with, and that probably helps. If someone hears all pop just as noise, then I can see why it may not appeal. And having finally seen the film tonight, I can honestly say I loved it. I'm not a comic book nerd by any stretch of the imagination... I've never been a regular reader of any comics, and had zero prior knowledge of these characters. But the movie was incredibly fun, and by the end of it you can really buy into the friendship amongst all these misfit characters. To be honest, I was surprised at some of the naysaying I saw from some leading up to this release... at this point I have enough faith that Marvel seems to have a very good thing going, and look forward to all their future projects, however familiar or not I may be with the comic property. Also, do stay for the post-credits scene.
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But I stand by my personal opinion of the movie. Ugly obnoxious characters, bland score, dated songs and boring CGI. I have no interest in the film. I'll stick with Star Wars. Its funny, your opinion of the film is exactly how I'd describe all the prequel Star Wars movies! (edit: except where the scores are concerned, of course) I absolutely loved this film. I had no prior knowledge of the property, so it was all new to me. I even tried avoiding the trailers before seeing it (and having seen them since, they don't do a very good job of selling it well, or getting the tone of the film across.........such a pity!). This isn't your typical blockbuster movie. There is a joy and wonder to it that is missing from most other big budget movies these days. The pace is breathtaking, the cast and characters are wonderful and memorable, the humour is off-kilter, the sets are glorious, the effects are stunning. Seriously, I don't know how anyone could refer to the CGI in the movie as "boring"; some of the visuals took my breath away! The plot is a tad hurried and contrived, but given how many characters they have to introduce in such a short space of time, I think the filmmakers did a wonderful job. But most importantly, the film manages to instil some actual HEART into the proceedings, such a rarity in todays blockbuster landscape. And getting back to the Star Wars comparison, like the original poster, there were moments during the film where I kept thinking to myself "this is exactly the type of Star Wars movie JJ would kill to make". I have no doubt in my mind that JJ will succeed in making a technically brilliant movie (which of course I will be rushing out to see next year), but I doubt it will posses the rousing sense of adventure that Guardians of the Galaxy managed to pull off with such startling ease. Its been a heck of a long time since I've seen a movie that is this much fun, and the only film in recent memory where the audience actually erupted into applause after (Irish audiences tend to be a little on the reserved side).
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