Guardians of the Galaxy
Just a heads up, this write-up will probably be shorter than my others because I don't really know how to talk about comedies. I really focus on characters as that's the most important part of a film (in my opinion of course) and in comedies there are characters that are jokes in and of themselves which means I don't really have much to say about them. That's not to say that they are bad characters (Groot and Drax are fantastic for the type of movie this is), just that I really don;t know how to write about them.
So here we have the first new franchise in phase 2 and it comes out swinging, but in the wrong way. That opening scene before Quill gets abducted is emotionally cheap and completely out of place in a comedy like this. Did it almost make me cry? Yeah, but it had nothing to do with the quality of the writing or characters, but rather what it represented. Then there's the emotional whiplash right after with the karaoke/treasure hunting scene.
Quill is pretty interesting. By being abducted back in the 80's he was basically ripped through both time and space and it clearly had a pretty big effect on him. The way he latched on to his childhood idolization of outlaws and Indiana Jones because it's really all he had aside from his mother and walk man. If a modern child was put in Quill's situation I wonder what things they would latch on to and what Earth 'legends" they would tell. Would the aliens think Earth has a mighty hero named Pewdiepie?
Rocket is a fucking dick, a fun dick, but a dick nonetheless. It's funny, through his dickery he feels the most human of the cast. I really felt bad for him when he was drunk. We're already so shitty to people we perceive as different despite being the same species that I can only imagine what it's like to be a genetic experiment that technically shouldn't exist. It's no wonder the little guy puts up such a huge wall and had that breakdown at the bar. It's actually quite similar to things from my past so I can really relate.
I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot.
In summary: We are Groot.
The most interesting thing about Gamora has nothing to do with her, but rather what we learn about Thanos from her. I felt like she didn't play off of the rest of the cast very well and overall I found her quite boring. I get that she's supposed to be the "straight guy" but I felt that one was unneeded. I really hope she is more interesting in the sequel.
Drax's schtick of taking everything literally was quite amusing.
Ronan is just a cookie cutter religious extremist villain. Like usual with villains over the course of these write-ups, I don't like him.
Thanos really give 0 fucks, doesn't he. At first I wondered why he surrounded himself with people that want him dead, but now I think he wants rebellion for his own entertainment. When Ronan threatened him with an infinity stone he didn't even frown, it amused him. Is he really so powerful that a zealot with the power to destroy planets doesn't even come close to scaring him? Where does this guy land on the Marvel villain power hierarchy? The most powerful one I know of is Galactus, is Thanos stronger? It sure will be interesting to see him in action in Infinity war.
The final battle was a nice contrast to Winter Soldier. Going from a more personal battle (albeit the fate of millions of people did rest on it) to one that was like an all out war was great and showed just how varied the MCU is.
Overall I really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy.
Next up is Avengers: Age of Ultron! It's a bit odd that it's not the end of phase 2, but I understand why. Both Guardians and Ant Man were new IPs for film audiences so it's understandable that the executives would want something guaranteed to bring in a lot of money sandwiched between them.