Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

[lhb412]

Hell yeah! Really excited that Yondu is now part of the team.

[jellydonut25]

The only thing tempering my excitement is KNOWING that what I really want won't happen (a smaller-scale, more intimate type of thing without the prototypical Marvel army of faceless drone bad guys who get dispatched in a stupid/easy/stupideasy way).

I'd watch just a buddy comedy of these characters trying to seek out an intergalactic White Castle all day long.

[klen7]

^ I was worried the first film would just be a setup for Thanos. I have the same concern about this one, but Gunn has shown he can successfully deliver comedy and character inside the MCU framework. (Although you could have said similar about Whedon before the studio drove Ultron)

[lhb412]

I recall reading Gunn say that the Thaons/Gauntlet setup stuff won't even even factor into GOTG2... but with Marvel? Who knows. They may have something shoe-horned in in the eleventh hour.

I have a lot of trust in Gunn and this cast after the excellent first movie, but I do hope they break with the Marvel formula more. The first certainly didn't break, but it was so awesome I didn't care. Not sure if they can pull the same trick off twice?

[mr.negativity]

[Ultraseven]

[mr.negativity]

The Marvel film, set for a May 5 release, has bested previous crowdpleasers 'Iron Man 3' and 'Avengers' in its own internal metrics.

[lhb412]

I was kinda burned by all the Kong trailers giving away all the fights and creatures and set pieces, so I've started to avoid all the trailers and tv spots I can with this movie. We'll see how long this lasts with me! It'll be hard to resist a Godzilla trailer.

[Jinzo Ningen]

Wife & I just got back from an early show. Gotta say that, while not quite as good as the original, this sequel still holds up very well. Surprisingly, the humor early on fell rather flat - for me. Thankfully, things got better as the film rolled along. The 2nd half was much improved, and as the third act hit I felt that the movie was finally firing on all cylinders. Kurt Russell was excellent, as expected, but Nebula and most especially, Yondu, really stole the show. Baby Groot was sickening sweet, but cooler heads prevailed and the film wasn't overrun by his cutesy, scene-stealing antics. Plus, he had a real purpose and so was more than just kiddy bate. F/X were stunning and in many ways just mesmerizing. I literally found myself gawking at the gorgeous visuals onscreen several times. Film's score was solid, while the pop music nuggets were even more obscure than in the original. (Definitely stay thru ALL of the end credits, although I'll tell up front that they have NOTHING to do with the rest of the MCU, but as far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing. They have perfectly set up Vol.3) All-in-all, I'd give this one 7/10.

[Dr Kain]

Guardians 2 - Video review tomorrow, but I give it a 7/10.

[jellydonut25]

I honestly might just skip this one theatrically...I hate to be such a Grumpy Gus (Captain Cranky, Sergeant Surly), but I lack any amount of excitement for this. I'm sure it'll be good, but I don' tknow if it will be "the effort it takes to get a babysitter and go to the theater" good, especially when I'd only give the first one like a 3.5 (MAYBE a 4) outta 5 in the first place.

[mr.negativity]