Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

[Jinzo Ningen]

It took me a while to warm up to it, but by the end of the first act I was all-in. Loved it and will be going a second time this weekend. As I thought, Rocket & Groot were my favs, but I was pleasantly surprised at how endearing lunkhead Drax was! Pratt did a nice job as Quill/Star-Lord and I think he brought a freshness to the film. My wife & I were cheering and clapping (and tearing up) in all the right places. This movie has such a big heart that I forgave the little quirks and miss-steps (there weren't many) and just rolled with it. I can see where some folks would be put off by being expected to absorb so much NEW stuff in one sitting, but for me that was a breath of fresh air. Yes, these are established characters, but they are new to the screen and 95% of the audience I was with didn't know Ronin from Conan so they were just going with the flow, braced by the good will the film and the excellent interaction between the various characters. Didn't hear a single negative comment from the crowd I was with as we all exited the theater.

Another pleasant surprise was that many of the smaller parts still had good moments. (LOVE Rooker's Yondu!) Several negative reviews cited the lack of screen time for Glenn Close, saying her considerable talents were "wasted." I think they just poo-pooed her role because they expected an actress as well-respected and lauded as her to have a more substantial part. I'm guessing she probably did it for her kids/grandkids and was just there to have fun, make a little money and... pretty certain she'll have more to add in the next installment. John Reilly's character also had a nice bit of closure at the film's end with his family. Hope to see more of him next time around as well. I expected to like this film, but was still tickeld at just how much I loved it and how several moments have stuck with me over the past week. An easy 4.5 out of 5 and a definite Blu-Ray buy when it hits the shelves. It wasn't the greatest ever and it does have problems, but all films do. Main thing was that it was so dog gone much FUN! Makes me think even less and less of the DC/WB approach. Good for Marvel for realizing and fully supporting the concept that in order for a comic book-inspired film to be a success it doesn't have to be a dark, moody, brooding, angst-filled whine-fest.

[mr.negativity]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Henry88]

just what the heck is that?

[MekaGojira3k]

Knowhere,
it's the head of a Celestial.
But people hang out inside it.
BECAUSE COSMIC MARVEL.

[Alpha OTS]

[The Shadow]

Had a chance to see this today -- a lot of fun to watch, I can certainly recommend the movie. I'm not all that familiar with the GotG comics, but this seems to be well adapted like the other MCU movies (I did pick up a hardcover GotG collection at a book store a while back but haven't read it yet). It was cool to see Knowhere with the full acceptance that it is the detached head of a humongous alien being rather than go the typical executive/focus group proscribed safe route such as "it just looks like a head" or something.

[mr.negativity]

[klen7]

Me and the Mrs got out to this today and loved it. Really I dont like Thanos at all as character or a concept so i thought his scenes were low points, but i thought Ronan was a terrific villain. Nice to see a xenocidal zealot instead of someone that is just power hungry.

On a side note, when the Mrs tried to convince her parents that they would enjoy it, her mother said "Is that the one with the Ninja Turtles?"

[Hybrid Gojira]

Saw it. Loved it. My favorite marvel movie? No. But it was very good.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Rodanex]

[Rodanex]

Maybe I'm just dense, but what was Quill doing when he was shining that hologram around the planet at the very beginning?

[The Shadow]

I assumed the device Quill used was some sort of temporal scanner that could look back into the past and project an image of what was going at a given point and at a given time, rather like that scanner Evil Lyn usings in Masters of the Universe to watch the eariler fight with He-Man.

[Benjamin Haines]

Thanos in this movie reminded me of Megatron in Beast Wars.

[klen7]

[MekaGojira3k]

Ben.
That cannot be unseen.

[Rodanex]

[Rodanex]

[Benjamin Haines]

^ It's doing really well. Every other summer 2014 release that opened above $90 million ended up falling at least 61 percent in its second weekend, but not only did Guardians of the Galaxy buck that trend, its 55.3% decline is the lightest second weekend drop of any MCU Phase Two movie.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is currently the #1 movie of the year with just under $260m domestic. It had $158.8m after 10 days in the much less competitive spring season and Guardians is already well ahead of that with $176.5m and counting. If it keeps up at this pace, it'll finish ahead of Captain America and become the #1 release of summer 2014.

I certainly didn't see this coming. Like everyone else, I thought either Transformers: Age of Extinction or X-Men: Days of Future Past would be the top-grossing film at the domestic box office this summer.

[Rodanex]

I've been raving about this movie to anyone who will listen. lol The second time I saw it, the theater was pretty well attended, and it was noon on a Sunday.

[sentaison]

I absolutely LOVED this film. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Marvel has another hit and everyone is already talking sequel. Hopefully this will open the door to more of Marvels cosmic characters, maybe the Watcher will make an appearance, or maybe the Stranger or Eon. Of course we all would love to see Adam Warlock and Captain Mar-Vell.

[Rodanex]

Pretty sure Adam Warlock is coming....apparently his cocoon can be seen amid the Collector's possessions, and at the end, you can see it's broken open.

When they showed the ancient beings that were destroyed by the infinity stones....do you think those were supposed to be the Watchers?

[Jinzo Ningen]

Hadn't thought about that until you mentioned it Rodanex, but if memory serves the getups those beings were wearing looked mighty similar to the enormo robe/cloak thingy that The Watcher sports. Always liked him and his presence would be very cool to see in future installments, along with the Stranger and perhaps a few others, especially Warlock and Mar-vell. We might be in for some truly weird things on screen in GotG2, especially once the Doctor Strange film opens. A lot of his cannon seems geared towards the cosmic/etherial and that would help further tie the earth-based and space-based beings all together, especially if we're gonna see a full roster, over-the-top crossover to battle Thanos in Avengers 3.

[MekaGojira3k]

I can't recall it right now, but I'm kind of sure those guys are something specifically of 616 origin, not the watchers though.